Anything under the sun: Our Lady of Perpetual Help

BY ATTY. REX S. SALVILLA

THE STORY

The original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help came from Crete.

Sometime in the 15th century, a merchant stole it and took it to Rome. He gave it to a friend, instructing him to put it in a church for public veneration.

When this friend died, Our Lady appeared to his daughter to tell her mother: “Holy Mary of Perpetual Help warns you to take this icon from your home or else all of you will soon die.”

The mother obeyed and the image was placed in a church between the Basilica of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. This church was the church of St. Matthew the Apostle under the care of the Augustinian Fathers.

For the next 300 years, the icon was hung over the High Altar of this church and was famous for its miracles.

In 1798, the church was destroyed when Napoleon captured Rome but the icon was preserved in a private chapel of the Augustinians.

Later, a Redemptorist church was built over the ruins of St. Matthew’s Church where a Redemptorist, Fr. Michael Marchi was told about the miraculous icon.

Immediately, Fr. Marchi recalled that when he was still an altar boy at the private Augustinian chapel, he saw the icon there.

The icon was found and in 1866, Pope Pius IX authorized the Redemptorists to have the icon venerated in their church there where it was installed on June, 1866.

INTERPRETATION OF THE ICON

1. The accepted interpretation of the icon is that the Child Jesus was awakened in a dream by the sight of the instruments of His passion (cross, spear and nails) held by Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
2. The Greek letters stand for: Mother of God, Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and Christ.
3. The right hand of Mary point to Jesus as our Savior.
4. Two hands of Jesus are in Mary’s right hand. He places the graces in her care to be distributed to us, His children.
5. Mary’s eyes are looking at each and every one of us. She is saying: “Look at my Son, out of love and in order to save you, He endured death on the cross. Why do you offend Him by sin?”
6. The stars on Mary’s mantle remind us of her title “Stars of the Sea.” As sailors are led to safety thru the light of the stars, so Mary leads sinners back to God.
7. On His fright at the sight of the instruments of His passion, Jesus almost loses one of His sandals. This teaches us that no matter how serious our sins are, we cling to Mary even with little devotion and she will lead us to Salvation.

DEVOTION IN ILOILO

The first Perpetual Help Novena in Iloilo was held on May 13, 1946 during the feast of Our Lady of Fatima at St. Clement’s Church. This was requested by the Catholic American soldiers from Boston, USA so they could attend such novena. This first novena was officiated by Rev. Fr. Patrick Nulty.

Later, seeing the impact of this novena upon the Catholic faithful in Iloilo, the Redemptorist Fathers adopted it in their church in Baclaran, Manila./PN