Our Lady of Perpetual Help

This article is about icon. For other uses, see Our Lady of Perpetual Succor (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Mary Help of Christians.

Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (or of Succour) or "Sancta Mater de Perpetuo Succursu" (Official Latin Title) Holy Mother of Perpetual Help is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius IX, associated with a Byzantine icon of the same name dating from the 15th century. The icon has been in Rome since 1499, and is currently in the church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori all'Esquilino. In the Eastern Orthodox Church this iconography is known as the Virgin of the Passion or Theotokos of the Passion. Some Roman Catholics believe the icon to be a true copy of the painting that according to legend was painted from the life by Saint Luke using the meal table of the Holy Family in Nazareth, and in Eastern Orthodox tradition was often identified with the Hodegetria icon,^[1] and consider it to be a miraculous imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary both in the Latins and Orthodox communities. The icon is unique and renowned due to Mary looking towards the faithful, while pointing at her son, Jesus Christ who is frightened by the instruments of crucifixion and is depicted with a fallen sandal.^[1]

Due to the Redemptorist Priests who had been appointed as missionaries of this icon, the image has become very popular among Roman Catholics in particular, and has been very much copied and reproduced. Modern reproductions are sometimes displayed in homes or elsewhere. For many centuries, Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians have prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary for intercession on their behalf to Jesus Christ. On the current feast of Roman Catholic calendar of saints Our Lady of Perpetual Help is commemorated on June 27 while common novena prayers are customarily held on Wednesdays.^[2]

Description

The original wooden icon suspended in the altar measures 17" × 21" inches and is painted on hard nut wood with a gold leaf background.^[3] The image depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a dress of dark red, representing the Passion of Jesus with a blue mantle representing her perpetual virginity and cloaked veil which represents her pure modesty. On the left side is the Saint Archangel Michael, carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus. On the right is the Saint Archangel Gabriel carrying a 3-bar cross used by Popes at the time and nails. The Virgin Mary has a star on her forehead, signifying her role as Star of the Sea while the cross on the side has been claimed as to the school which has produced this icon. The Byzantine depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in art has three stars, one star each on the shoulder and one on the forehead. This type of icon is called Hodegetria composition, where Saint Mary is also pointing to her Son, known as a Theotokos of the Passion.^[4]

The Greek inscriptions read 'MP-ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεού, Mother of God); OAM (Archangel Michael); OAΓ (Archangel Gabriel); and Iς-Xς ( Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Jesus Christ ), respectively. The icon is painted with a gold background on a walnut panel which was probably painted in the islands of Crete, which at the time was then ruled by the Republic of Venice.^[5] The Cretan School was the source of the many icons imported into Europe from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance. The icon was cleaned and restored once in 1866 and again in the year 1940.

Origin and Discovery

A series of articles on Roman Catholic Mariology
General articles Overview of Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology
Expressions of devotion Art • Hymns • Music • Architecture
Specific articles Apparitions • Saints • Popes • Societies • Hearts of Jesus & Mary • Consecration to Mary

The earliest written account of the image comes from a Latin and Italian plaque placed in the church of San Matteo in Via Merulana where it was first venerated by the public in 1499.^[6] The writer of the icon is unknown, but according to a parchment attached to the painting^[7] that accompanied the icon, it was stolen by a merchant from Crete who was sailing to Rome. The merchant sailed and hid the icon while traveling at sea, until a storm hit hard and the sailors prayed to the icon for help.^[8] When the merchant arrived in Rome he fell ill, and as he was dying wish he asked a second merchant to place the icon in a church where it could serve for veneration.^[8] Initially, the merchant was reluctant in giving away the icon and took four instances until the second merchant confided to his wife about the icon. Upon seeing the beautiful icon, the woman refused to give it to the church but instead hung it in their home. Later on, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the merchant's daughter, grandmother and neighbor, who implored that the icon be turned over to a parish.^[7] The Virgin Mary allegedly appeared to the little girl that the icon ought to be placed between the basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. The wife gave the icon to the Augustinian Friars. On March 27, 1499, the icon was transferred to the church of San Matteo where it remained for 300 years.^[7]

Transfer & Restoration

In 1798, Gubernatore André Masséna, who was then the pro-consul and governor of Rome, had decided to destroy and pillage several churches in the city for the usage of infantry bases. The church of San Matteo in the Via Merulana was one of these. The Augustian friars first took the icon to the nearby Church of St. Eusebius, then later set it up on a side altar in the Church of Santa Maria in Posterula. Decades later, Pope Pius IX invited the Redemptorist Fathers to set up a Marian house of veneration in Rome, in response to which the Redemptorists built the Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori at that location. The Redemptorists were thus established on the Via Merulana, not knowing that it had once been the site of the Church of San Mateo and shrine of the once-famous icon.^[7]

Present Caretaker

The Superior General of the Redemptorists, Father Nicholas Mauron, brought the urgent matter to the attention of Pope Pius IX, who later decided the icon should certainly be exposed to public veneration and given an official Marian title. The current site chosen by Pope Pius IX was the Church of St. Alphonse, standing as it did on the site where it had formerly been venerated. In 1866, Pope Pius IX wrote a short memorandum ordering the Augustinian friars to surrender the icon to the Redemptorist priests, on condition that the Redemptorists must supply the Augustinians with another picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help or a good copy of the icon in exchange as a gesture of goodwill.^[8] Upon its official transfer, Pope Pius IX finally gave his Apostolic Blessing and titled the icon Mater de Perpetuo Succursu" or "Our Mother of Perpetual Help. On June 23, 1867, the image was canonically crowned by the Dean of the Vatican Chapter in a solemn and official recognition of the Marian icon under that title.^[9] On April 21, 1866, the Redemptorist Superior General gave one of the first copies of the icon to Pope Pius XI. This copy is preserved in the chapel of the Redemptorists' Generalate in Rome. The original icon remains under the care of the Redemptorist Fathers at the Church of St. Alphonsus with the latest restoration of the icon having taken place in 1990.^[10]

Pope Pius IX very words of instructions to the Redemptorists were:

11 December 1865

The Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda will call the Superior of the community of Sancta Maria in Posterula and will tell him that it is Our desire that the image of Most Holy Mary, referred to in this petition, be again placed between Saint John and St. Mary Major; the Redemptorists shall replace it with another adequate picture.

Pope Pius IX^[11]

Veneration

The Perpetual Help Novena, Baclaran. Published by Irish Redemptorist priests

Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been venerated, having been popularized among many cultures and under several titles in different languages such as Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, Notre-Dame du Perpétuel Secours, Mater de Perpetuo Succursu, Ina ng Laging Saklolo, and Mother of Perpetual Succour. In addition to this, Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been the national patron saint of Haiti.^[12]

Among Roman Catholics in the Philippines and various Filipino communities worldwide, Our Lady of Perpetual Help is widely venerated. Pope John Paul II held mass at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the Philippines where the devotion is very popular and many Catholic churches hold a Rosary, Benediction, Novena and Eucharistic Mass honoring Mary every Wednesday using a replica of the icon, which is also widely displayed in houses, buses and public transport in the Philippines.^[13][14][15] Devotions to the icon have spread from the Philippines to the United States.^[16][17] The Perpetual Help Novena uses the same Wednesday novena booklet initially published by the Redemptorist Fathers from Ireland who introduced the icon to the Philippines in the early 20th century. Many Roman Catholic parishes with Filipino communities abroad have also adopted the same tradition of the solemn Wednesday novena.

See also

• Roman Catholic Marian art
• Black Nazarene
• Virgin of Mercy

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Our Mother of Perpetual Help
2. ^ Feast of The Mother of Perpetual Help
3. ^ Fest-schrift zum Andenken an die Wieder-Eröffnung der St. Peter's Kirche, St. Peter's Church Philadelphia, 1901, page 93
4. ^ Types of Theotokos of the Passion
5. ^ Icons and saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church by Alfredo Tradigo 2006 ISBN 0892368454 page 188
6. ^ Mother of Perpetual Help
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Our Mother of Perpetual Help History
8. ^ ^{a b c} Ann Ball, 2003 Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices ISBN 0-87973-910-X pages 431-433
9. ^ Our Mother of Perpetual Help June 27th
10. ^ The History of the Icon
11. ^ The History of the Icon
12. ^ patrons of Haiti
13. ^ Vatican website: Pope John Paul II in the Philippines
14. ^ Culture and customs of the Philippines by Paul A. Rodell 2001 ISBN 0313304157 page 58
15. ^ Relations between religions and cultures in Southeast Asia by Donny Gahral Adian, Gadis Arivia 2009 ISBN 1565182502 page 129
16. ^ Asian American religions by Tony Carnes, Fenggang Yang 2004 ISBN 081471630X page 355
17. ^ Religion at the corner of bliss and nirvana by By Lois Ann Lorentzen 2009 ISBN 0822345471 pages 278-280

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Our Lady of Perpetual Succour". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

• Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices; Ann Ball;2003;Our Sunday Visitor Publishing;ISBN 087973910X

Further reading

• The Story of an Icon: The Full History, Tradition and Spirituality of the Popular Icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help; Fabriciano Ferrero;Redemptorist Publications; 2002; ISBN 978-0852312193

External links

• Website of the Redemptorist Fathers'