OUR LADY OF DIVINE MERCY

Day 338: April 15

Our Lady of Divine Mercy, Allada, Republic of Benin, West Africa



In the year 1856, Bishop Melchior de Marion Brésillac, founder of the Society of African Missions (SMA), asked Propaganda Fide (now the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) to send him and his missionaries to Dahomey (today known as the Republic of Benin). In 1860, the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Dahomey and entrusted it to the Society of African Missions (SMA).

Fr Francesco Borghero SMA (from Italy) was appointed Interim Superior of the Vicariate. With Fathers Francisco Fernandez (Spanish) and Louis Edde (French), Father Borghero set sail from Toulon on January 5, 1861. Only Fathers Borghero and Fernandez arrived at the port of Ouidah on April 18, 1861 to begin the evangelization of Benin.

The late Archbishop of Cotonou, Mgr Isidoro de Souza, who worked so hard to establish democracy and peace in the country, wanted to provide his diocese with a center of pilgrimage and Marian spirituality dedicated to "Our Lady of Divine Mercy", Patroness of the Diocese. A site was chosen on a hill later called Malia Kpota, near Allada, a town of about 100 thousand inhabitants located in the heart of the Diocese and easily accessible by road and rail.

The direction, management and liturgical and pastoral animation of the Marian Center was entrusted by the prelate to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Bishop de Souza, a pastor with a clear and prophetic vision of the Church, proceeded to the canonical appointment of the rector, linked to the head of the religious community residing there. The choice responded to criteria of pastoral common sense, but also of trust and gratitude towards the Franciscans consulted and committed to this project. In 1992 the first great annual pilgrimage took place, an appointment in the month of December, which since then has been repeated every year Sunday following the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and which also allows pilgrims to gain, with the necessary provisions, the plenary indulgence. This place of pilgrimage, canonically built in 1997 as a diocesan shrine, lacked a large church capable of gathering all the faithful, until then forced to field celebrations.

Providence led their steps to many people of good will, both in Benin and in Italy. Particularly generous was Prof René Derlin Zinsou of Benin who provided most of the funds in memory of his wife, Celuta Benjamin of Guyana wanted to build a church in honor of Our Lady. The works began on June 13, 2001, the feast of St Anthony of Padua and were completed at the end of 2006. They have required enormous sacrifices undertaken with passion and love by the missionaries. The shrine was consecrated on April 15, 2007, the feast of Merciful Jesus (the Sunday after Easter of that year), in the presence of thousands of faithful and with the extraordinary participation of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin and the President of the Republic.

The statue of Our Lady above the main altar revives the popular imagination among the confraternities of Mercy in the 1400's, showing Mary protecting people under her mantle. Instead of clerics or bourgeois, this Mother of Mercy envelops the children of the races of the world.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"All your benevolence and favor belong to the series of graces that prepare, complete and crown one another and they all come to me through your hands."

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 162)

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