SPECIAL ORDER ITEM. PLEASE ALLOW 2-3 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. NOTE: Special Order Items are not returnable unless damaged.This modern huge and beautiful icon representation of the Virgin with the Christ Child is hand-painted on a solid wood base with a silver-plated cover with incredible ornate gold and silver accents. The entire icon is overlaid with a beautifully engraved highly detailed repousse (high relief) gold and silver-plated metallic cover (also known as a riza) with an attached 24-carat gold-plated halo. The riza uses a scrolled floral pattern to accent the subjects and covers the less important areas of the icon.The history of the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of Perpetual Help has a rich tradition found in the history of the picture itself. Tradition tells us that in the 15th Century a merchant brought to Rome the original icon which we now call Mother of Perpetual Help that he had stolen from a Church on the island of Crete. Upon his death the picture was passed on to a local Roman family with the promise that the picture would be given to a church where it could be rightfully honored. However the family did not keep their promise and instead held on to it. Taking matters into her own hands the Blessed Virgin appeared to one of the children of the family that had possession of the picture. Calling herself Holy Mary of Perpetual Help the Blessed Mother made a request to the girl that she tell her parents to take the picture to St. Matthew's Church in Rome. In the year 1499 the picture was finally placed inside St. Matthew's of Rome. It stayed there for more than three-hundred years and experienced great devotion with many miracles attributed to its veneration. However during the Roman wars of 1798 it was placed in a nearby monastery chapel so as to preserve it from the destruction that inevitably claimed the Church of St. Matthew. The picture fell into obscurity over the years that followed hidden away In the mid-1800's the Redemptorist Missionaries purchased the land on which once stood the Church of St. Matthew. They erected a new Church there in honor of their founder Saint Alphonsus Liguori. While doing research on the history of the area they discovered writings which made reference to an icon of The Virgin of Perpetual Help. Upon locating the picture in the nearby monastery the Redemptorists petitioned Pope Pius IX to entrust the icon to their guardianship so that they could place it in their new Church which stood on the original location of St. Matthew's so as to fulfill as best as possible the Virgin's original request. In 1866 the picture was moved in solemn procession to the Redemptorist Church of Saint Alphonsus Liguori accompanied by a verbal command from Pope Pius IX that the Redemptorists should make her known throughout the world! Since that time the Redemptorist Priests and Brothers have devoutly followed the command of Pope Pius IX. They have distributed throughout the world millions of copies of the original miraculous picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help -- the picture of a Mother who always helps!
