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Catholics celebrate birth of Blessed Virgin Mary

By Ben Cal

September 8, 2021, 3:52 pm

MANILA – Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Filipino Catholics on Wednesday joined the entire Christendom to celebrate the birth of the Blessed Mother, bombarding heaven with prayers asking the Virgin Mary of her powerful intercession to stop the deadly virus that has so far killed over 4.5 million people worldwide.

Holy Masses are held every day in all Catholic churches in the country with only a few devotees allowed to physically attend due to health and safety protocols being imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Catholics also attend Holy Mass through online or viewing live on television, YouTube, cellular phones and radio broadcast.

During the Mass, the priest leads in praying to the Mother of God for her intercession to stop the surge of Covid-19 in the Philippines.

According to the Holy Bible, the Blessed Virgin Mary was born without original sin as God wanted to be. Mary’s parents were Joachimin and Ann. Her birthplace is Jerusalem.

The Blessed Mother, the Mother of Jesus Christ is known as a powerful intercessor of mankind throughout history.

Filipinos are strong devotees of the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her intercession for miracle healing of various illness, protection, and many others which the Blessed Mother answered as testified by countless of devotees.

In honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Catholic Church in the Philippines built the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help located in Parañaque City, the biggest shrine in the world dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Before Covid-19 struck last year, up to 150,000 devotees flock to the shrine every Wednesday to attend a Novena in honor of the Blessed Mother.

The Baclaran Church can be compared to other international shrines such as Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Assisi in Italy, and Guadalupe in Mexico. (PNA)

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