Haiti and Our Lady of Perpetual Help

On June 27, 2018, Haiti celebrated the 75^th anniversary of its consecration to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patron saint of the island. For this solemn occasion, Haiti’s Episcopal Conference organized a great procession of prayer and praise, followed by a Mass of thanksgiving.

This event had a great significance for the people of Haiti, not only because it gave them an opportunity to give thanks to God and the Virgin Mary who interceded for them when smallpox ravaged the island in 1882, but it also marked the closing of a jubilee year for Haiti.

Bishop Sylvain Ducange, auxiliary bishop of Port-au-Prince, the capital of the island, said: "As Haitians, we must live by our values, and promote a new vision focused on human development, through the integral development of the person."

As in 1942—the year of the consecration of the country to Our Lady of Perpetual Help—all the bishops of the country attended the ceremony of this Marian anniversary. Delegations represented all ten dioceses of Haiti.

Le Nouvellist