The parish of the Most Holy Redeemer in Madrid celebrated three days of prayer, testimonies and popular celebration in honor of the Virgin Mary.
We’re gradually establishing a tradition in our parish of the Most Holy Redeemer in Madrid. We’re not organizing a novena, but a Triduum that helps us arrive with serenity at the feast of our Mother, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
This year, as a prelude to the Triduum, there was the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Spain, who on June 10, in the monastery of Montserrat, recited the rosary with the community and, quoting his predecessor, reminded us that “in the presence of the Mother (…) a person’s noblest feelings are awakened.”
To prepare this Triduum, we have taken into account this value of feelings without falling into sentimentality. As Pope Leo says: “Mary leads us to Christ and teaches us to listen to his voice, to obey his word, and to allow him to transform us.” “When Mary tells us: ‘Do whatever he tells you,’ she is inviting us to reconcile our hearts with the criteria of the Gospel.” How can all this be translated into these three days of parish prayer and Marian devotion? They have been days marked by three moments of prayer: silent adoration before the Eucharistic presence in the shrine, the recitation of the Holy Rosary led by lay people, and the celebration of the Eucharist.
The truth is that our parish began its celebration on Saturday, June 20th, with the diaconal ordination of José, a father and member of our Parish Council. After three years of formation, he was ordained a permanent deacon in the Almudena Cathedral by the Cardinal of Madrid, Most Rev. José Cobo.
On Monday the 22nd, the first day of the Week of the Virgin, we began by celebrating two cultural activities to highlight the importance of the Gaze, the Word, and the Welcome of women who have been ignored for years: the Beguines. Silvia Bara Bancel, professor at the University of Comillas, presented her book SABER A DIOS (Divine Verb Publisher), dedicated to these mystics and teachers of following Jesus since the Middle Ages.
The book launch concluded with a prayer concert by Prado Pérez, featuring poems and texts by various beguines. Prado has released a record of these texts, set to music by herself. The aim was to emphasize the importance of women in Christian life. Also present was the book “WOMEN AND DIACONADO,” published by the same Verbo Divino publishing house, on ministries in the Church.
The program was set against a recurring text on the Feast of Perpetual Help: John 19:27. The words of the Redeemer who says to Mary: “Woman, behold your son.” These are the disarming words of the crucified. Commentaries and testimonies were presented in the homily. Thus, we draw closer to prayer through listening to the Word in the Church and the testimony of two women.
We have come to realize that, contemplating our icon of Perpetual Help, we understand that we cannot separate Mary from Jesus. It is Jesus who “shows us the path of mercy, reconciliation, truth, and meekness.” But Mary “shows us Jesus as a defenseless child in her lap.”
And Pope Leo reminded us that “the Child Jesus whom Mary holds in her arms wears no armor… then, naked on the cross, he abandons himself totally to the Father to save us with the disarming and unarmed strength of love.” In the heart of the Redeemer, on the cross, there is a call to the fullness of friendship. There is no hatred, there is affection. There is an offer of fraternal friendship, the treasure of the nascent Church, and Mary, who welcomes her Son’s friends, is a witness to this reality. How can we bring all this into our celebration? How can we understand it without listening to some of the women in that moment of prayer in the parish community?
The first Eucharistic celebration of the triduum was opened by the Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid, Vicente Martín, who urged us to be an open community, a parish in communion with the diocese. A parish on mission. The singing was enlivened by a small choir organized by Dr. Prado Pérez and by the participants in the choir at the Eucharist with the Pope on Corpus Christi in Madrid.
On Friday the 26th, the eve of the feast of the Virgin, during the homily, theologian and psychologist Rosa Ruiz gave her testimony. She shared with the praying community her experience before the icon during her days and nights working in the hospital. Accompanying the sick in their days and nights as a healthcare worker. How important it is to listen to women! How important it is that there be no lack of music. The parish choir at Sunday afternoon Masses helped us pray with their songs.
With the help of the “Acoger y Compartir” Association, we have given meaning to our concern for those who suffer. In those days, a container containing over 20,000 kilos of humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine was prepared from Pamplona. As I write these lines, I am informed that it has already arrived at the distribution warehouse managed by the Redemptorist Father Adriy in Lviv.
On Saturday the 27th, the feast of the Virgin Mary, another woman shared her experience as a lawyer and her work, emphasizing the importance of welcoming. If Mary makes Jesus’ humanity and the experience of his welcome possible, contemplating her icon helps us understand that in it we have a marker of following Jesus. Amaya Valcárcel, a lawyer and activist, shared her experience of Perpetual Help in refugee camps.
The celebration, which began in the church and was led by the “Brisas del Guadiana” choir, filled the service with joy and popular devotion. The final blessing was preceded by a short procession with the icon inside the church, led by the new deacon José Martín. This allowed those who wished to touch the icon. Finally, following the tradition of Orthodox churches, we concluded the Eucharist by imparting a blessing with the icon.
Since the beginning of the week, we had announced that the Eucharist on the feast of the Virgin would be followed by a celebration in front of the church entrance.
Part of the street was decorated with streamers and lights, thanks to the help of lay friends and young people from the parish. After the religious celebration, we were able to begin the street party because a group had prepared everything donated by some local businesses (tortillas, empanadas, ice cream); oh, and there was also beer, so we could gather together in friendship while the parish choir entertained us with its music, inviting us to “paint our faces the color of hope.” And the prayer transformed into an almost unconscious dance, in the simple joy of sharing. The street was tinged with the color of friendship.
Fr. José Miguel de Haro Sánchez, C.Ss.R.
photo: Fr. M. Raczkiewicz, C.Ss.R.
