On the Sunday before the Feast of St John the Baptist, Redemptorists solemnise the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Succour. The origin of this practice is not immediately evident, but it lies in the Solemn Coronation of the miraculous image, the 140th anniversary of which we celebrate this year. (1867-2007)
As the coronation must be done with unusual pomp, the venerable Chapter of the Vatican takes the ceremony upon itself. Thus on Sunday, 23 June (the Sunday before the Feast of St John the Baptist), 1867, the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople and Dean of the Chapter, Mgr, later Cardinal, Ruggero Luigi Antici-Mattei, after having sung Pontifical High Mass and intoned the Te Deum, placed two gold crowns studded with pearls and other precious stones, one on the head of the Divine Infant and the other on that of His Mother. The bells of the church and canon fire announced to the people of Rome, among them more than 500 bishops who were in the Eternal City for the 18th Centenary of St Peter and Paul, that the sacred act had been accomplished. These numerous visitors later carried the devotion to the far corners of the world, where she is known today. They were instrumental in assisting the Redemptorists to fulfill the command of the great Pope Pius IX to: “Make Her known.”
As the coronation must be done with unusual pomp, the venerable Chapter of the Vatican takes the ceremony upon itself. Thus on Sunday, 23 June (the Sunday before the Feast of St John the Baptist), 1867, the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople and Dean of the Chapter, Mgr, later Cardinal, Ruggero Luigi Antici-Mattei, after having sung Pontifical High Mass and intoned the Te Deum, placed two gold crowns studded with pearls and other precious stones, one on the head of the Divine Infant and the other on that of His Mother. The bells of the church and canon fire announced to the people of Rome, among them more than 500 bishops who were in the Eternal City for the 18th Centenary of St Peter and Paul, that the sacred act had been accomplished. These numerous visitors later carried the devotion to the far corners of the world, where she is known today. They were instrumental in assisting the Redemptorists to fulfill the command of the great Pope Pius IX to: “Make Her known.”
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