Pope Pius IX granted a pontifical decree of canonical coronation along with its official formalized title Nostra Mater de Perpetuo Succursu on 5 May 1866.

The current title derives from the external door tymphanum of the Augustinian Church of San Matteo in Via Merulana, where the antiquated inscription from 1579 once bore the invocation: Deiparæ Mater et Virginis Succursu Perpetui(Latin for 'Virginal Mother who bore God, May always Assist us')The Order of Saint Augustine already had a devotion to this Marian title based on a namesake cloistered monastery "Our Lady of Help" (Italian: Madonna del Soccorso) in Corleone, Palermo, Sicily.

According to many art historians, the image was painted by the leading painter of the Cretan school Andreas Rizo de Candia (1421–1492), who created several works bearing high resemblance to the icon, many for export to Italy.

A pious tale later emerged through the published account of Jesuit priest, Father Concezio di Carroci whom later alleged that the image was originally stolen from Lasithi, Crete by an anonymous Roman merchant.

This pious account was popularized by the sensationalized tale of a Marian apparition to a young maiden, now related to the icon being transferred to the Church of San Matteo in Via Merulana.

The former Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica, Cardinal Francesco Nerli Jr. also praised the icon for its miraculous claims of glorious wonder (Latin: Miraculorum Gloria Insignis).

[1] The Italian Franciscan priest and traveler Cristoforo Buondelmonti visited Crete in 1415, wrote of a similar icon being miraculous: "Βαδίζαµε ανάµεσα σε πυκνοδασωµένα πετρώδη βουνά µέχρι που φθάσαµε στην εκκλησία της Καρδιώτισσας, που πολλές φορές είχε φανερωθή στους πιστούς µε θαύµατα.

According to the account by the Redemptorists: "In January 1866, Fathers Michael Marchi and Ernest Bresciani went to Saint Mary's in Posterula to receive the picture from the Augustinians.".

[5] The Redemptorists had purchased the property where the former Saint Matthew's had stood, and had established and built the modern Sant'Alfonso di Liguori, in honor of the founder of their congregation.

This proposal was brought to Father—General Nicholas Mauron who then petitioned Pope Pius IX for papal dispensation to transfer the custodianship of the original image.

Pope Pius IX sent a letter on 11 December 1865 to Father—General Nicholas Mauron, which ordered that the Marian image be once again publicly venerated in Via Merulana, the new designated church of Saint Alphonsus of Ligouri.

The instructions of the Pontifical order to the Redemptorists were: "The Prefect of Propaganda, Cardinal Alessandro Barnabò shall call the Superior of the community of Sancta Maria in Posterula and will tell him that it is Our desire that the image of Most Holy Mary, referred to in this petition, be again placed between Saint John the Lateran and Saint Mary Major; the Redemptorists shall replace it with another adequate picture."

[10] In the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is observed on the first Sunday in July, with Festal propers added to the Divine Liturgy.

Pope Pius IX tasked the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Costantino Patrizi Naro to restore the worn and damaged image on 26 April 1866.

The restoration process involved X-ray, infrared scanning, technical analysis of the paint and ultra-violet testing along with a carbon-14-test which placed the icon between the year 1325–1480.

[18][19] Every Wednesday, many congregations hold services where they publicly recite the rosary and the icon's associated novena, along with a priest delivering Benediction and celebrating a votive Mass in its honor.

[20][21] In Saint John the Baptist Church, Garcia Hernandez, Bohol, the feast of the image is held on 27 April instead of the usual liturgical date.

[23] Devotion to the Mother of God of Perpetual Help was propagated by the Greek Catholic Redemptorists, who arrived in Ukraine in 1913 at the invitation of Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky.

Charnetsky was ordained on 8 February 1931 in the presence of the original icon in Rome and died while invoking the aid of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help.

[30] On 11 December 2017, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk proclaimed that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will celebrate the feast day of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help each year on the first Sunday of July.

Between 1927 and 1935, the first American novena service dedicated to the icon was recited in Saint Alphonsus "The Rock" church in St. Louis, Missouri, and various other Redemptorist stations around the United States.

There is a shrine Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Manhattan; and at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Brooklyn) and Ybor City, Tampa, Florida.

His mother, Lady Desamparado Fontes, fed him a silk fabric cloth touched to the icon of Perpetual Help in Rome, which resulted in instantaneous healing later claimed to be miraculous.

On its 50th anniversary in 1969, a public diocesan coronation of this image was held, directed by the town mayor and its authorities, with the crowns made by Santero artist José David.

[33] According to Roman Catholic bishop Guy Sansaricq, former Haitian president Élie Lescot and his cabinet petitioned the Holy See to make Our Mother of Perpetual Help the Patroness of Haiti in 1942.

In January 2010, Pope Benedict XVI invoked Our Lady of Perpetual Help for Haiti's earthquake relief through Archbishop Louis Kébreau.