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. The icon shows 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.[4] 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.[5]
The Greek inscriptions read MP-ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, Mother of God), OAM (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ, Michael the Archangel), OAΓ (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Γαβριήλ, Gabriel the Archangel) and IC-XC ( 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.[6] 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.
Look at the copy
of the picture. Frightened by the vision of two angels showing Him
the instruments of the Passion, the Christ Child has run to His Mother,
almost losing, in His haste, one of the tiny sandals. Mary holds Him in
her arms reassuringly, lovingly. But notice her eyes. They look not at
Jesus, but at us. Is this not a touch of genius? How better express Our
Lady's plea to us to avoid sin and love her Son?
Christ's little Hands, too, are pressed into Mary's as
a reminder to us that, just as on earth He placed Himself entirely in
her hands for protection, so now in Heaven He has given into her hands
all graces, to distribute to those who ask Her. This is the
principal message of the picture. A Byzantine icon, however, it is
replete with other symbols. Here are some of them.
|
| Star on
Our Lady's veil. She is the Star Of the Sea . . . who brought the light
of Christ to the darkened world . . . the star
that leads us to the safe port of Heaven. |
Greek Initials for "Mother of God" 
|
Golden Crown placed on
the original picture by order of the Holy See in 1867 It is a token of
the many miracles wrought by Our Lady invoked under the title of
"Perpetual Help." |
| Greek Initial
for St. Michael the Archangel " He is depicted holding the lance
and gall-sop of Christ's Passion |
Greek Initial for
"St. Gabriel the Archangel." He holds the Cross and the nails. |
| Mary's Mouth
is small for silent recollection. She speaks little. |
Mary's Eyes are large for all our troubles They are turned toward
us always. |
| Red Tunic
the color worn by virgins at the time of Christ. |
Greek Initials for "Jesus Christ."
|
Dark Blue Mantle the color worn
by mothers in Palestine. Mary is both Virgin and Mother.
|
Mary's Left Hand supporting Christ possessively: She is his Mother.
It is a comforting hand for everyone who calls on Her. |
Christ's Hands turned palms down
into His Mother's indicate that the Graces of Redemption are in Her
keeping
|
Falling Sandal Perhaps, the symbol of a soul clinging to Christ by
one last thread -- devotion to Mary. | |
The entire
background is golden symbolic of Heaven where Jesus and Mary are now
enthroned. The gold also shines through their clothing showing the
heavenly joy. They can bring to tired human hearts.
The following poem
puts in words many of these meanings of the icon of
Our Mother of
Perpetual Help:
Madonna, in thy eastern shrine reposing,
We crown thee Empress of the
adopted West,
And hail thee Mother, for
redemption's closing
Left thee to us in Jesus'
last bequest.
Perpetual Help! Upon the
breast of mother,
Omnipotence here lisps His
childhood's fears,
And thou dost soothe His
terrors as no other
But thou couldst do, and kiss
away His tears.
But even while thy Infant's fingers tremble
Their fright within thy
palms, while cherubim,
Golgotha's grim precursors,
here assemble
With spectral cross and
lance, 'tis not on Him
But on us Cains, whose sins
have slain our brother,
Thy eyes gaze sadly from thy
frame above;
The wayward child is dearest
to his mother,
The prodigal e'er nearest to
her love.
Behold us, like the loosened sandal cleaving
To Jesus' feet by but a
single strap --
Should that thong fail, be
thou our hope receiving
Thy fallen children in a
mother's lap.
(Rev. John T. Feeney)
|
The Story of It's Journey through the Centuries...
In 1498, the picture
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was in a church on the island of Crete,
in Greece. The picture had been there for some time and was known to
be miraculous. One day a merchant from Crete stole the picture of Our
Lady. He hid the picture among his things, boarded a ship and set out
to sea. When a great storm arose the terrified sailors begged God and
Our Lady to save them. Their prayers were heard and they were saved from
shipwreck.
A year later, the merchant went to Rome with the picture. There he got
a disease and became terribly sick. He asked his Roman friend to take
care of him. The merchant grew worse and realized that he would soon
die. He called on his friend and with tears in his eyes, begged his friend
to do him one last favour. When the Roman promised to do so, the weeping
merchant continued, “Some time ago I stole a beautiful, miraculous
picture of Our Lady from a church in Crete! You will find it with my
belongings. I beg you, please place it in some church where the people
will give it much honour.” In time the merchant died. The Roman
found the picture and showed it to his wife. She wanted to keep the picture,
so she put it in her bedroom.
One day, the Blessed
Virgin appeared to the Roman saying, “Do not keep this picture, but
put it in some more honourable place.” But the Roman did not do as
Our Lady asked him and kept the picture. Some time later Our Lady begged
him a second time not to keep the picture, but to place it in a more honourable
place. Again, he did not do as Our Lady asked him to do.
Then the Blessed
Virgin appeared to the Roman’s six year old daughter, and told her to
warn her mother and her grandfather saying, “Our Lady of Perpetual
Help commands you to take her out of the house!”
Finally, after many
delays, the Virgin Mary appeared to the little girl a second time, “Our
Lady of Perpetual Help commands you to tell your mother, to place
my picture between St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran, in the church
dedicated to St. Matthew the Apostle!” The mother did as she was
told and sent for the Augustinian Fathers who were in charge of that church.
Then on that very day, March 27, 1499, the picture was taken to the church
of St. Matthew the Apostle on the Esquiline Hill, one of the seven hills
in Rome. It was placed between two beautifully carved columns of black
Carra marble above a splendid white-marble altar.
For three centuries
from 1499 until 1798, the church of St. Matthew in Rome was one of the
most popular pilgrimage sites in Rome, because of the miraculous picture.
Many pilgrims who came to the shrine: saints and sinners, Cardinals, Bishops
and priests, kings and princes, rich and poor. They came to see the miraculous
picture of Our Lady and pray before it.
But this was not
to last. The French armies led by Napoleon Bonaparte, invaded the Papal
States in 1796. Rome was in danger of being attacked and taken over by
the enemies. By February 17, 1797, the Pope was forced to sign the Peace
Treaty of Tolintino. The Holy Father did not want to do this but he had
to, in order to protect the Papal States from the enemy.
A year after signing
the Treaty, the French General Berthier marched into Rome and proclaimed
the “Free Roman Republic.” He lied, there was no freedom. Then
shortly after, Berthier was replaced by the French General Massena. On
June 3, 1798, General Massena commanded that thirty churches be destroyed!
One of them was St. Matthew’s! He cried out, “There are too many churches
in Rome. The church land can be used for better things!” He wanted
to make the people realize that worse things would happen if they did
not obey his every command. The terrified Romans prayed to Our Lady and
she helped them in all their troubles.
Because the Augustinian
Monastery was destroyed, the monks were allowed to return to Ireland,
their homeland. A few returned but most of them stayed in Rome. Some
went to St. Augustine’s, the main church and monastery of the Augustinian
Fathers. The rest of the monks took the miraculous picture of Mary and
moved to St. Eusebio’s, a poor old church with a huge monastery. St.
Eusebio’s was in terrible condition and needed much cleaning and repairing.
The picture of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help stayed at St. Eusebio’s for twenty years. Since
the place was too large for the few monks who lived there, in 1819, the
Pope asked the Jesuits to take over St. Eusebio’s. The Holy Father gave
the Augustinian’s the small church and monastery of Santa Maria, in Posterula,
on the other side of the city. The monks took the miraculous picture
of Mary with them, and gave it a place of honour in the monastery chapel.
In 1788, Augustine
Orsetti joined the Augustinian Order at St. Matthew’s and became Br. Augustine.
As a young religious, he used to spend much of his free time praying before
the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He studied and
memorized the history of the picture.
When St. Matthew’s
was destroyed, Br. Augustine was transferred to St. Augustine’s. Then
in 1840, he was transferred to the Monastery of Santa Maria in Posterula.
When he arrived at Santa Maria he went to the community chapel. There
he saw the beautiful miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
It was just as he remembered it, when he had been at St. Matthew’s.
Br. Augustine looked
after the sacristy at Santa Maria. He cleaned the chapel and its holy
images. He also trained altar boys and taught them how to serve Mass.
Michael Marchi, one of the Altar boys, became a good friend of Br. Augustine.
The Brother often spoke to him about the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help saying, “Do you see that picture Michael? It is a very old picture.
Know Michael, the Madonna from St. Matthew's is the one that hangs here
in the chapel. I am not trying to deceive you. It certainly is. Have you
understood, Michael? It was miraculously saved from destruction. Many
people used to come and pray before this miraculous picture. Always remember
what I am telling you.”
In 1854, the Redemptorists,
founded by St Alphonsus Liguori, bought a piece of land in Rome, called
the Villa Caserta, on the Esquiline Hill. Also included with their property,
was the old site of the church of St. Matthew, where the picture of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help had been given great honour.
In 1855, Michael
Marchi joined the Redemptorist Monastery. On March 25, 1857, he made
the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He continued his studies
and was ordained on October 2, 1859.
One day when the
community was at recreation, one priest mentioned that he had read some
ancient books about a miraculous image of Our Lady and that it had been
venerated in the old church of St. Matthew. Fr. Michael Marchi spoke
up, “I know about the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Its name is Our Mother of Perpetual Help and it can be found in the chapel
of the Augustinian Fathers, at their monastery of Santa Maria in Posterula.
I saw it often during the years of 1850 and 1851 when I was a young college
student and served Mass in their chapel."
On February 7, 1863,
Fr. Francis Blosi, a Jesuit priest gave a sermon about the famous picture
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He described the picture of Our Lady,
and said, "I hope that someone in this crowd of faithful listening
to me today, knows where this picture is! If so, please tell that person
who has kept the picture hidden for seventy years, that the Mother of
God has commanded that this picture be placed between the Basilicas of
St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. Hopefully the person will repent
of his thoughtless act and will have the picture placed on the Esquiline
Hill once again, so that all the faithful may honour it.”
Soon the Redemptorists
at St. Alphonsus heard about Fr. Blosi's sermon. Knowing that their church
was located close to the site of the old St. Matthew's Church they hurried
to bring the news to Fr. Mauron, Superior General of the Redemptorists.
Fr. Mauron was in no hurry. He prayed for almost three years to know
the Holy Will of God, in this important matter.
Then on December
11, 1865, Fr. Mauron and Fr. Michael Marchi, obtained an audience with
Blessed Pope Pius IX. Eagerly, the two priests gave the Pope a detailed
story of the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. They pointed out
that Our Lady had asked that the picture be placed in a church between
the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. After listening
to the story, the Pope asked if they had put this into writing. Fr. Mauron
at once produced a document, which Fr. Marchi had written and signed under
oath.
The Holy Father had
a great love for the Virgin Mary. He immediately took the piece of paper
on which Fr. Marchi had written his account. With his own hand, Pope
Pius IX wrote a statement on the backside of the document:
December 11, 1865
The Cardinal
prefect will call the Superior of the little community of Santa Maria
in Posterula and will tell him it is Our will that the Image of the
most holy Mary, of which this petition treats, be returned between St.
John's and St. Mary Major's. However, the Superior of the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer is obliged to substitute another suitable
picture.
Pope
Pius IX
The Pope had spoken
and the case was closed. The Mother of Perpetual Help would soon be home
after nearly seventy-five years in exile. In the early morning of January
19, 1866 Fr Michael Marchi and Ernest Bresciani, hurried across the city
of Rome to Santa Maria in Posterula, to get the holy picture.
The Augustinians
were sad to see their beloved Madonna go but they rejoiced that Our Lady
would once again be honoured at the place where she desired. The Augustinian
monks wanted an exact copy made from the original. This was given to them
shortly afterward.
The Redemptorists
at St. Alphonsus waited for Our Lady of Perpetual Help to arrive. They
were so happy when the picture arrived. But they found that although
the colours were still bright, there were many big nail holes in the picture.
These were made when the picture was hung and for other reasons.
A talented Polish
artist, who lived in Rome, was asked to restore the picture. The picture
was finished toward the close of April. Plans were made for a solemn
procession. The people of the neighbourhood decorated their houses for
the feast. Loads of flowers and vines hung from windows. Banners and flags
draped the walls and the roofs of the houses.
On April 26, 1866,
the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, a great procession set out from
the monastery of St. Alphonsus. During the procession many miraculous
events were reported. A poor mother sat by the bed of her four-year-old
boy, who was at the point of death from a brain illness. He had suffered
from a constant fever for the last three weeks.
The mother heard
the procession coming closer. Suddenly she took the boy in her arms and
held him at the open window. When the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual
Help passed by she cried out, “O good Mother, either cure my child
or take him with you to Paradise!” Within a few days the boy was totally
cured. He went with his mother to the church of St. Alphonsus to light
a candle of thanksgiving at the shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
In another house a little eight year old girl, lay crippled and helpless.
She had been this way since the age of four. As the procession passed
and the miraculous picture of Our Lady came near, the child’s mother offered
her little daughter to the Blessed Virgin. Suddenly the child felt a
great change coming over her. She partly recovered the use of her arms
and legs. On seeing this, the mother became very confident that Our Lady
was helping her little girl. The next day she took the child to the Church
of St. Alphonsus and placed her in front of the miraculous picture of
Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Looking up at the picture she prayed, “Now,
O Mary, finish the work which you have begun.” She had just finished
the words and suddenly the little girl stood up on her feet. She was
perfectly cured!
When the picture
at last reached the Church of St. Alphonsus, it was placed on the high
altar. The church was decorated and the altar was loaded with candles
and huge amounts of flowers. A solemn prayer of thanksgiving was
then sung and the Bishop had Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Then Mary's homecoming
was celebrated for three days. Each morning Mass was celebrated before
the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help by a Cardinal. After the
praying the Litany of Our Lady, a beautiful sermon, and Benediction of
the Most Blessed Sacrament was given by a Bishop. Similar services were
held each evening. The Holy Father granted many special indulgences to
all who attended these devotions.
Father Bernard Bernie,
one of the greatest Redemptorist preachers in Italy, preached the sermons
for three days. His words of wisdom pierced the hearts of his listeners.
At least twelve hundred persons received Communion during this time, at
the shrine of Our Lady.
On May 5, 1866, the Pope made a personal visit to the shrine to see the
picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help with his own eyes. After he had
prayed for a time before the Blessed Sacrament and at the shrine of Our
Lady, he entered the sanctuary and climbed the steps of the high altar
to study the picture more closely. Later, Blessed Pope Pius IX questioned
Fr. Mauron about the history and devotion given to this picture.
Soon afterward, a
new gothic styled, marble altar was set up at St. Alphonsus. A space
in the upper center of the altar was decorated with brilliant, golden
trim. When all was completed, Mary's picture was lovingly put in place.
The first Mass was celebrated at the new shrine altar on March 19, 1871,
the Feast of St. Joseph. The picture has remained there until this day.
Devotion to Our Lady
of Perpetual Help spread rapidly. Hardly a year had passed when on May
12, 1867; the Vatican gave the order for the picture to be crowned. The
coronation date was fixed. On Sunday, June 23, 1867, the Church of St.
Alphonsus was filled up for the solemn Mass and coronation ceremony.
After the Mass, while hymns were being sung, the Archbishop blessed two
golden crowns with precious jewels. He placed one crown upon Mary's head,
the other upon the head of the Child Jesus and the picture was put back
in its place and everyone sang a joyful hymn of praise.
The next day, the
picture was carried through the streets in procession. Each evening fireworks
and thunderous cannons were set off to echo the praises of Mary. At the
close of the week's celebration the name of Mary was spelled in brilliant
light against the blue background of the sky. The people who had taken
part in the ceremonies prayed with one voice, "Long live Mary.
Long live devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help."
Our Lady of Perpetual
Help Pray for Us
The
End
Thank you to Eucharistic Crusade 2002 website for this wonderful article
http://www.sspx.ca/EucharisticCrusade/2002May/Our_Lady_of_Perpetual_Help.htm
