Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also called Our Lady of Perpetual Succour) is one of the most beloved Marian titles in the Catholic Church. The devotion is centered on a 15th-century Byzantine icon — written, in the iconographic tradition, on cypress wood and showing the Christ Child held in Mary's arms with the archangels Michael and Gabriel approaching, each carrying instruments of the Passion (the cross, the lance, the sponge). The Child Jesus turns His face toward His Mother in apparent fright; one sandal hangs loose from His foot, a detail traditionally read as Christ recoiling from the foreshadowed Passion and finding shelter against His Mother's heart. The icon arrived in Rome in 1499 and was venerated for centuries before disappearing during the Napoleonic suppressions; it was rediscovered in 1862 and entrusted by Pope Pius IX to the Redemptorist fathers in 1866 with the charge: 'Make her known throughout the world.' The Redemptorists have done so. The icon now hangs above the altar in the Church of Sant'Alfonso in Rome and replicas are venerated in tens of thousands of parishes worldwide. The novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help — composed and popularized by the Redemptorists — is one of the most widely-prayed Marian devotions in the modern Church. Its mood is one of childlike trust: the believer, like the Christ Child in the icon, turns to Mary's embrace when afraid. The novena is particularly appropriate during illness, pregnancy difficulty, grief, family crisis, and any moment when a soul seeks the quiet shelter of maternal intercession.
Anonymous Cretan iconographer (15th century)
10 min
Duration
9 days
Commitment
Beginner-Friendly
Level
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Patron Saint
How to Pray
Pray once daily for nine consecutive days. The Redemptorist novena traditionally pairs each day's prayer with the chanting of the hymn 'Mother of Christ, Mother of God' or 'O Mother of Perpetual Help' — many parishes still hold weekly Perpetual Help novena services on Wednesdays at which these hymns are sung. The traditional structure for each day's prayer at home: (1) Begin with the Sign of the Cross; (2) Pray the novena prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Help; (3) Conclude with three Hail Marys and a Salve Regina; (4) Name your specific intention. Some families add an act of consecration to Mary at the end of the ninth day, especially if the novena was prayed for a serious intention. The novena is appropriately prayed in the days leading up to the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (June 27) but may be prayed any time. Many Catholic households keep a copy of the icon on a wall or shrine in the home; venerating the icon while praying the novena — meeting the eyes of Christ and His Mother as they meet each other — is part of the devotion's pastoral pattern. The novena is especially commended for mothers praying for their children, for those caring for the sick, and for anyone overwhelmed by circumstances that feel beyond their strength.
Prayer Text
O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your most powerful name, which is the safeguard of the living and the salvation of the dying. O Purest Mary, O Sweetest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help me whenever I call on you, for in all my needs, in all my temptations, I shall never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name. O what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what emotion fills my soul when I pronounce your sacred name or even only think of you. Amen.
Recommended For
Illness & HealthPregnancy & BirthFamilyGrief & Loss
Coordinate sustained prayer for someone you love. Volunteers fill 30-minute slots covering days or weeks; the family receives a spiritual bouquet at the end.
