By Theresa Cavicchio
Special to The CS&T
The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the most famous Marian
images worldwide. In a large part, that is because of a pope’s
mandate and the efforts of an order of priests — the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer, or more popularly, the Redemptorists.
The histories of the Redemptorists and Our Lady’s icon run like
intersecting lines through the workings of God, in a collaboration that
extends throughout the world.
The icon
The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was created in the Byzantine
style of the Eastern Church. It is intended not as a realistic portrayal
of Mary, but as an aid to spiritual contemplation.
Her sorrowful, forward gaze, and the attitude of the child Jesus are
the icon’s dominant features. Jesus has run to His Mother’s
arms for protection in such haste that one tiny sandal dangles from
His foot.
The fearsome images of the instruments of His passion, held by the Archangels
Michael and Gabriel, have prompted His retreat to the safety of her
embrace. Mary’s solemn gaze guides us to deeper contemplation
of the Paschal mystery but it also reminds us that she is a perpetual
source of aid, comfort, and protection for us, just as she was for Jesus.
The icon was created on the island of Crete in the 14th century. According
to legend, a merchant obtained it illegally and transported it to Rome.
In 1499, it was placed in the Church of St. Matthew, between the Basilicas
of Sts. Mary Major and John Lateran — a site that was said to
have been chosen by Mary. The painting hung for 300 years in the care
of Augustinian friars. Many miracles and graces were attributed to Our
Lady of Perpetual Help, and devotion to her spread quickly.
The Redemptorists and their founder
Reams have been written about the brilliant St. Alphonsus Liguori —
who was a theologian, painter, composer, bishop, prolific author and
Doctor of the Church. Pope John Paul II described him as “a gigantic
figure, not only in the history of the Church, but for the whole of
humanity as well.”
Born into the Italian nobility in 1696, Alphonsus received an excellent
liberal education, and then abandoned his privileged lifestyle and promising
legal career for the priesthood.
His pastoral care of the desperately poor, homeless, and marginalized
in Naples and its neighboring mountains led him to found the Redemptorist
Order in 1732. The Order’s Website [www.cssr.com] explains: “The
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was St. Alphonsus Liguori’s
response to the call he experienced coming from Jesus through the poor.”
That focus on the poor, combined with Alphonsus’ devotion to Our
Lady as manifested in one of his most famous books, “The Glories
of Mary,” became the hallmarks of his congregation.
The order and the icon
When the French occupied Rome in 1798, the Church of St. Matthew was
destroyed by the invaders, and the dispossessed Augustinians transported
the icon to their oratory at Posterula, near the Tiber River.
It was not until 1865 that the paths of the icon and the Redemptorists
intersected, but the stage was set 10 years earlier with the establishment
in Rome of new headquarters for the Redemptorist order and the church
named for its founder. Unbeknownst to the congregation, the structures
were built on the same ground where the Church of St. Matthew had stood.
A series of providential events led to the rediscovery of the icon in
1865.
A Redemptorist priest recalled having seen it hanging in a side chapel
at the Posterula oratory when he was a young altar server there.
Pope Pius IX, who had prayed before the image as a boy, entrusted the
icon to St. Alphonsus’ congregation. Tradition says the pontiff
directed the Redemptorists to make Our Lady of Perpetual Help known
through the world.
In 1866, the icon was restored and hung in the Church of St. Alphonsus,
where it has remained an object of veneration.
The novena
Redemptorist priests continue the work of their founder, preaching parish
missions and retreats, and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ
to society’s marginalized and poor in missionary communities on
five continents.
The Redemptorists also foster devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help,
especially through the novena of that name. [Complete novena prayers
may be found on the Redemptorist Web site, www.cssr.com.] Obeying the
pope’s commission to “make her known all over the world,”
the Redemptorists conduct weekly novena devotions across the globe.
In the United States, the practice began in St. Louis, Mo., in the early
20th century and spread quickly.
Now Catholics gather weekly in Redemptorist churches, diocesan parishes,
and shrines worldwide to implore the assistance of Our Lady of Perpetual
Help.
Always ready to listen and to intercede for us, Mary remains the truest
resource for individuals who, like the child Jesus, hasten to the comfort
of her arms.
The feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated on June 27.
Theresa Cavicchio is a wife and mother. She works in the religious
education program in her parish, St. Madeline.
Feast day: June 27
Prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Mother of Perpetual Help, you have been blessed and favored by God.
You became not only the Mother of the Redeemer but Mother of the redeemed
as well.
We come to you today as your loving children. Watch over us and take
care of us.
As you held the child Jesus in your loving arms, so take us in your
arms.
Be a mother ready at every moment to help us.
For God who is mighty has done great things for you, and His mercy is
from age to age on those who love Him.
Intercede for us, dear Mother, in obtaining pardon for our sins, love
for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace always to call upon you,
Mother of Perpetual Help. Amen.
[Source: Redemptorist Fathers of New York]