Redemptorists to Conduct National Lighting Ceremony
To coincide with special Mass honoring Our Mother of Perpetual Help

DENVER, CO...June 12, 2007...On Sunday, June 24th, at 1:00 p.m. (CST), a candle will be lit at the Redemptorist parish, St. Michael's Catholic Church in Chicago, as part of a special Mass to honor Our Mother of Perpetual Help on her feast day, June 27th. The Very Reverend Thomas D. Picton, C.Ss.R., provincial superior of the Denver Province, will preside and preach.

As part of their National Lighting Ceremony, the Denver Province Redemptorists are asking people around the country who have a special devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help to share in the spirit of the moment by either lighting their own candles at home at 1:00 p.m. on that Sunday or going to the Redemptorist 'Home' page (www.redemptorists-denver.org) and lighting the virtual candle to Our Mother online.

"This collective 'Light of Love' will shine hope on those who call upon Mary for help in their time of need," said Fr. Picton. "It will honor her life and the way she lived it according to God's holy will. We're asking everyone to please share in this special devotion to her, on her feast day, as a collective sign of our love for her."

In 1866, Pope Pius IX gave the Redemptorists the responsibility of "making her known throughout the world." Her famous icon, adored by millions around the globe, is enshrined in the Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome, Italy. Pictures of the church and shrine are being featured in a special photo exhibit on the Redemptorist 'Home' page to help celebrate her feast day.

###

The Redemptorists are a religious congregation of Catholic priests and brothers founded in southern Italy in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori, C.Ss.R., a doctor of the Church and one of her greatest saints. Redemptorists around the world celebrate this year the 275th anniversary of their founding.