FEAST OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP AND MEMORIAL OF SAINT CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT LADISLAUS I, KING OF HUNGARY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 27TH Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church and Saint Ladislaus I, King of Hungary. Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for justice, peace and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Cardinals, Bishops, all Priests, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world, especially those suffering from political and religious unrest. May God protect us all and keep us united in peace, love and faith… Amen 🙏🏽
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP: Our Lady of Perpetual Help is also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help represents the Christian mystery of Redemption. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Byzantine icon that is believed to have its origin sometime during the 13th -15th century. 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. The icon is known for being miraculous; over the centuries countless healings and special graces have been attributed to it, so much so that the image has been honored and venerated by many Popes. The image and the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help invite Christians to remember Mary’s maternal and protecting love and her unfailing intercession on behalf of those in need. To this day, the Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome displays the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. They are the guardians and promoters of the holy icon, the only religious order entrusted with the task of doing so with a venerated image of Our Lady. Patron Saint of Redemptorist Order; Haiti; Almoradi , Spain; Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabanatuan, Philippines; Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds
“As the Council teaches, the Mother of God is the Christian’s model in faith, love and perfect union with Christ; and in a special way she is the Mother and model of those who live the consecrated life.” ~ Pope Saint John Paul II
SYMBOLISM OF THE ICON OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP: The influence of Eastern icons in the West, around the XII and XIII centuries brought a class of icons called Cardiotissa, from the Greek word kardia, meaning heart. Cardiotissa means “having a heart” or showing sympathy and mercy and compassion. In them the face of Our Lady appears full of sorrow, yet supremely dignified in her contemplation of the sufferings of her Son. His passion is represented by angels holding instruments of His passion, most often the cross, the lance, the sponge, and the nails.
The Our Mother of Perpetual Help icon is of this type. The angels holding the instruments of the Passion have their hands covered with a protecting veil as a sign of reverence in handling sacred objects.
The Child Jesus is shown with an adult face and a high brow, indicating His divine Mind of infinite intelligence. As God, He knew that the angelic apparition was prophetic of His future passion. Yet in His human nature as a small child, He is frightened and runs to His Mother for protection. Our Lady hastily picks Him up and clasps Him to her bosom. This action is indicated by the fact that the Lord’s right foot is nervously curled about the left ankle and in such haste that His right sandal has become loosened and hangs by a single strap. Further action is indicated by the way the Child Jesus clasps His Mother’s right hand with both of His, holding tightly to Our Lady’s thumb.
Our Lady is clothed in a dress of dark red which was long reserved in the Byzantine world for the Empress alone, indicating the Queenship of Mary.
Some commentators on color claim that bluish purple became the color of penance in the Western Church (during Lent and Advent) because purple is a combination of blue and red. The blue reminds us of heaven, to which we wish to arrive by our penance, and the red recalls martyrdom, because all penance requires a dying to oneself, especially mortifying inordinate desire for food and pleasure. The archangels Gabriel and Michael were tunics of purple since they carry the instruments of the passion and death of Christ. The figures of the icon are identified with abbreviations of their names and Mary is designated by her chief title to glory: Mother of God.
Our Lady’s face is of unspeakable majesty and calm and yet her large eyes, partly closed, express ineffable sorrow and sympathy. Our Lady is not looking at Jesus, but rather to us, to express compassion for us in our fears and sorrows. The feast is celebrated on June 27 by the universal Church.
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. Amen🙏🏽
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… Amen🙏🏽
HAIL MARY: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death… Amen🙏🏽
THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen🙏🏽
Our Lady of Perpetual Help ~ Pray for us 🙏🏽
SAINT CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria was an Egyptian bishop and theologian, born in Alexandria, Egypt, about 374. He is best known for his role in the Council of Ephesus, one of the metropolitan sees of the Christian Church in the east, where the Church confirmed that Christ is both God and man in one person. He was one of the great defenders of the faith against the heresy of Nestorius who denied the oneness of person in Jesus Christ. He fought to defend the Church’s teachings of the two natures of Christ. He strenuously defended the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin against Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, who maintained that Jesus Christ, as man, only, was born of Mary, and that His Divinity was acquired after His human birth because of His great merits. From his writings, it appears he received a solid literary and theological education. Along with his uncle, Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, he played a role in an early fifth-century dispute between the Egyptian and Greek churches. There is evidence he may have been a monk before becoming a bishop. When Theophilus died in 412, St. Cyril was chosen to succeed him at the head of the Egyptian Church. He continued his uncle’s policy of insisting on Alexandria’s preeminence within the Church over Constantinople, despite the political prominence of the imperial capital. The two Eastern churches eventually re-established communion in approximately 418. Ten years later, however, a theological dispute caused a new break between Alexandria and Constantinople. Cyril’s reputation as a theologian, and later Doctor of the Church, arose from his defense of Catholic orthodoxy during this time. In 428, a monk named Nestorius became the new Patriarch of Constantinople. It became clear that Nestorius was not willing to use the term “Mother of God” (“Theotokos”) to describe the Virgin Mary. Instead, he insisted on the term “Mother of Christ” (“Christotokos”).
During the fourth century, the Greek Church had already held two ecumenical councils to confirm Christ’s eternal preexistence as God prior to his incarnation as a man. From this perennial belief, it followed logically that Mary was the mother of God. Veneration of Mary as “Theotokos” confirmed the doctrine of the incarnation, and Christ’s status as equal to the God the Father. Nestorius insisted that he, too, held these doctrines. But to Cyril, and many others, his refusal to acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God seemed to reveal a heretical view of Christ which would split him into two united but distinct persons: one fully human and born of Mary, the other fully divine and not subject to birth or death. Cyril responded to this heretical tendency first through a series of letters to Nestorius (which are still in existence and studied today), then through an appeal to the Pope, and finally through the summoning of an ecumenical council in 431. Cyril presided over this council, stating that he was “filling the place of the most holy and blessed Archbishop of the Roman Church,” Pope Celestine, who had authorized it. The council was a tumultuous affair. Patriarch John of Antioch, a friend of Nestorius, came to the city and convened a rival council which sought to condemn and depose Cyril. Tension between the advocates of Cyril and Nestorius erupted into physical violence at times, and both parties sought to convince the emperor in Constantinople to back their position. During the council, which ran from June 22 to July 31 of the year 431, Cyril brilliantly defended the orthodox belief in Christ as a single eternally divine person who also became incarnate as a man. The council condemned Nestorius, who was deposed as patriarch and later suffered exile. Cyril, however, reconciled with John and many of the other Antiochian theologians who once supported Nestorius. St. Cyril of Alexandria died on June 27, 444, having been a bishop for nearly 32 years. Long celebrated as a saint, particularly in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1883 and the Church venerates him as one of her great doctors. His commentary on the Gospel of St. John is one of the richest doctrinally of those left us by the Fathers of the Church.
PRAYER: God, You made St. Cyril, Your Bishop, the invincible champion of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Grant that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of God may be saved through the Incarnation of Christ Your Son. Amen🙏🏽
SAINT LADISLAUS I, KING OF HUNGARY: St. Ladislaus (c. 1040-1095), also known as St. Laszlo and St. Ladislas I of Hungary, was a Christian Saint and elected the King of Hungary, born to a royal family in Krakow, Poland on June 27, 1040. His father became King Bela I of Hungary, and his mother was the daughter of the King of Poland and his brother was Andrew I. He was raised as a Christian, spending his childhood in the court of the Polish king. After the death of his father and brother, Geisa I, passed over Solomon, the son of Andrew I, and chose Ladislaus to be the king of Hungary in 1077 and also later the King of Croatia in 1091. He was a beloved king, highly regarded as a moral and pious man and a great leader. A King of Hungary who greatly expanded the boundaries of the kingdom and consolidated it internally; no other Hungarian king was so generally beloved by the people. He is remembered for his accomplishments in bringing peace and stability to his country following the strife of civil war, for his success in defending the kingdom of Hungary against the invading Cumans, and for politically and financially supporting the spread of Christianity in his kingdom.
St. Ladislaus eventually made peace with Solomon, when the latter gave up all claims to the throne of Hungary, however, later on he rebelled against St. Ladislaus, who took him prisoner and held him in the fortress of Visegrád. On the occasion of the canonization of Stephen I, St. Ladislaus gave Solomon his freedom, but in 1086 Solomon, with the aid of the heathen Cumans, revolted against St. Ladislaus a second time. Ladislaus, however, vanquished them again, and in 1089 gained another victory over theTurkish Cumans. In 1091 St. Ladislaus marched into Croatia at the request of his sister, the widowed Queen Helena, and took possession of the kingdom for the crown of Hungary where, in 1092, he founded the Bishopric of Agram (Zágráb). In the same year (1092), he also founded the Bishopric of Grosswardein (Nagy-Várad) in Hungary, which, however, some trace back to Stephen I. He adding Dalmatia and Croatia to his territory. Thought to be responsible for the progress of Christian ideas among the Magyars. According to legend, while in battle he witnessed a Cuman warrior abducting a Hungarian girl. He pursued the enemy, defeated him, and liberated the girl. Because of his skills in military and diplomacy, as well as his religious devotion and chivalry, St. Ladislaus (Laszlo) was chosen to lead the first Crusade to the Holy Land, but died before the mission commenced. He died on July 29, 1095, Nitra, Slovakia and was buried in the cathedral of Grosswardein. St. Ladislaus was canonized by Pope Celestine III. St. Ladislaus governed the religious and civil affairs of his assembly of the Imperial States at Szabolcs, that might almost be called a synod. He tried vigorously to suppress the remaining heathen customs. He still lives in the sagas and poems of his people as a chivalrous king.
St. Ladislaus I, King of Hungary ~ Pray for us🙏🏽