Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Our Lady of Perpetual Help



Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
(Or OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP.)
It represents the Mother of God holding the Divine Child while the Archangels Michael and Gabriel present before 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. It 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, Via Merulana, between St. Mary Major and St. 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 St. Augustine, who had sheltered their Irish brethren in their distress. 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 discovery in an oratory of the Augustinian Fathers at Santa Maria in Posterula. *Catholic Encyclopedia
PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
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.

This is one of my favorite icons of Our Blessed Mother with Baby Jesus. I love her loving face and all the vibrant colors in this image. The same image is on this beautiful cameo I made the bracelet with, set in brass ornate setting. I added handcrafted angels made with such beautiful coral beads. I found these coral beads at the gem show I attended on September of this year.
It is color enhanced on brown and it's just perfect for this bracelet. I also added beautiful blue Czech. Glass beads, gorgeous handmade lampwork beads with flowers and some with goldfoil.
I added some vintage and new medals which include Infant of Prague, Miraculous Medal, St. Anthony and St. Christopher.
I can't even begin to explain how everything just came together on this bracelet, how the colors just were calling out and the beads and I was just overwhelmed when I finished it. It's just perfect colors and beads to look a lot like the cameo. When I create a bracelet I don't plan on the colors I will use, I just pick the ones that stand out the most and it's unbelievable how this came so much like the cameo.

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