OUR MOTHER OF PERPETUAL HELP
From Meaning of the Icon / Liguori Publications

What do you see when you look at this picture?
First of all you see Mary, because she dominates the picture and because she looks straight at you- not at Jesus, not at heaven, not at the angels. She looks at you as if to tell you something very important.
She is set on a gold background, a symbol of heaven in the middle ages. She is dressed in dark blue robes with a green lining and red tunic -the colors of royalty. Only the Empress was allowed to wear those colors. The letters above her head proclaim her the Mother of God (in Greek). Looking at the painting, we know that she has the power to intercede for us in heaven. Mary's gaze is fixed on you, but her arms hold Jesus. Jesus too is wearing the clothes of royalty. The Greek initials to the right of the child and His halo decorated with a cross proclaim that He is "Jesus Christ." Jesus isn't looking at us, or at Mary, or at the angels. Though He clings to His mother, He's looking away, at something we can't see -- something that made him run so fast to His mother that one of His sandals has almost fallen off, something that makes him cling to her for protection and love. What would frighten a little boy, even the Son of God, so much? The figures that hover on either side of Jesus and Mary --Archangels Gabriel and Michael -- provide us with the answer. Rather than carrying harps or trumpets of praise, they bear the instruments of Christ's Passion. On the left, Michael holds an urn filled with the gall that the soldiers offered to Jesus on the cross, the lance that pierced His side, and the reed with the sponge. To the right, Gabriel carries the cross and four nails. Jesus has seen part of His destiny -- the suffering and death He will undergo. He has run to His mother, who holds Him close in this moment of panic, the same way she will be close by His side through His life and death. While she can't spare Him His suffering, she can love and comfort Him. So why is Mary looking so intently at us instead of her child in need? Her gaze brings us into the story, makes us part of the painting and the pain. Just as Jesus ran to His mother and found refuge, so too may we run to Mary. Her hand does not clasp the hands of her frightened son in a protective grip, but remains open, inviting us to put our hands in hers and join with Jesus. Mary knows there are many things in our lives that are dangerous and terrifying, and that we need someone to turn to in times of suffering and dread. She offers us the same comfort and love she gave to Jesus. She tells us to run to her as fast as Jesus did, so fast that we don't even think about what we wear or how we go, just so we get there.
What are you waiting for?

SYMBOLISM OF THE ICON OF PERPETUAL HELP

This picture was painted in the Byzantine style of the Eastern Church. The purpose of this style of art is not to show a beautiful scene or person but to convey a beautiful spiritual message.
Because the artist is trying to communicate something more glorious than anything in this world, the picture isn't a realistic portrayal. A Byzantine painting is like a door. Seeing a beautiful door is nice, but who wants to just stand there looking at the door? We want to open the door and go beyond it. The door might be attractive or unattractive, but it is only a door, there to lead us into a new world.
That's how we must approach this picture. The artist, realizing that no one on earth would ever know what Mary or Jesus really looked like, and that their holiness could never be depicted in purely human terms, has portrayed their beauty and their message in symbols.
Just as Eastern art had a great influence in the West, so the Western influence was felt in the East, especially in the 12th and 13th centuries. Art is ever influenced by popular piety, and at that time there was great emphasis placed on the human nature of Jesus. Devotion to Our Lord’s passion and to Our Lady’s dolors occupied people’s devotions to Christ and His Holy Mother. Two strong influences in this direction were the great saints of that time, St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Francis of Assisi.
This emphasis was felt largely in the East through the Franciscan friars evangelizing in the eastern Mediterranean. One artistic manifestation of it was the emergence of the class of icons called Cardiotissa, from the Greek word kardia, meaning heart. Cardiotissa means “having a heart” or showing sympathy and mercy and compassion. In them the face of Our Lady appears full of sorrow, yet supremely dignified in her contemplation of the sufferings of her Son. His passion is represented by angels holding instruments of His passion, most often the cross, the lance, the sponge, and the nails. Icons of this type in Russia were called Strastnaya (from the verb to suffer).
The Our Mother of Perpetual Help icon is of this type. The angels holding the instruments of the Passion have their hands covered with a protecting veil as a sign of reverence in handling sacred objects. In some Eastern rites, for example the Armenian, the deacon has his hand covered with a silken veil when he carries the gospel book. And in the Roman Rite, the priest covers his hands with the humeral veil when blessing the people at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Child Jesus is shown with an adult face and a high brow, indicating His divine Mind of infinite intelligence. As God, He knew that the angelic apparition was prophetic of His future passion. Yet in His human nature as a small child, He is frightened and runs to His Mother for protection. Our Lady hastily picks Him up and clasps Him to her bosom. This action is indicated by the fact that the Lord’s right foot is nervously curled about the left ankle and in such haste that His right sandal has become loosened and hangs by a single strap. Further action is indicated by the way the Child Jesus clasps His Mother’s right hand with both of His, holding tightly to Our Lady’s thumb.
Our Lady is clothed in a dress of dark red which was long reserved in the Byzantine world for the Empress alone, indicating the Queenship of Mary. We know that reddish purple was considered the noblest color in the ancient world. Recall that Our Lord said “Those who are clothed in purple and fine linen are in the houses of kings.”
Some commentators on color claim that bluish purple became the color of penance in the Western Church (during Lent and Advent) because purple is a combination of blue and red. The blue reminds us of heaven, to which we wish to arrive by our penance, and the red recalls martyrdom, because all penance requires a dying to oneself, especially mortifying inordinate desire for food and pleasure. The archangels Gabriel and Michael wear tunics of purple since they carry the instruments of the passion and death of Christ. In the usual Byzantine style, the figures of the icon are identified with abbreviations of their names. In this icon Mary is designated by her chief title to glory: Mother of God.