The Centennial Candle was blessed by Bishop Stephen Lowe during the annual Tōtara Point Mass in Hokianga, Northland. This Mass commemorates the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Aotearoa in 1838 by Bishop Jean Baptiste François Pompallier, marking both the beginning of Catholic liturgical life in this land and an early encounter with tangata whenua.

The blessing held special significance. It was Bishop Pompallier who, 22 years after that historic Mass, invited the young Suzanne Aubert to Aotearoa to work in partnership with Māori. Beginning our centennial journey at Tōtara Point honoured this connection and the steps that eventually led to Meri Hōhepa founding of the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion.