MANILA — Baclaran Redemptorist Church is a cavernous, seven-story structure with a vaulted ceiling and hundreds of pews. Throughout the day Wednesday, 120,000 Catholics came to worship ...

The first novena in Baclaran was held on Wednesday, June 23, 1948. Since then, devotees have flocked to Baclaran every Wednesday. As the number of worshippers grew, a new and larger church became ...

Wednesdays in Baclaran, in fact, have a special label: “Baclaran Day,” when up to 150,000 devotees pray a traditional novena to Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, at the shrine under the same ...