Our Lady Of Perpetual Help

No woman has been depicted in art as frequently as the Blessed Virgin Mary. From the earliest centuries of Christianity, artists have painted her in all her beauty, strength and purity holding the Christ Child either in her arms or on her lap. In every Catholic church throughout the world, we find an image of her inviting us to worship and adore her Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

One of the most beautiful and popular of such images of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an icon entitled “Our Lady of Perpetual Help”, also known as “Our Lady of Perpetual Succour”.

The original icon is believed to be around seven hundred years old and currently hangs in the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Rome. Many miraculous healings have been associated with the veneration of this image. Over the centuries, faithful Catholics have sought Mary’s intercession under her title as Our Lady of Perpetual Help to assist them with overcoming temptation, persevering through illness and dealing with the other challenges of life.

This striking image portrays Our Lady dressed in blue robes against a gold background. She is holding the child Jesus with the archangels Gabriel and Michael on either side of them. According to tradition, the icon depicts the moments after the child Jesus has a dream of His crucifixion and death. Frightened by the nightmare, Jesus runs into the arms of His mother for comfort. He clutches her thumbs with both hands, looking up at Saint Gabriel who is holding the cross and the nails. While comforting Jesus, Mary is also looking out at us, holding out her Son to us as the source of our salvation. In her loving gaze, we know that, like Jesus, we can run to her for comfort and support when our own cross frightens us.

Today we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title as, “The Mother of God”. In doing so, we make an important act of faith in the child whom she bore. He is fully man, being born of a woman. Yet, He is fully God, as He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. As God, He has existed from all eternity. Because He is fully God and Mary is His mother, Mary is rightly called the “Mother of God”.

As the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help beautifully depicts, Mary was a mother to Jesus in every way. She carried Him in her womb for nine months. She breast-fed, bathed and dressed Him. She would take delight whenever He smiled and laughed. And when He cried, she would wipe away His tears and comfort Him. When He suffered, she suffered right alongside Him up to His brutal death on the cross.

It was on the cross that Jesus offered Mary as a mother to us. When He said, “Woman, behold your son” to Mary and when He said to Saint John, “Behold your mother,” He was doing more than directing Saint John to take care of her. Rather, He was giving Mary to us to be our mother. He was placing us under her loving, motherly care. At that moment, under the tree of the cross, Mary become the mother of all believers.

Therefore, Jesus is not offended when we ask for Mary’s help. He is not slighted when we go to her first. Rather, that is what He wants us to do. He wants us to find comfort in her arms just as He did. He wants us to know her loving, motherly care for us just as He did. And Mary wants nothing more than for us to know and love her Son. In fact, the reason she prays for us and takes care of us is so that she can lead us to Jesus.

Because Mary is our mother, we can turn to her for “perpetual help”. She is always available to us. Unlike an earthly mother who gets tired and needs a break from time to time, Mary can always hear our prayers and is always eager to bring them to Jesus. No matter what trouble we find ourselves in, she is only a prayer away. For this reason, we can have great confidence in her.

Of course, we can go straight to Jesus, because He loves us even more than Mary does and any help that Mary gives us ultimately comes from Him. Still, He gave her to us as our mother so that we could know her motherly care just as He does. He desires that we be like Him in every way, including having the same mother.  And so He is delighted when we turn to her and receive the same comfort and affection He did throughout His life.

As we begin this new year, then, let us bring our needs to Mary, the Mother of God. There are no troubles so small that she does not care about them nor are there problems too big for her to handle. She loves us and wants to help us.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori said, “Mary’s prayers to God are the prayers of a mother and, therefore, are never refused.” The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is a source of perpetual help for all believers. Let us turn to her with confidence and go out with faith knowing that we have a mother who will help us to overcome every difficulty until the hour of our death.