Mary Help of Christians is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a feast day on May 24. St John Chrysostom was the first to describe this title, in AD 345. In more recent times, St. John Bosco and St. Vincent Pallotti promoted this devotion. It is associated with the defense of Christian Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from non-Christians especially militant Islam, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto when the attacking Turks were repelled by the Christian fleet.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon (see above on the right) and a purported Marian apparition. The feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is on June 27. This image was enshrined in the Church of San Matteo on the Via Merulana in Rome from 1499 to 1798 and is today permanently enshrined in the Church of Saint Alphonsus Liguori in Rome, where the novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help is prayed weekly.

There are two inscriptions from the first centuries of Christianity in Greek related to Mary: Theotokos, Mother of God, and Boetheia, Helper. The Fathers of the Church referred to Mary as Helper. St. John Chrysostom used the title in a homily in 345, Proclus in 476 and Sebas of Caesarea in 532. After the time of the Fathers of the Church, (5th century), other persons used it like Romanos the Melodist in 518, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius in 560, St. John of Damascus in 749 and Germanus I of Constantinople in 733. The invocation of Mary for help and protection is part of the oldest prayer addressed directly to Mary, the Sub tuum praesidium, which was found on a scroll in Egypt at the end of the 3rd century. There are several versions of the prayer, for example, the Greek version:

Beneath thy compassion, we take refuge, O Theotokos, [God-bearer]: do not despise our petitions in time of trouble: but rescue us from dangers, only pure one, only blessed one. The Greek word, eusplagchnia, used for compassion, literally means being moved favorably in your guts like a mother for her child.

The Latin version is as follows: Beneath thy protecting help, (praesidium) we fly, O Holy Mother of God; do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and Blessed Virgin. Praesidium means defensive fortification.

The feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, was instituted by Pope Pius VII. By order of Napoleon I of France, Pope Pius VII was arrested on 5 June 1808, and detained a prisoner first at Grenoble, and then at Fontainebleau. In January 1814, after the battle of Leipzig, he was brought back to Savona and set free on 17 March, on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, the Patroness of Savona. The journey to Rome was a veritable triumphal march. The Pope, attributing the victory of the church after so much agony and distress to the Blessed Virgin, visited many of her sanctuaries on the way and crowned her images. The people crowded the streets to catch a glimpse of the Pope who had withstood the threats of Napoleon.

He entered Rome on May 24, 1814 and was enthusiastically welcomed.
When Napoleon left Elba and returned to Paris, Murat was about to march through the Papal States from Naples; Pope Pius VII fled to Savona 22 March 1815. After the Congress of Vienna and the battle of Waterloo, the Pope returned to Rome on July 7, 1815. To give thanks to God and Our Lady, on September 15, 1815, the feast of the Seven Sorrows of our Lady, he declared May 24th, the anniversary of his first return, to be henceforth the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians.

The Church has traditionally focused on two aspects of Our Lady's help on this feast day. Firstly, the church focuses in this feast on the role of Our Lady's intercession in the fight against sin in the life of a believer. Secondly, the church focuses on Our Lady as one who assists Christians as a community, through her intercession, in fighting against anti-Christian forces.

Regarding the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer serve as custodians of the icon. The image is alternatively named as the Virgin of the Passion in the East. Due to promotion by the Redemptorist priests, the image has gained popularity among Western and Eastern Catholics. Modern reproductions are often displayed in residential homes, commercial establishments, and public transportation.

The image originated as an icon of the Virgin of the Passion called Amolyntos which depicted the Madonna and Child along with two angels carrying the Holy Instruments of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The current title derives from the external door of the Augustinian Church of San Matteo in Via Merulana in Rome, where the antiquated inscription from 1579 once bore the invocation: Deiparæ Mater et Virginis Succursu Perpetui, the Mother of God and the Virgin of Perpetual Help.

We call you Mother of our Lord, Redeemer, beautiful Virgin,
glory of Christians and comfort in tight situations.

Though the gates of Hell rage, and the ancient enemy roars threats
let her stir up indignation, so that an army be populated for God,

No fierce furies can harm chaste minds, which the Virgin,
having called them by prayer, fosters and strengthens with heavenly strength.

If such a great Patroness favors us, the tumult of warlike crime ceases,
a thousand troops are scattered or flee,
A thousand cohorts.

She lifts her head like a holy tower in Zion,
a fortress built with a strong wall, the City of David,
protected by shields and sharp soldiers.

Thus, the strong Virgin of the Lord's mighty right hand,
loaded with heavenly gifts, repels the blows of the devil from her pious servants.

We will worship you throughout eternal years, O Trinity,
celebrated with the highest acclaim,
May minds praise you with faith, and tongues with resounding Song.

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