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Santa Maria di Perpetua Soccorso
English name:	Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
Dedication:	St Alphonse Maria di Ligouri
Denomination:	Roman Catholic
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Santa Maria di Perpetuo Soccorso is a church dedicated to St Alphonse Maria di Ligouri. Although the name Sant'Alfonso has been used, it is generally known by the name of its famous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[edit] History

The church was built in 1855–1858 by George Wigley. It was built for the Redemptorist Father Edward Douglas, a Scottish convert of the Queensbury family. St Alphonse was the founder of the Redemptorist order, and the church belongs to the order's Generalate.

It was restored for the centenary of the enthronement of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour in 1958.

[edit] Exterior

Above the door is an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour; the icon itself is inside.

[edit] Interior

When the Redemptorist Order acquired the buildings in 1853, they decided to give the icon now enshrined above the high altar its former honours back. The icon of the Madonna with Child was painted by a Greek artist in the 14th or 15th century, and it was brought from Crete at the end of the 15th century. Tradition claims that several miracles had happened in Crete following veneration of the icon, and this continued in Rome. It was venerated in a church, but after that church was destroyed by Napoleon's soldiers it had been kept in a private chapel. After it was moved here, the devotion has spread throughout the world. It was crowned by Pope Pius IX in 1867. It is painted in the typical Byzantine style. The figures are identified in Greek letters. In addition to Our Lady and the Holy Child, an angel holding the Cross and Nails is depicted on the left and identified as St Gabriel the Archangel. The halos were added later, as this element was not common when the image was painted. The proportions between Our Lady and Christ are not right; the artist clearly wanted to emphasize Mary. The instruments of the Passion give the icon a sense of sadness. For a believer, it is possible to feel Our Lady's need for comfort at the thought of the sufferings her Son will have to endure, and at the same time realize that she above all is able to understand the sufferings of those who come to venerate the icon.

The church has fine paintings by van Rhoden.