Original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help links Rapid City and Rome

Deacon Todd VanderMay
Diocesan Seminarian

This January I got the opportunity to go to Rome through the seminary. It was a very eventful trip, and there was a lot that was seen and done. Our housing was fortunate, being situated close to the Vatican. We were about a six minute walk from Saint Peter’s Square, and I made an intention to go there as often as I could, which was most days. Besides seeing many churches and visiting many saints’ graves, two things that particularly stood out was getting to see the icon of Perpetual Help and being with my brothers. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is the patroness of our diocese, and the original icon is housed in Rome. I was able to go there three times during my stay in Rome. The second time I went there was with the theologian seminarians of the diocese. Five seminarians for the diocese were together that day; we went to Mass in the morning, attended the Angelus with the pope, went to a couple churches, including Saint Alphonsus Liguori, which is the church that has the original icon of Perpetual Help. That was a very moving and cool encounter to be with brother seminarians at the original icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. While there, we prayed together for Bishop Scott Bullock, for the priests of the diocese, for us seminarians and an increase of vocations, and for the people of the diocese of whom we will serve and minister to.