The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
The child Jesus has just seen the angels who have shown him the instruments of his passion.
St. Michael the Archangel holds the lance and gall-sop. St. Gabriel the Archangel holds the cross and the nails. Frightened by the sight, Jesus has run to his mother’s arms so quickly that he almost lost one of His tiny sandals. It dangles from his foot. Mary holds Him lovingly but her eyes look at us - pleading with us to avoid sin and love Her Son.
His hands are in hers to show that, as a child, Jesus placed Himself in Mary’s hands for protection and to remind us that He now has placed into Her hands all graces, to be given to those who turn to His mother and ask.
The star on Mary’s veil shows her to be the one who brought the light of Christ to the darkened world - the beacon that leads the way to Heaven.
The falling sandal symbolizes a soul clinging to Christ by one last thread--devotion to Mary.
The golden background is symbolic of Heaven and shines to show the heavenly joy Jesus and His mother can bring to tired human hearts.