On January 26, the Church in Rome solemnly celebrated the Feast of the Translation of the Salus Populi Romani, the city's most important Marian icon.
This ancient Madonna and Child icon is currently housed in the Borghese chapel in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the oldest Marian church in the West.
Celebrated annually in Rome on the last Sunday of January, the feast commemorates the icon's solemn relocation to its current ornate chapel in 1613. It is perhaps the greatest testament to the love of the Blessed Mother for the city of Rome, and how she has miraculously intervened in its history as the Salus Populi Romani (Health of the Roman People).
Where did the Salus Populi Romani icon come from?
Tradition holds that Saint Luke the Evangelist painted it, though historians and scientists dispute this. Tradition also holds that Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine I, brought the icon to Rome from Jerusalem along with other sacred relics, including the True Cross.
The Salus Populi Romani has been venerated in Rome since the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, which defined that Mary, as the Mother of Jesus, is also the Mother of God.
Historically, the icon played a central role in the annual procession held in Rome on the Feast of the Assumption.
During the procession, an image of Christ was carried from the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (the Pope’s Cathedral) to Saint Mary Major to meet the Salus Populi Romani, symbolizing the close relationship between Jesus and Mary and the connection between the two basilicas. This tradition continues today with the annual papal Corpus Christi procession, where the Blessed Sacrament is carried along the same route, the Via Merulana, a road built specifically for these processions.
The Salus Populi Romani icon is also a miraculous image.
During the reign of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (590-604 AD), an epidemic spread throughout Rome. He encouraged the people of Rome to fast and pray for an end to this plague, turning to the Mother of God for help. Finally, he carried the Salus in procession from Saint Mary Major to the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he had a vision of Saint Michael the Archangel sheathing his sword, thus ending the plague. The Romans then sang the Regina Caeli chant to Mary, a hymn still sung to her during the Easter season.
Mary also intervened via the image to save Rome during the reign of Pope Pius XII. In 1944 during World War II, the Nazi armies closed in on Rome, and the Pope prayed to the Salus to save the city from invasion. Shortly after, the Allied Armies liberated Rome, leading the Pope to personally grant the icon a papal coronation in thanksgiving.
The icon is also beloved by the current Holy Father, Pope Francis. It is his custom, before and after every trip, to visit Saint Mary Major and pray before the icon. He has even expressed his desire to be buried near the icon, which makes him the first pope in over a century not to be buried in the Vatican.
In this Holy Year of Jubilee, millions are expected to visit Rome to pass through the Holy Doors, including at Saint Mary Major.
Like any good mother, Mary waits to embrace them there, especially through the Salus Populi Romani icon. May our devotion to the Mother of God help us to persevere in the faith, remembering her words at the Wedding Feast at Cana:
“Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5)