Mother of Perpetual Help
Since 1866 the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists), have spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the icon and title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help or Our Lady of Perpetual Succour or, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the “Virgin Theotokos of the Passion”).
According to tradition, the ancient (and miraculous) Byzantine icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was stolen from the Greek Orthodox Keras Kardiotissas Monastery near the village of Kera, Crete, in 1498 by a Roman merchant. The image remained in the private possession of the Roman merchant and his family until 1499. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin appeared to the six-year-old daughter of this Roman family and told her to tell her mother and grandmother that the picture of Holy Mary of Perpetual Help should be placed in the Church of St. Matthew the Apostle, located between the basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. It was then publicly displayed in the Roman church of San Matteo in Via Merulana between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. The icon remained at San Matteo for 300 years and was popularly called the Madonna di San Matteo.
When the crumbling St. Matthew’s was destroyed in 1789 the icon was rescued and hung in an obscure monastery chapel at the Church of St. Mary in Posterula (demolished in 1880) until the Redemptorists learned that the site of their new headquarters in Rome had once been the site of St. Matthew’s, the one-time home of a miraculous icon of Our Lady. A Redemptorist priest who as a young man had frequented the monastery chapel, that displayed the icon informed his brothers where to find the image. Pope Pius IX granted the possession of the icon to the Redemptorists in 1865
The Redemptorists asked Pope Pius IX for permission to move the icon to their new church, Sant'Alfonso di Liguori all'Esquilino, which was built on the location of the icon’s earlier home. The pope granted his permission and told the Redemptorists to “make her known throughout the world.” The apse of the church is crowned by a mosaic, put in place in 1964, depicting the Redeemer enthroned between the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. Below the mosaic hangs the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, having been given to the Redemptorists by Pope Pius IX in 1866. This original icon remains under the care of the Redemptorist Fathers with the latest restoration of the icon having taken place in 1990.
According to tradition, the ancient (and miraculous) Byzantine icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was stolen from the Greek Orthodox Keras Kardiotissas Monastery near the village of Kera, Crete, in 1498 by a Roman merchant. The image remained in the private possession of the Roman merchant and his family until 1499. According to tradition, the Blessed Virgin appeared to the six-year-old daughter of this Roman family and told her to tell her mother and grandmother that the picture of Holy Mary of Perpetual Help should be placed in the Church of St. Matthew the Apostle, located between the basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. It was then publicly displayed in the Roman church of San Matteo in Via Merulana between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. The icon remained at San Matteo for 300 years and was popularly called the Madonna di San Matteo.
When the crumbling St. Matthew’s was destroyed in 1789 the icon was rescued and hung in an obscure monastery chapel at the Church of St. Mary in Posterula (demolished in 1880) until the Redemptorists learned that the site of their new headquarters in Rome had once been the site of St. Matthew’s, the one-time home of a miraculous icon of Our Lady. A Redemptorist priest who as a young man had frequented the monastery chapel, that displayed the icon informed his brothers where to find the image. Pope Pius IX granted the possession of the icon to the Redemptorists in 1865
The Redemptorists asked Pope Pius IX for permission to move the icon to their new church, Sant'Alfonso di Liguori all'Esquilino, which was built on the location of the icon’s earlier home. The pope granted his permission and told the Redemptorists to “make her known throughout the world.” The apse of the church is crowned by a mosaic, put in place in 1964, depicting the Redeemer enthroned between the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. Below the mosaic hangs the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, having been given to the Redemptorists by Pope Pius IX in 1866. This original icon remains under the care of the Redemptorist Fathers with the latest restoration of the icon having taken place in 1990.