by: Jimmyley Guzman
MANILA, (PIA) -- The National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Parañaque City was recently elevated to the rank of minor basilica by His Holiness Pope Francis.
The parish community was delighted with the elevation of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians Parish to a Minor Basilica, the first in the Parañaque diocese.
“Receiving this honor is truly a grace from God and a profound blessing for our National Shrine and Parish,” in a statement made by the parish.
In the document Domus Dei, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Church affirms her enduring mission to uphold the beauty and sacredness of the House of God. For this reason, she continues to grant the title of Minor Basilica to select churches, a designation that signifies a special bond with the Chair of St. Peter and an invitation to become a center of liturgical and pastoral life for God’s people.
According to Vatican News, minor basilicas are distinguished by
their special connection to the pope and the Church of Rome, serving as a sign
of the Church’s universality.
Basilicas are granted the privilege of an “ombrellino” – a red and
yellow, cone-shaped canopy — and a “tintinnabulum,” a bell mounted on a pole
that can be carried in processions. They are also permitted to use the crossed
“papal keys” on banners and signs.
The National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians is the first minor
basilica in the 22-year-old Diocese of Parañaque.
When the pope designates a basilica, the parish said, “it’s an invitation to become a center of
liturgical and pastoral life for God’s people.”
The new basilica, located in Better Living Subdivision, is also
home to a century-old image of Mary, Help of Christians, which received
canonical coronation in 2022.
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP), the widespread propagation of the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians
in the Philippines began with the appointment of Salesian Archbishop Guglielmo
Piani as Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines in 1922.
On his journey to the Philippines, he brought with him the statue
of Mary, Help of Christians which was first enthroned at the Manila Cathedral.
In 1942, during the Japanese occupation, the image was brought to
Our Lady of Loreto Church in Manila’s Sampaloc district for safekeeping.
It was only in 1994 that the image was transferred to her national
shrine in Parañaque.
The statue is the second canonically crowned image in the diocese
aside from the 400-year-old image of Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, venerated
at St. Andrew’s Cathedral. (JEG/PIA-NCR)
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