Many names have been given to me. I have been called the "Virgin of
the Passion". "the Golden Madonna", "the Mother of the Redemptorist
Missionaries", "the Mother of Catholic homes".
The name of my own choosing is "Mother of Perpetual Help". It is also
the name by which Pope Pius IX requested the Redemptorist Missionaries
to make me known.
My story is of how Heaven hallows human happenings for purposes
divine. It is a history that appears complicated and adventurous, but
seen 'from above" it is a simple, straight line drawn through human
history.
It is the story of an unknown artist, a repentant thief, a curious
little girl, an abandoned church, an old religious and a Pope.
And above all, it is the story of my presence in the apostolic life of
the Missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
There is a tradition from the 16th century that tells us about a
merchant from the isle of Crete who stole a miraculous picture from
one of its churches. He hid it among his wares and set out westward.
It was only through Divine Providence that he survived a wild tempest
and landed on solid ground. After about a year, he arrived in Rome
with his stolen picture.
It was there that he became mortally ill and looked for a friend to
care for him. At his hour of death, he revealed his secret of the
picture and begged his friend to return it to a church. His friend
promised to fulfill this wish, but because his wife did not want to
relinquish such a beautiful treasure, the friend also died without
fulfilling the promise.
At last, 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.
The tradition relates how, after many doubts and difficulties, "the
mother obeyed and after consulting with the clergy in charge of the
church, the picture of the Virgin was placed in St. Matthew's, on the
27th of March, 1499". There it would be venerated during the next 300
years. Thus began the second stage of the history of the icon, and
devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help began to spread throughout
the city of Rome.
St. Matthew's Church was not grand but it possessed an enormous
treasure that attracted the faithful: the icon of Our Mother of
Perpetual Help. From 1739 to 1798, the church and adjacent monastery
were under the care of the Irish Augustinians who had been unjustly
exiled from their country and used the monastery as a formation center
for their Roman Province. The young students found an asylum of peace
in the presence of the Virgin of Perpetual Help while they prepared
themselves for priesthood, the apostolate and martyrdom.
In 1798, war raged in Rome and the monastery and church were almost
totally destroyed. Several Augustinians remained there for a few more
years but eventually they, too, had to leave. Some returned to
Ireland, others to new foundations in America, while the majority
moved to a nearby monastery. This last group brought with them the
picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Thus began the third stage of
her history, the "Hidden Years".
In 1819, the Irish Augustinians moved to the Church of St. Mary in
Posterula, near the "Umberto I" bridge that crosses the Tiber River.
With them went the "Virgin of St. Matthew's". But as "Our Lady of
Grace" was already venerated in this church, the newly arrived picture
was placed in a private chapel in the monastery where it remained, all
but forgotten, but for Brother Augustine Orsetti, one of the original
young friars from St. Matthew's.
The years passed and it seemed that the picture that had been saved
from the war that destroyed St. Matthew's Church, was about to be lost
in oblivion.
A young altar boy named Michael Marchi often visited the Church of
Sancta Maria in Posterula and became friends with Brother Augustine.
Much later, as Father Michael, he would write:
"This good brother used to tell me with a certain air of mystery and
anxiety, especially during the years 1850 and 1851, these precise
words.- 'Make sure you know, my son, that the image of the Virgin of
St. Matthew is upstairs in the chapel: don't ever forget it... do you
understand? It is a miraculous picture. 'At that time the brother was
almost totally blind "What I can say about the venerable picture of
the 'Virgin of St. Matthew' also called ' Perpetual Help, ' is that
from my childhood until I entered the Congregation (of the
Redemptorists) I had always seen it above the altar of the house
chapel of the Augustinian Fathers of the Irish Province at St. Mary in
Posterula... there was no devotion to it, no decorations, not even a
lamp to acknowledge its presence... it remained covered with dust and
practically abandoned. Many were the times, when I served Mass there,
that I would stare at it with great attention."
Brother Augustine died in 1853 at the venerable age of 86, without
seeing fulfilled his desire that the Virgin of Perpetual Help be once
again exposed for public veneration. His prayers and boundless
confidence in the Virgin Mary seemed to have gone unanswered.
In January of 1855, the Redemptorist Missionaries purchased "Villa
Caserta" in Rome, converting it into the e general house for their mi
ssionary congregation that had spread to western Europe and North
America . On this same property along the Via Merulana, were the ruins
of the Church and Monastery of St. Matthew. Without realizing it at
the time, they had acquired the land that, many years previously, had
been chosen by the Virgin as her Sanctuary between St. Mary Major and
St. John Lateran.
Four months later, construction was begun on a church in honor of the
Most Holy Redeemer and dedicated to Saint Alphonsus Liguori, founder
of the Congregation. On December 24, 1855, a group of young men began
their novitiate in the new house. One of them was Michael Marchi.
The Redemptorists were extremely interested in the history of their
new property. But more so, when on February, 7th, 1863, they were
puzzled by the questioning from a sermon given by the famous Jesuit
preacher, Father Francesco Blosi, about an icon of Mary that "had been
in the Church of St. Matthew on Via Merulana and was known as The
Virgin of St. Matthew, or more correctly as The Virgin of Perpetual
Help. "
On another occasion, the chronicler of the Redemptorist community
"examining some authors who had written about Roman antiquities, found
references made to the Church of St. Matthew. Among them there was a
particular citation mentioning that in the church (which had been
situated within the garden area of the community) there had been an
ancient icon of the Mother of God that enjoyed 'great veneration and
fame for its miracles.'" Then "having told all this to the community,
a dialogue began as to where they could locate the picture. Father
Marchi remembered all that he had heard from old Brother Augustine
Orsetti and told his confreres that he had often seen the icon and
knew very well where it could be found."
With this new information, interest grew among the Redemptorists to
know more about the icon and to retrieve it for their church. The
Superior General, Father Nicholas Mauron, presented a letter to Pope
Pius IX in which he petitioned the Holy See to grant them the icon of
Perpetual Help and that it be placed in the newly built Church of the
Most Holy Redeemer and St. Alphonsus, which was located near the site
where the old Church of St. Matthew had stood. The Pope granted the
request and on the back of the petition, in his own handwriting. he
noted:
"December 11, 1865: The Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda will call the
Superior of the community of Sancta Maria in Posterula and will tell
him that it is Our desire that the image of Most Holy Mary, referred
to in this petition, be again placed between Saint John and St. Mary
Major; the Redemptorists shall replace it with another adequate
picture. "
According to tradition, this was when Pope Pius IX told the
Redemptorist Superior General: "Make Her known throughout the world!"
In January, 1866, Fathers Michael Marchi and Ernest Bresciani went to
St. Mary's in Posterula to receive the picture from the Augustinians.
Then began the process of cleaning and retouching the icon. The task
was entrusted to the Polish artist, Leopold Nowotny. Finally, on April
26th, 1866, the image was again presented for public veneration in the
Church of St. Alphonsus on the Via Merulana.
With this event, the fourth stage of her history began: the spread of
the icon throughout the world.
In 1990, the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help was taken down
from above the main altar to satisfy the many requests for new
photographs of the icon. It was then that the serious state of
deterioration of the image was discovered; the wood, as well as the
paint, had suffered from environmental changes and prior attempts at
restoration. The General Government of the Redemptorists decided to
contract the technical services of the Vatican Museum to bring about a
general restoration of the icon that would deal with the cracks and
fungus that threatened irreparable damage.
The first part of the restoration consisted of a series of X-rays,
infra-red images, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the paint,
and other infra-red and ultra-violet tests. The results of these
analyses, especially a Carbon-14 test, indicate that the wood of the
icon of Perpetual Help could safely be dated from the years 1325 -
1480.
The second stage of the restoration consisted of the physical work of
filling the cracks and perforations in the wood, cleaning the paint
and retouching the affected sections, strengthening the structure that
sustains the icon, etc. This physical intervention was limited to the
absolute minimum because all restorative work, somewhat like bodily
surgery, always provokes some trauma. An artistic analysis situated
the pigmentation of the paint at a later date (after the 17th
century); this would explain why the icon offers a synthesis of
oriental and Occidental elements, especially in its facial aspects.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that
anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your
intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto
you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you do I come; before you I
stand, sinful and sorrowful. O mother of the Word Incarnate, despise
not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen!
The young Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II)
frequently visited the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help after a
day's work at the "Solvay" factory. During a visit made to the
Sanctuary of Perpetual Help in Rome, in 1991, he recalled those times:
"I remember that during World War II, during the time of the Nazi
occupation of Poland, I was a factory worker in Krakow. On my way
home, after work, since it was on my way, I always stopped at the
Redemptorist church. In the church there was the picture of Perpetual
Help. I used to stop there, not only because it was on my way, but
because that picture just seemed so beautiful. And I kept visiting
that church even after I was named bishop and cardinal".
The young Karol Wojtyla (the future Pope John Paul II)
frequently visited the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help after a
day's work at the "Solvay" factory. During a visit made to the
Sanctuary of Perpetual Help in Rome, in 1991, he recalled those times:
"I remember that during World War II, during the time of the Nazi
occupation of Poland, I was a factory worker in Krakow. On my way
home, after work, since it was on my way, I always stopped at the
Redemptorist church. In the church there was the picture of Perpetual
Help. I used to stop there, not only because it was on my way, but
because that picture just seemed so beautiful. And I kept visiting
that church even after I was named bishop and cardinal".