The Icon of Perpetual Help

This beloved icon may seem strange to our Western eyes. It does not present Mary as a delicate young woman with submissive eyes. Her direct gaze and firm features draw our attention. We are struck by the unrealistic appearance of the figures. Jesus has the dimensions of a small child but his features are those of an older one. Mary and Jesus are not part of a scene, but are placed against a gold background.

This picture was painted in the Byzantine style of the Eastern Church. The aim of this style is not to present a beautiful scene or a character, but to convey a rich spiritual message. Since the artist is trying to communicate something of a heavenly order rather than a reality of this world, the picture is not a realistic painting. Byzantine painting is like a door. Seeing a beautiful door is nice, but who would want to stay there for a long time without seeing where it leads? We want to open it and go beyond. This door may or may not be beautiful, but it is only a reality that is intended to allow us to enter a new world.

This is how we should approach this painting. The artist, aware that no one in the world could ever know what Mary or Jesus really looked like and that their holiness could never be depicted in purely human terms, has reflected their beauty and their message through symbols.

What do you see when you look at the picture?

First of all, you see Mary because she dominates the painting and because she looks you straight in the eyes - she is not looking at Jesus, she is not staring at the sky, she is not looking at the angels hovering above her head. She is looking at you as if to tell you something very important. Her eyes are serious, even sad, but they capture your attention.

She is an important woman, a woman of authority, of a certain level. She is placed on a gold background, a symbol of heaven during the Middle Ages. And she is dressed in dark blue with green stripes and a red tunic. Blue, green and red were the colours of majesty. Only the empress was allowed to wear these colours.

The eight-pointed star on her forehead was probably added by a later artist to represent the Eastern idea that Mary is the star that leads us to Jesus. To reinforce the symbolism, there is an ornamental four-pointed star-shaped cross on the left side of her headdress.

The letters above her head proclaim her Mother of God (in Greek).

Looking at the painting we understand that it has the power to intercede for us in heaven.

Mary's gaze is fixed on you, but she is holding Jesus in her arms. In Byzantine icons, Mary is never depicted without Jesus, because Jesus is at the centre of faith. Jesus is also dressed in royal colours. Only the emperor could wear a green tunic with a red stripe and the gold brocade that appears in the painting. The Greek initials decorated with a cross, to the right of the child and his halo, proclaim that he is "Jesus, the Christ".

Jesus does not look at us, nor at Mary or at the angels. Although he clings to his mother, he looks into the distance, at something we cannot see - something that has made him rush to his mother so quickly that one of his sandals has almost come off; it must be something that drives him to press close to his mother to find protection and love there.

What could cause so much fear in a child who is also the Son of God?

The figures fluttering on either side of Jesus and Mary - the Greek letters identify them with the archangels Gabriel and Michael - give us the answer. Instead of harps and trumpets of praise, these archangels are laden with the instruments of Christ's Passion.

On the left, Michael holds a pole with the sponge soaked in gall, which the soldiers offered to Jesus on the cross, and also carries the lance that pierced his side.

On the right, Gabriel holds the cross and four nails.