Why pilgrims come
Discover what makes National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help a place of pilgrimage
Known throughout Manila as Baclaran Church, this Redemptorist sanctuary grew from a modest 1932 chapel into the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Its defining tradition is the Perpetual Novena begun in 1948: Wednesday after Wednesday, enormous crowds come for prayer, Mass, confession, thanksgiving, and petitions before the icon. The scale is remarkable, but Baclaran's deeper identity is pastoral—a shrine where Marian devotion, welcome, service to people in need, and the Redemptorist mission meet in the life of the city.
Baclaran is best experienced as a living devotional pilgrimage. Join the rosary, novena, Mass, or quiet prayer of the thousands who entrust their needs to Christ through Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
What to notice
Look closely at the place and its story
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Pray before the icon at the heart of the Redemptorists' shrine ministry.
The Wednesday novena
Experience the recurring devotion that made Baclaran one of the Philippines' best-known pilgrimage places.
A shrine of welcome and service
See how prayer, reconciliation, hospitality, and care for people in need form one pilgrimage experience.
How to read this page
Sources, tradition, and what is verified
The destination record was last checked on 9/15/2026.
This page records the site’s tradition as “Catholic.” That wording describes the nature of the claim and keeps devotional tradition distinct from independently verified history.