Thursday in the
Octave of Corpus Christi
John, Chapter 14,
Verse 21-24
21 Whoever has my
commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal
myself to him.” 22
Judas,
not the Iscariot, said to him,
“Master, [then] what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to
the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves
me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our dwelling with him. 24 Whoever does not
love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that
of the Father who sent me.
·
To
feed the hungry;
·
To
give drink to the thirsty;
·
To
clothe the naked;
·
To
harbor the harborless;
·
To
visit the sick;
·
To
ransom the captive;
·
To
bury the dead.
The spiritual works of
mercy are:
·
To
bear wrongs patiently;
·
To
forgive offences willingly;
·
To
comfort the afflicted;
In
a sense when we have the indwelling, we are like Mary the great mother of God
and are compelled to acts of mercy; they are not just a list but a way of
being.
The devotion to this Marian advocation
revolves around the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, painted on wood,
with background of gold. It is Byzantine in style and is supposed to have been
painted in the thirteenth century. It represents the Mother of God holding the
Divine Child while the Archangels Michael and Gabriel presenting Him the
instruments of His Passion. Over the figures in the picture are some Greek
letters which form the abbreviated words Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Archangel
Michael, and Archangel Gabriel respectively.
·
The
icon was brought to Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century by a pious
merchant, who, dying there, ordered by his will that the picture should be
exposed in a church for public veneration. It was exposed in the church of San
Matteo in the famous Roman street of Via Merulana, which connects the basilicas
of Saint Mary Major and Saint John Lateran. Crowds flocked to this church, and
for nearly three hundred years many graces were obtained through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The picture was then popularly called the
Madonna di San Matteo. The church was served for a time by the Hermits of Saint
Augustine. These Augustinians were still in charge when the French invaded Rome
(1812) and destroyed the church. The picture disappeared; it remained hidden
and neglected for over forty years, but a series of providential circumstances
between 1863 and 1865 led to its rediscovery in an oratory of the Augustinian
Fathers at Santa Maria in Posterula.
·
Pope
Pius IX, who as a boy had prayed before the picture in San Matteo, became
interested in the discovery. But at that time, the ruins of San Matteo were in
the grounds of a convent of the Redemptorists -- the Congregation of the Most
Holy Redeemer -- founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). The Father
General of the Redemptorists, Most Rev. Nicholas Mauron, decided to bring the
whole matter to the attention of the Pope. The Pope listened attentively and
felt sure it was God’s will that the icon should be gain exposed to public
veneration and the logical site was their church of St. Alphonsus, standing as
it did between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. The Holy
Father at once took a piece of paper and wrote a short memorandum ordering the
Augustinian Fathers of St. Mary in Posterula to surrender the picture to the
Redemptorists, on condition that the Redemptorists supply the Augustinians with
another picture of Our Lady or a good copy of the icon of Perpetual Help.
·
The
Icon meant much to the Augustinians, but when the two Redemptorists came armed
with the Pope’s signed memorandum, what could they do but obey? On January 19,
1866, Fathers Marchi and Bresciani brought the miraculous picture to St.
Alphonsus’ church. Preparations were now made to inaugurate the new public
reign of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. On April 26th, a great procession was
staged in which the picture was carried throughout the Esquiline region of
Rome. Upon returning to the church, the picture was enthroned over the high
altar, in a resplendent shrine-niche especially constructed for it.
·
The
report of marvelous healings spread rapidly throughout the city of Rome and
people came by the hundreds to visit the shrine. Soon the whole area around the
altar was filled with abandoned crutches and canes and several whole glass-covered
cabinets were filled with gold and silver thanksgiving offerings in the shapes
of miniature hearts, arms, legs and other votive offerings. Scarcely two weeks
after the solemn exposition of the picture, Pope Pius IX himself came to visit
the shrine. He stood quietly before it for a long time and then exclaimed: “How
beautiful she is!”.
·
Pope
Leo XIII, the next pontiff, had a copy of the picture on his desk so that he
might see it constantly during his working day. St. Pius X sent a copy of the
icon to the Empress of Ethiopia and granted an indulgence of 100 days to anyone
who repeated the phrase: “Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.”
·
Pope
Benedict XV had the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help placed immediately
over his chair of state in the throne room. Here it could be seen by all just
over his head, as if to say: “Here is your true Queen!”.
·
Pope
Pius IX told the Redemptorists, in speaking to them of the treasure he had
committed to their care: “Make her known!” It seems as though they hardly needed
the exhortation. In the United States, they built the first Our Lady of
Perpetual Help church in the Roxbury section of Boston, and it was eventually
raised to the honor of a “Papal Basilica” by Pope Pius XII.
- Read the History
of the Icon.
- Visit Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Radio site to see an explanation of the
symbols of the Icon.
- See also Women
for Faith & Family page on Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Daily Devotions
·
Novena
to Sacred Heart Day 8
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