Today is the feast day of Our MOther of Perpetual Help..
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour,[Note 1] is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius IX, associated with a celebrated Byzantine icon of the same name dating from the 15th century.
The icon has been in Rome since 1499, and is currently in the church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori all'Esquilino. In the Eastern Orthodox Church this iconography is known as the Virgin of the Passion or Theotokos of the Passion.
Due to the Redemptorist Priests who had been appointed as missionaries of this icon, the image has become very popular among Roman Catholics in particular, and has been very much copied and reproduced. Modern reproductions are sometimes displayed in homes, business establishments, and public transportation. The Redemptorist priests are the only religious order currently entrusted by the Holy See to protect and propagate a Marian religious art[1].
The icon has merited two Papal endorsements, one from Pope Pius IX who entrusted the icon to the Redemptorist in December 1865, and another from Blessed Pope John Paul II, who presented an icon to a Muslim cleric in May 2001[2] during his first-ever visit to the Umayyad Mosque[3].
The Roman Catholic calendar of saints celebrates the icon's feast every June 27 while common novena prayers are customarily held on Wednesdays[4], and is traditionally followed by the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Divine Praises.
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Please dont forget to hear mass later. Have a great day!!!
Credit: Articles are excerpt from wikepedia.org
