October 11
Matka Boża Nieustającej Pomocy, Poznań, Wielkopolska, Poland
In their Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Poznań,
begun in 1649, Jesuits installed a copy of the miraculous icon of
Perpetual Help, then in the church of St. Matthew in Rome. During the
1700s, the church evolved into a Baroque masterpiece, merging with the
parish church after the supression of the Jesuits in 1773 to become the
large, magnificent Church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop, co-dedicated to
St. Mary Magdalene and the Mother of God of Perpetual Help. In the 1800s,
both the Italian original and the Poznań copy of the icon were lost.
After Redemptorists in Rome found and returned the ancient image to their
new church on the site of old St. Matthew's in 1866, their order spread
renewed devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help around the world. In 1952,
the Church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop installed a new copy of the icon
(left) in a side chapel, where the Archbishop of Poznań crowned it on
October 11, 1961. Thieves stole the crown in 1988, and Bishop Jerzy Strobe
recrowned the icon in 1989. (Information from "St Stanislaus (the
Bishop) Church," Discover Poznań, www.poznan.pl,
and other sources, including the picture source, "Kościoły
pw. MBNP,"
Ikona Matki Bożej Nieustającej Pomocy, www.mbnp.religia.net.)
The original Byzantine icon from Crete was installed in San Matteo in Rome in 1499. The archangels Michael and Gabriel flank the Virgin's head, bearing the instruments of Christ's passion. The Holy Child looks anxiously up at the cross, as his sandal slips from his foot.
Also commemorated this date:
 | Maternidade Divina (Divine Maternity), Catholic Church. Feast extended to entire Church in 1931; moved to January 1 in 1974. |
| Mary, Mother of the Savior. The Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorians) celebrates a solemnity honoring its co-patron. |
| Mary, Mother of God, Cole Bay, Saskatchewan, Canada. Shrine blessed, 1981; annual outdoor mass. Pilgrimage in June. |
| Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours, Saint-Avold, Moselle, Lorraine, France. Chapel dedicated, 1890. Enlarged & rededicated, 1902. |
| Mutter vom Guten Rat, Essen, Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (Mother of Good Counsel, Golden Madonna). Following Sunday. |
| Unbefleckt empfangenen Mutter vom Sieg, Wigratzbad, Opfenbach, Lindau, Bavaria, Germany (Immaculate Mother of Victory). Grotto inaugurated, 1936. Feast Sunday nearest Oct. 7. |
| Notre Dame de Foi, Rome, Italy. In the Brothers and Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary motherhouse. |
| Macierzyństwa Najświętszej Maryi Panny, Dziekanowice, Myślenice, Lesser Poland, Poland (Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Oct. 11 or following Sunday. |
| Matka Boża Fatimska, Krzeptówki, Zakopane, Tatra, Lesser Poland, Poland. Chapel consecrated, 1959. |
| Our Lady of Fatima, St. Petersburg, Russia. Shrine dedicated, 1998. |
| Amatxo de Begoņa, Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain (Mother of the Foothills). Brotherhood distributes chocolates and purple handkerchiefs. |
| Nuestra Seņora del Rosario, Granada, Granada, Andalucia, Spain. Votive commemoration of plague's end in 1679. Procession Oct. 12. |
| Vierge Noire du Puy, Izmir, Turkey. Black Virgin replica statue installed in the House of the Virgin in Ephesus, 1998. |
| Our Lady of Fatima, Peabody, Massachusetts, USA. Church dedicated, 1975. |