Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Although, other interpretations can be applied to the numerous symbols in this icon, the following explanation is the one I learned. I hope you find it as moving as I did the first time I heard it. Although I prefer oil paintings by the great masters to icons, this is one icon I truly love.

This Byzantine icon is replete with numerous symbols.

Look at the picture.

Frightened by the vision of two angels showing him the instruments of Passion, the Christ Child has run to His Mother, almost losing, in His haste, one of the tiny sandals.

Mary holds Him in her arms reassuringly, lovingly. But notice her eyes. They look not at Jesus but at us. How better could the artist express Our Lady's interest in our lives and spiritual growth?

Christ's little hands are pressed into Mary's as a reminder to us that just as on earth He placed Himself entirely in her hands for protection, so now in heaven He places each of us in her tender loving care.

There are also the following Greek initials: for "Jesus Christ", for "Mother of God", for "St. Gabriel the Arch Angel" who is depicted holding the cross and nails, and for "St. Michael the Arch Angel" who is depicted holding the lance and gall-sop of Christ's Passion.

There is a star on Our Lady's veil symbolizing that she is the Star of the Sea who leads us to the safe port of heaven. Mary's left hand is supporting Christ possessively. She is His Mother. It is a comforting hand for everyone who asks for her intercession. Her mouth is small for silent recollection. She speaks little. She wears a red tunic, the color worn by virgins at the time of Christ, and a dark blue mantle, the colors worn by mothers in Palestine.

The entire background is golden, symbolic of heaven. Christ's Hands, palms turned down into His Mother's, indicate that He has chosen for the graces of redemption to be in her keeping.

Source - Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish Church