The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Edited by Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help belongs to the tradition of icons of the Passion dating from 14th century Serbia. The two angels hold the instruments of the Passion and the Infant Christ turns his head to look at them with astonishment. In fear, he seeks refuge with his mother whose eyes speak of the sufferings to come.

The original icon which we now call ‘Our Lady of Perpetual Help’ is in the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome. Its history is shrouded in obscurity, but it is known to have come from the island of Crete over 500 years ago. It arrived in Rome in 1499 and eventually was installed in the Church of St. Matthew.

When that Church was destroyed in 1798 the icon passed into the care of the Augustinians. It was only when another church – the present church of St. Alphonsus – was built near the site of the old St. Matthew’s that the Pope requested that the icon is returned to its original site. In 1866, Pope Pius IX, gave the icon into the care of the Redemptorists with the words make her known to the world.

Today Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the best-loved icons of Our Lady, a perpetual memorial to Byzantine and Eastern iconography in the West!