St. Clement’s marks 80 years of Marian novena in Asia

By Mariela Angella Oladive

St. Clement’s Church celebrated the 80th anniversary of the first Perpetual Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Asia on Wednesday evening with the “Rain/Reign” OAK Jubilee Concert.

The celebration opened with a Thanksgiving Mass presided over by Rev. Fr. Julius Martin Malacas, C.Ss.R., followed by a concert that gathered devotees for an evening of prayer, music, and Marian devotion.

Church leaders highlighted Iloilo City’s historic role as the birthplace of the Perpetual Novena devotion in Asia.

The devotion was first introduced at St. Clement’s Church on May 13, 1946, by Irish Redemptorist priests to fewer than 100 devotees, following encouragement from American soldiers after World War II.

It later spread to Cebu and other parts of the Visayas before reaching Lipa in 1947 and Baclaran in 1948.

Provincial Superior Very Rev. Fr. Bert Cepe, C.Ss.R., said the novena has since become one of the most popular Catholic devotions in the Philippines and continues to hold special significance for Ilonggos.

Rev. Fr. Eric Sevencruz, C.Ss.R., said the “Rain/Reign” concert carried both literal and spiritual meaning — a prayer for rain amid the dry season, particularly for farmers, while also invoking God’s “reign” of blessings, grace, and hope.

Songs honoring mothers were included in the program in celebration of Mother’s Month, alongside performances centered on gratitude and prayer.

The free concert featured performances by Jed Madela, VIVAT, and Redemptorist priests.

Sevencruz also reflected on Iloilo City’s identity as the “City of Love,” saying it was fitting that the Perpetual Novena began in Iloilo because devotion and faith are rooted in love and continue to endure through the people’s expression of faith.

The event also aimed to gather support for the rehabilitation of the church’s Carillon Tower, which houses 13 bells of varying sizes and tones.

Unlike many churches that use electronically produced bell music, the Bells of St. Clement’s are played manually, preserving a long-standing church tradition.

According to Rev. Fr. Ramon Fruto’s Jan. 18, 2016, article, “The 13 Bells of St. Clement’s,” the bells were imported from Europe and commissioned from Gillett and Johnston of Croydon, England, a renowned bell foundry known for producing historic carillons worldwide.

Once rehabilitated, the Carillon Tower is expected to serve as a museum and an additional religious pilgrimage destination in Iloilo City.

The OAK Jubilee celebration will continue with a series of activities, including a fun run on June 14, before culminating in an international novena gathering at the Iloilo Convention Center from June 24 to 26.

The gathering is expected to bring together devotees from different parts of the world, including the superior general of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and the papal nuncio to the Philippines.

The Perpetual Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help is a weekly Catholic devotion centered on a Byzantine-style icon entrusted to the Redemptorist order by Pope Pius IX in 1866. Its Philippine adoption after World War II turned Wednesday novena services into one of the most widely attended weekly devotions in the country.