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 Devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the Philippines is truly an extraordinary miracle of grace. Over 100,000 people attend the Perpetual Novena at Baclaran every week. Devotions are also conducted in over 1,000 other churches throughout the Islands. And countless millions listen to the weekly radio broadcasts.
In 1906, when the Irish Redemptorist Fathers arrived in the Philippines, they immediately began preaching devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Soon, copies of her miraculous icon began to spread throughout the Islands as many favors and graces were received through her intercession.
In 1932, the Redemptorist Fathers came to Baclaran to preach missions - especially to the poor in the rural areas. They did not intend to establish a formal parish there. So, next- door to their monastery, they built a rather small chapel with the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help enshrined above the altar.
Baclaran, is situated about five miles from the Capitol city of Manila. When the Japanese occupied the area during the war, they seized the Redemptorist house and the little church and the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual help disappeared.
After the liberation of the island, the lost Madonna was found by a U.S. Army chaplain, a Redemptorist, in the rubble of an old prison. He returned it to the Redemptorists in Baclaran. He then persuaded the priests at the tiny shrine to begin Novena devotions similar to those that were so popular in the States.
The first Service was held on June 23, 1948 and 70 people attended. By the end of July, 700 came; by Christmas, 7,000. The small church couldn't hold the crowds, even with the addition of extra services.... so many people were coming to thank the Madonna of Perpetual Help for favors received.
Three years later, in 1951. over 60,000 people were attending the Novena Devotions every Wednesday. Services were conducted from early morning into the late evening. To accommodate the crowds, they enlarged the original church to seat 600, and constructed open-air verandas to provide standing room for 3,000 more. Many had to stand outside in all kinds of weather.
A few years later, they constructed a huge shrine to seat 12,000. It was the largest church in the Far East, and had the largest seating capacity of any church in the world, except for St. Peters Basilica in Rome.
By 1960, over 85,000 people were attending services at the shrine in Baclaran every Wednesday, and since then, the crowds have regularly exceeded 100,000.
Devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help flourished in the Philippines when the news spread about a number of miraculous favors attained through her intercession.
At the close of his sermon during his last visit to Baclaran, Pope John Paul said: "O Mother of Perpetual Help, I commend to you, the hospitable people of the Philippines. I have witnessed the truly filial devotion and the immense trust that you, O Mother of Perpetual Help, enjoy among the faithful people who live in this great nation of the Philippines. Safeguard and protect the people of this country who are so dedicated to you and your Son."
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