Our Lady of Perpetual Help: the help and protection that never fails

On June 27th, the Day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is celebrated, one of the Faces through which the Divine Mother intercedes for humanity.

Help for every moment

Are you going through a difficult situation? Do you need help from the Heights to overcome adversity? Do you want to obtain divine protection in the face of harassment and danger? Do you want the correct doors in the Eyes of God to open?
Know that Our Lady of Perpetual Help is especially invoked in these cases. She is the infallible Mother, who always comes to help Her children in times of distress.

To attract this celestial help, the Virgin Mary transmitted a powerful spiritual exercise in Her Message of January 14, 2014. It is a devotion that is increasingly current and timely in these troubled times: the Novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help.

Novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help

Prayer to ask for the protection of the Mother and Lady of the Perpetual Help.
It must be prayed thirteen times for nine days.

Sacred Mother of Perpetual Help,
Door of Wisdom and Mercy,
we lovingly implore Your help,
we now invoke the Sacred Protection of Your Mantle.

Elevate us in spirit towards the Celestial Kingdom,
dissipate every difficulty and trouble on our paths,
shelter us forever with Your Powerful Celestial Shield.

O Virgin of Perpetual Help!
Guide us always through the Path of Christ,
show us the solution and the way out in the face of any difficulty.

Engrave in our hearts the Supreme Light of Your Spirit,
open the doors that have closed and,
under the protection of Your Most Holy Heart
and of the Holy Archangel Michael,
may all hearts receive Blessings and Graces
from Heaven through Your most
pitying universal intercession.

Amen.
 

After the main prayer, they will recite the prayer to close each day of the novena:

Benedictory Prayer
To be prayed one time

Most Sacred Lord, Jesus Christ,
Supreme King of Love,
liberate our lives with Your Rays,
sow in our spirit
the Love of Your Sacred Heart
so that, now and forever,
we may fulfill the Divine
Will of God.

Amen.
 

Verses to the Mother of Perpetual Help

The Virgin Mary also discussed the attributes of the Mother of Perpetual Help in Her Message of August 1, 2016.

Furthermore, in the series “Poems to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” Our Lady transmitted a poem dedicated to the Lady of Perpetual Help in Her Message of June 20, 2020:

Forty-sixth Poem

Powerful Lady of Perpetual Help,
help us in the hour of great difficulties.

Free us from any danger
and send us Your angelic armies of Light
so that they may open the paths towards God.

Powerful Lady of Perpetual Help,
place us under Your Mantle
so that, before adversity, we may become invisible,
and thus we may resume the pathway of service and peace.

Powerful Lady of Perpetual Help,
You who know who we are,
guide our lives so that we may achieve the Holy Will
that will lead us to entirely live
the expressions of God's Virtues,
thus, we will be able to be apostles of Your Son,
helping to carry out the Eternal Father’s Plan of Love.

Powerful Lady of Perpetual Help,
protect us in the face of any danger,
shelter us in the face of any difficulty,
because we hope to respond to Christ
in every moment.

Divine Lady, strengthen our faith
so that we may fully trust
in the Presence of God within us.

Amen.

History of the sacred image

Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help was born from a miraculous icon (painting or image) that was stolen from a Church on the Island of Crete, Greece, in the 15th century.

There were many vicissitudes and twists and turns involving the fate of the image. Until, in 1866, Pope Pius IX handed over its custody to the Redemptorist Fathers. Then, it began to be venerated in Rome, in the Church of Santo Afonso de Ligório in the Esquiline, on Via Merulana.

On that occasion, the Pope asked that this devotion be disseminated throughout the world. Upon this recommendation, many copies of the painting were produced and distributed. Currently, this is one of the most revered icons in the world.
Many miraculous stories are told about this representation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Icon description

The image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was made on wood, in the Byzantine style.

In it, the Virgin Mary is depicted holding the Baby Jesus on Her lap.

The Archangels Gabriel (lilac cloak) and Michael (green cloak) float above Mary, on one side and the other, holding the instruments of the Passion of Christ. One of the Archangels presents the cross and the nails that pierced the Feet and Hands of Jesus, and the other carries the spear and the rod with a sponge on the tip, soaked in vinegar and bile (John 19:29).

Upon seeing these instruments, the Baby Jesus is frightened, hugs His Mother and a sandal falls from His Feet.

Over the figure of the Baby Jesus, there are the Greek letters “IC XC” - abbreviation of “Jesus Christ” - and over the figure of the Virgin Mary there are the letters “MP ØY” - abbreviation of “Mother of God.” The letters below the Archangels correspond to the abbreviation of their names.

In the face of difficulties and urgent causes, may we always remember to resort to the help and protection of the Mother of Perpetual Help, as She has the power to dispel opposing forces and guide us to encounter Christ.