|
The
history of the title given to the Blessed Virgin
Mary as "Mother of Perpetual Help",
has a rich tradition found in the history of the
picture itself. Tradition tells us that in the
15th Century a merchant brought to Rome the
original icon which we now call "Mother of
Perpetual Help", that he had stolen from a
Church on the island of Crete. Upon his
death, the picture was passed on to a local
Roman family, with the promise that the picture
would be given to a church where it could be
rightfully honored. However, the family did not
keep their promise and instead held on to it.
Taking
matters into her own hands, the Blessed Virgin appeared
to one of the children of the family that had
possession of the picture. Calling herself "Holy
Mary of Perpetual Help", the Blessed Mother made a
request to the girl that she tell her parents to take
the picture to St. Matthew's Church in Rome. In the year
1499, the picture was finally placed inside St.
Matthew's of Rome. It stayed there for more than
three-hundred years, and experienced great devotion with
many miracles attributed to its veneration.
However, during the Roman wars of 1798, it was
placed in a nearby monastery chapel so as to preserve it
from the destruction that inevitably claimed the Church
of St. Matthew. The picture fell into obscurity
over the years that followed, hidden away
In the mid-1800's, the
Redemptorist Missionaries purchased the land on which
once stood the Church of St. Matthew. They erected a new
Church there in honor of their founder, Saint Alphonsus
Liguori. While doing research on the history of the
area, they discovered writings which made reference to
an icon of "The Virgin of Perpetual Help".
Upon locating the picture in
the nearby monastery, the Redemptorists petitioned Pope
Pius IX to entrust the icon to their guardianship so
that they could place it in their new Church which stood
on the original location of St. Matthew's, so as to
fulfill as best as possible the Virgin's original
request. In 1866, the picture was moved in solemn
procession to the Redemptorist Church of Saint
Alphonsus Liguori, accompanied by a verbal command from
Pope Pius IX that the Redemptorists should, "make
her known throughout the world!"
Since that time, the Redemptorist Priests and
Brothers have devoutly followed the command of Pope Pius
IX. They have distributed throughout the world millions
of copies of the original miraculous picture of Our
Mother of Perpetual Help -- the picture of
"a Mother who always
helps!"
|
