This painting of Our Mother of Perpetual Help probably dates from the 15th century. It gained a reputation of being miraculous, and changed hands often. In 1886, Pope Pius IX responded to a request from the Redemptorist order for the painting. Their intention was to give it a permanent home in the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Rome.
"But Pius IX didn't give the picture to the Redemptorists as a gift. He gave it to them as a mission. He told them, "Make Our Mother of Perpetual Help known throughout the world." The Redemptorists embraced this command wholeheartedly by distributing reproductions of her picture and talking about her in missions and homilies around the world.
Their efforts yielded impressive results. By the turn of the century, 1.8 million Spaniards belonged to the Archconfraternity of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, ten thousand shrines and altars were dedicated to her in France, and devotions in her honor were observed in several thousand churches all over America. These services, or novenas, of Our Mother of Perpetual Help drew thousands of people. Churches in St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, and Boston had to hold eight or ten services a day to accommodate everyone who wanted to honor Mary, and in New York, the service was even broadcast over the radio. "
Excerpt from The Mother of Millions, available from Liguori Publications.
See also Devotion to Mary