The message of Fr. General celebrates the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and the 160th anniversary of the Redemptorists’ mission to spread devotion to her throughout the world. It emphasizes Mary’s central role in Redemptorist spirituality as a model of faith, hope, listening, and service, who continually leads people to a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ.
The message recalls Pope Pius IX’s 1865 mandate to the Redemptorists to “make her known throughout the world” and highlights how devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help has flourished across cultures and continents. It stresses that authentic Marian devotion must inspire discipleship, missionary commitment, and compassionate service, especially to the poor and marginalized. Finally, it calls all Redemptorists, lay associates, and those connected to their spirituality to renew their commitment to making Mary better known and loved, transforming their communities into places of faith, mercy, and mission, while seeking her continued protection and inspiration in proclaiming Christ’s abundant redemption.
Please find the complete message below:
Iloilo, Philippines, 27 June 2026
Dear Confreres, Formandi and Lay Associates in our Mission,
- On this day when the entire Congregation joyfully celebrates the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, I join every Redemptorist community throughout the world in giving thanks to God for the gift of the Mother of the Redeemer, who continues to accompany the Church and our missionary family on our pilgrimage through life.
- Devotion to Mary is one of the pillars of our spirituality. Constitution 32 reminds us of this very well: “Let them take the Blessed Virgin Mary as their model and helper. For she went on her pilgrim way in faith, and embraced with her whole heart the saving will of God. She dedicated herself completely as a handmaid of the Lord to the person of her Son and to his work, and thus served the mystery of redemption. Indeed she still serves it, as the perpetual help of God’s people in Christ. Therefore, let them relate to her as a mother with all the love and veneration they owe her as sons. Let them be generous in fostering devotion, especially of a liturgical nature, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and celebrate her feasts with special fervour. All the confreres will honour the Blessed Virgin Mary every day, following the tradition of Saint Alphonsus. To all is recommended the recitation of the holy rosary, so that with grateful hearts they may reflect upon and imitate the mysteries of Christ in which Mary had a share.”
- On December 11, 1865, Pope Pius IX entrusted the Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists, charging us with a mission that remains as relevant today as ever: “To make her known throughout the world.” A few months later, on April 26, 1866, the Icon was solemnly restored to public veneration in the Church of St. Alphonsus, Rome. Since then, over the past 160 years, this devotion has transcended borders, cultures, and languages, becoming one of the most widespread Marian expressions in the life of the Church.
- On every continent where the Congregation is present, Our Mother of Perpetual Help continues to gather her children. In some places, this happens through great shrines that welcome crowds of pilgrims every day. In others, through small churches, chapels, communities, and missions, where simple people bring before the Icon their joys, sufferings, anxieties, and hopes. In all these places, Mary continues to point to Christ, her Son, the true Redeemer of humanity.
- However, the mandate entrusted by Pius IX does not consist solely in spreading a devotion. We are called to lead people from devotion to a personal encounter with Jesus Christ; from that encounter to discipleship; and from discipleship to missionary commitment. True Marian devotion is never an end in itself. It always leads to following Christ and to generous service to our brothers and sisters, especially the poor, the abandoned, and all those whose dignity is wounded by the many forms of poverty and exclusion.
- Mary is an inspiring model for the Redemptorist mission. Her silence is marked by attentive listening (cf. Lk 2:19, 51); her maternal presence inspires compassion (cf. Jn 19:25–27); and her faith is filled with hope (cf. Lk 1:45). In the Magnificat, she proclaims the God who brings down the mighty from their thrones, exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things, and remembers his mercy toward his people (cf. Lk 1:46–55). Her song remains fully relevant today and also challenges us in our mission: to proclaim the plentiful redemption that transforms lives (cf. Ps 130:7), promotes human dignity (cf. Jn 10:10), and strengthens the hope of those who suffer most (cf. Rom 5:5).
- On this feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, as we commemorate the 160th anniversary of the spread of devotion to her, I invite every Unit of the Congregation, every religious community, every confrere, the lay associates in our mission, and the confraternities, congregations, and religious institutes linked to Redemptorist spirituality to renew, on this day, our commitment to making Our Mother of Perpetual Help ever more widely known and loved. Let us make our churches, shrines, and communities true schools of faith, mercy, and mission, lived in a spirit of pastoral kindness, where every pilgrim finds not only consolation for their sorrows but also a call to live the Gospel in ever-new ways and to become a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ.
- May Our Mother of Perpetual Help continue to protect the Congregation and, together with our Saints, Martyrs, and Blessed, strengthen our missionary vocation and inspire us to bring, with renewed enthusiasm, plentiful redemption to all, especially the poorest and the most abandoned.
Happy Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help!
Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R.
Superior General
Original: Spanish
