CHICAGO — In the tradition of past Horizons’ pilgrimages, the upcoming journey to Rome will be dedicated to the Mother of God, represented in two famous Byzantine icons reserved in the Eternal City.
The first is an icon of the Blessed Mother and the Child Jesus holding a Gospel book, said to have been painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. This icon, known as the Protectress of the Roman People, or “Salus Populi Romani” in Latin, arrived in Rome from Crete in 590 AD.
Today, it is reserved in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest church in the west dedicated to the Mother of God.
According to tradition, St. Luke painted this icon on the surface of a table that was built by Jesus in St. Joseph’s workshop. The thick cedar panel measures 5 feet by 3.75 feet.
This icon has been honored as a miraculous image and credited with the end of the Black Plague and of a cholera epidemic in Rome. Pope Pius V also prayed before this icon for victory against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Pope Francis also has a devotion to this icon. He goes to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to venerate this image before he leaves on a trip from Rome and upon his return.
The second Marian Byzantine icon is well known among Ruthenian Byzantine Catholics, many of whom have traveled year after year to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, for a national pilgrimage in honor of this miraculous image.
Known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help, this icon is enshrined in the Church of St. Alphonsus a few blocks away from the Protectress icon.
Dated to the 15th century, the Our Lady of Perpetual Help icon originated in the Orthodox Keras Kariotissas Monastery in Crete. It is said to have been stolen by a merchant and brought to Rome, where it remained in the possession of a private citizen. It was first venerated publicly at the Church of San Matteo in 1499, and became very popular. It was rescued by the Augustinian monks when the church was destroyed during the 18th-century French occupation.
Decades later, the Redemptorist priests purchased property in Rome, not knowing that it was the site of the Church of San Matteo. There, they built their monastery and the Church of St. Alphonsus.
In 1865, the pope ordered that the icon be venerated again at the original site of the former Church of San Matteo. Therefore, the Augustinians transferred the icon to the Redemptorists, who were entrusted by the Holy Father to protect the icon and promote devotion to it throughout the entire church.
The Horizons’ pilgrimage includes veneration of these two Byzantine icons, along with other Eastern Catholic highlights. For info or registration: www.parma.org/romepilgrimage or (216) 470-3287.
Caption: The original icons of the Mother of God “Salus Populi Romani” (left) and of Our Lady of Perpetual Help are reserved in Rome. The 2019 Horizons’ pilgrimage will be dedicated to these devotions to the Blessed Virgin.
As published in Horizons, March 3, 2019. Sign up for Horizons digital newsletter.