About Our Lady of Perpetual Help
A Mother Always Near — A History Rooted in Love
Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the most beloved titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her icon — the famous image of Mary holding the Child Jesus — is known and venerated by Catholics around the world. But the story of this image is just as beautiful as its meaning.
History:
The original icon is believed to have been painted in the 13th or 14th century. According to tradition, it was stolen from a church in Crete by a merchant who wanted to profit from it. But along the way, something changed in his heart.
As the story goes, the merchant fell ill and, before dying, revealed to a Roman friend the miraculous power of the icon. He begged him to place it in a church where it could be honored. Eventually, after years of being hidden, the icon was placed in the Church of St. Matthew in Rome in 1499, and the people immediately recognized its holiness.
In 1866, Pope Pius IX entrusted the icon to the Redemptorist Fathers, instructing them to “make her known throughout the world.” Since then, the devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help has spread across the globe, with countless miracles and conversions attributed to her powerful intercession.
What the Image Teaches Us?
In the icon, Jesus clings to His Mother as He sees the angels showing Him the instruments of His future Passion — the cross, nails, and spear. Mary does not look at Jesus or at the viewer, but toward us — a sign that she sees our suffering and brings it to her Son.
She is not just the Mother of God, but our mother too — a mother who helps us always.
| Novena Begins: | June 18 |
| Feast Day: | June 27 |
Name meaning: Forever Helping
Patron Saint of: Italy, Redemptorist Order, Haiti, Philippines, Oklahoma City, South Dakota, Kansas, England, Georgia
Day 1 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 2 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 3 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 4 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 5 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 6 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 7 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 8 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Day 9 – Mother of Perpetual Help Novena
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary.
What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name.
Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.
(Mention your request here…Then say three Hail Mary’s)
Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us.
Say 1: Our Father… Say 1: Hail Mary…Say 1: Glory Be…
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Prayer
“O Mother of Perpetual Help,
grant that I may ever invoke Thy
most powerful name, which is
the safeguard of the living and the
salvation of the dying.
O Purest Mary, O Sweetest Mary,
let Thy name henceforth be
ever on my lips.
Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help
me whenever I call on Thee, for,
in all my needs, in all my
temptations I shall never cease
to call on Thee, ever repeating
Thy sacred name, Mary, Mary.
O what consolation, what
sweetness, what confidence,
what emotion fill my soul when
I pronounce Thy sacred name,
or even only think of Thee.
I thank God for having given
Thee, for my good, so sweet,
so powerful, so lovely a name.
But I will not be content with
merely pronouncing Thy name:
let my love for Thee prompt
me ever to hail Thee,
Mother of Perpetual Help.“
[Recite Nine Hail Mary’s]
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