Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

 Significance of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

You probably recognize the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, which has become one of the most venerated pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but have you paused to think about the various elements of this icon?

In this iconography, Mary is represented as the one who guides us to her son, Jesus Christ the Redeemer. The icon is known for being miraculous; over the centuries countless healings and special graces have been attributed to it.

The elements of the icon

It shows the Most Blessed Virgin Mary holding her divine child in her arms as two archangels Micheal and Gabriel tower above carrying the instruments of his Passion with veiled hands. 

The initials of the four main characters are shown in Greek initials. The inscriptions read MP-ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, Greek for 'Mother of God'), ΟΑΜ (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ, Greek for 'Michael the Archangel'), ΟΑΓ (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Γαβριήλ, Greek for 'Gabriel the Archangel') and IC-XC (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Greek for 'Jesus Christ') respectively.

The background is gold, signifying Heaven, where Jesus and Mary now reign in glory. 

Archangel Michael is shown wearing dark green and holding the lance that pierced the side of Jesus, the wine-soaked sponge on a reed, and the crown of thorns.

Archangel Gabriel is depicted wearing purple and holding the traditional three-bar cross of the Eastern Church and nails. 

Jesus Christ although childlike is shown with miniature adult features, his countenance is one of fear at the vision of his Passion which he had in a dream. He is depicted with one sandal falling off, signifying that he rushed into his Mother's arm for help, and Mother Mary scooped him up and gave him comfort. Despite a foreboding vision of suffering, the icon also conveys the triumph of Christ over sin and death, symbolized by the golden background as a sign of the glory of the resurrection. 

The head of our Lady is tilted as she gently cradles him in both hands, showing the depth of her compassion. But her mouth is closed in silent prayer, and her large pleading eyes are fixed on you and me as if to plead with us, 'Do not hurt my Son any more by your sins and I will help you by his goodness'.  

Our Lady is clothed in the colours of royalty; her tunic is of dark red (royalty in Byzantine tradition) and her mantle is dark blue with a green lining. According to another interpretation, dark red colour is said to have been worn by virgins at the time of Christ, while the colour blue was worn by mothers in Palestine. 

The Child Jesus also wears the colours of royalty - brown under which is a green tunic and red-waist band.  Both Jesus and Mary have golden halos, but Christ’s halo is decorated with a cross as a sign of His Divinity. Bejewelled crowns were placed on the heads of both Mother and Child of the original icon by order of the Vatican in 1867, these were moved during the restoration in the 1990s. 

On Our Lady's veil is the 8-pointed 'Morning Star' or 'The Star of the Sea', the small ornate cross to the left of the star reinforces this. St Bonaventure says, 'Sinners should not despair of saving their souls, but should lift up their eyes to Mary and she will guide them into the harbour of salvation'.

Christ’s hands, turned palms down into His Mother’s, indicate that He has placed the graces of the Redemption in her keeping. Our Lady’s hand does not clasp those of her Son, but remains open, inviting us to put our hands in hers along with those of Jesus.

The history of the painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

The original painting of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor is by an anonymous monk probably from the Greek Island of Crete done the Byzantine tradition of iconography. It dates back to the 14th century and is about 21"H x 17"W and is now housed in the Church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori at Via Merulana 31, Rome. 

By some accounts, sometime at the end of the 15th century, the icon was stolen from a Cretan Church by a Roman merchant when he left the island. During the voyage, a terrible storm arose, threatening the lives of all on the ship.  The passengers and crew prayed to our Blessed Mother and were saved. Once in Rome, the merchant ordered that the image be displayed for public veneration as his dying wish.  His friend, who retained the image, received further instructions in a dream to his little daughter, the Blessed Mother appeared and expressed the desire for the image to be venerated in a Church between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran in Rome.  The image, consequently, was housed at the Church of St. Matthew, and became known as “The Madonna of Saint Matthew.”  

In 1793, Pope Clement XI requested the Irish Augustinian monks to take charge of the Church of St Matthew's. Pilgrims flocked to the church for the next three hundred years, and great graces were bestowed upon the faithful. After Napoleon’s troops destroyed the Church of St. Matthew in 1812, the image was transferred to the Church of St. Mary in Posterula and remained there for nearly forty years.  There, the image was neglected and forgotten. 

By divine providence, the forgotten image was rediscovered. Augustinian monks in charge of the church of St Matthew heard the plea of Mother Mary desiring the icon to be brought to the Church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori. Their Superior General, Father Nicholas Mauron, presented a letter to Pope Plus IX in which he petitioned the Holy See to grant them the icon of Perpetual Help and that it be placed in the newly built Church of the Most Holy Redeemer and St. Alphonsus. The Pope granted the request on December 11, 1865. 

Cardinal Patrizzi announced in the name of Pope Pius IX that the image of the Mother of Perpetual Help be publicly venerated on 26th April 1866 on the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, with a mandate to the Redemptorist to 'make her known throughout the world'.

The painting was faded and the eminent Polish artist Leopold Novotny was asked to restore it. The enthronement ceremony of the restored painting was held on 23rd June 1867, at a Pontifical High Mass when the Archbishop of Constantinople Rev Aloysius Antici-Mattei officially conferred the Marian icon with its present title, 'Our Lady of Perpetual Succor' with a Canonical Coronation where he blessed two gold crowns studded with precious jewels. One he place on the head of the Divine Child and the other on the head of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Finally, in 1990, the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was taken down from above the main altar as it was in a serious state of deterioration. The wood as well as the paint had suffered from environmental changes and prior attempts at restoration. The first part of the restoration consisted of a series of tests and analyses. The results of these analyses especially a Carbon–14 test, indicated the wood of the icon of Perpetual Help could safely be dated from the years 1325 – 1480. The second stage of the restoration consisted of the physical work of filling the cracks and perforations in the wood, cleaning the paint, retouching the affected sections, and strengthening the structure that sustains the icon. 

Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

O Mother of Perpetual Help, with great confidence we come before your holy icon to be inspired by the example of your life.

We think of you at that moment, when, full of faith and trust, you accepted God's call to be the mother of his Son.

Help us your children, to accept with joy our calling in life. 

When you learned that your cousin Elizabeth was in need, you immediately went to serve her and offer your help.

Make us, like you, to be concerned for others. 

We think of you, Mother, at the foot of the cross.

Your heart must have bled to see your Son in agony.

But your joy was great when he rose from the dead, victorious over the power of evil.

Mother of Sorrows, help us through our trials and disappointments.

Help us not to lose heart.

May we share with you and your Son the joy of having courageously faced up to all the challenges of life? 

Amen.

Bonus: The earliest icon of Mother Mary

Hodegetria

According to the tradition of the Eastern Churches, the first to paint the image of Mother Mary was St Luke, who painted an image of the Madonna on wood and showed it to Mother Mary, who gave him her blessing. 

The Evangelist Saint Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles in addition to the Gospel. He is believed to be a physician who accompanied St Paul. The Gospel of St Luke provides unique canonical accounts of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and the Finding in the Temple so he must have interacted with Mother Mary, who had moved to Ephesus along with St John (the favourite disciple of Jesus who Jesus, while still on the cross, nominated to take care of the Most Blessed Virgin). Various sources attribute at least 4 Marion icons to St Luke so he must have also been an artist, and is the patron saint of painters.

According to one tradition, the Evangelist St Luke sent the painting to his friend Theophilus in Antioch. In the middle of the 5th Century, this icon came into the possession of Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius II, the Emperor of Constantinople. Eventually, the painting was given to St Pulcheria who enshrined it in one of the Churches of Constantinople where it was known as 'Hodegetria' or 'Hodighitria' which in Greek means, 'to lead the way'. Quite possibly soldiers defending the City of Constantinople carried the icon onto the battlefield. 

References

1. Kelly, J. (2023, June 27). History of our Lady of Perpetual Help. Indian Catholic Matters. Retrieved January 11, 2024, from https://www.indiancatholicmatters.org/history-of-our-lady-of-perpetual-help/

2. Symbolism of the Icon of Our Lady. (n.d.). https://stmaryofperpetualhelp.com/icon-of-our-lady.

3. The meaning of our Lady of Perpetual Help icon. (n.d.). The Catholic Company. Retrieved January 11, 2024, from https://www.catholiccompany.com/the-meaning-behind-the-our-lady-of-perpetual-help-icon/

4. What is the story behind the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help? - Catholic Straight Answers. (2013, May 22). Catholic Straight Answers. Retrieved January 11, 2024, from https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-story-behind-the-image-of-our-lady-of-perpetual-help/

5. History, Tradition, and Interpretation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon. (n.d.). OLPS Glendale, AZ. Retrieved January 11, 2024, from https://olphglendale.com/news/history-tradition-and-interpretation-of-our-lady-of-perpetual-help-icon