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Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour)〔The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911 uses the latter name: [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11699b.htm John Magnier, "Our Lady of Perpetual Succour" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1911); but the former is more prevalent today.〕 is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary as represented in a celebrated 15th-century Byzantine icon. The icon has been in Rome since 1499, and is permanently enshrined in the church of Sant'Alfonso di Liguori, where the official Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help text is prayed weekly. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, this artistic iconography is known as the ''Virgin of the Passion'' or ''Theotokos of the Passion'' due to the instruments of the Passion present on the image. Due to the Redemptorist Priests, who had been appointed as both custodians and missionaries of this icon by Pope Pius IX in 1865, 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. On 23 June 1867, the image was granted a Canonical Coronation and its official recognition of the Marian icon under its present title. The Redemptorist priests are the only religious order currently entrusted by the Holy See to protect and propagate a Marian religious work of art. The feast day of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is celebrated on June 27, with novena devotions held every Wednesday. Under Pope Pius XII's Pontificate, our Mother of Perpetual Help was designated as the national Patroness of the Republic of Haiti and Almoradi, Spain. ==Description== The original wooden icon, suspended on the altar, measures 17" × 21" inches and is written on hard nut wood with a gold leaf background.〔''Fest-schrift zum Andenken an die Wieder-Eröffnung der St. Peter's Kirche'', St. Peter's Church Philadelphia, 1901, page 93〕 The image depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a dress of dark red, representing the Passion of Jesus, with a blue mantle, representing her perpetual virginity, and cloaked veil, which represents her pure modesty. The icon shows Mary looking towards the faithful, while pointing at her son, Jesus Christ who is frightened by the instruments of crucifixion and is depicted with a fallen sandal. On the left side is Saint Michael, carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus. On the right is Saint Gabriel carrying a 3-bar cross used by Popes at the time and nails. The Virgin Mary has a star on her forehead, signifying her role as Star of the Sea while the cross on the side has been claimed as referring to the school which produced the icon. The Byzantine depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in art have three stars, one star each on the shoulder and one on the forehead. This type of icon is called Hodegetria, where Mary is pointing to her Son, known as a ''Theotokos of the Passion''. Mary's long slender nose, thin lips, and smoothly arched eyebrows also show that a Greek artist wrote the Icon. The halo and the crown in the picture were added later. In those days, a halo was not commonly painted around the head. Instead, as in this Icon of Mary, the veil and her face itself were rounded, practically circular, to indicate her holiness. The size of the mother seems out of proportion to her son; this is deliberate. The artist wished to emphasize Mary in this story, so he painted her larger than life. The Greek inscriptions read MP-ΘΥ (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, ''Mother of God''), OAM (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Μιχαήλ, ''Michael the Archangel''), OAΓ (Ὁ Ἀρχάγγελος Γαβριήλ, ''Gabriel the Archangel'') and IC-XC (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ''Jesus Christ''), respectively. The icon is written with a gold background on a walnut panel which was probably done in the islands of Crete, which at the time was then ruled by the Republic of Venice.〔''Icons and saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church'' by Alfredo Tradigo 2006 ISBN 0-89236-845-4 page 188〕 The Cretan School was the source of the many icons imported into Europe from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance. The gold background represents the Kingdom of God.〔(Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine, St. George Byzantine Catholic Church, Olympia, Washington )〕 The round halo surrounding the Virgin Mary's head is styled called ''Estofado'', which is an artistic effect created by making dented holes into the icon to reflect light from the gold background. The icon was cleaned and restored once in 1866 and again in the year 1940. Some believe the icon to be a true copy of a painting that according to legend was painted by Saint Luke using the meal table of the Holy Family in Nazareth, and in Eastern Orthodox tradition was often identified with the ''Hodegetria'' icon, and consider it to be a miraculous imprint of the Virgin Mary both in the Latin and Orthodox communities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Our Lady of Perpetual Help」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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