The Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is a copy of a 13th century Byzantine painting of the Madonna and Child. It is mounted, glazed and set in a substantial moulded dark-stained wooden frame, gold-painted on the outer edges. Inside the glazing, on the mount, are five small silver hearts while a further, larger gold heart is tucked into the frame on the outside. This is in turn mounted in an elaborate wooden outer framework, on which are set 13 wooden votive tokens inscribed in gold. Also, tucked into the first token on the left, is a gilded stamped ‘eyes’ token. Under the frame is mounted a wooden Renaissance-style shield with scrolled edges, painted cream, with the lettering and detail picked out in red and black.
This icon was painted in Moscow in 1908 at the request of Fr Fynes-Clinton who was, between 1906 and 1914, a priest at St Stephen’s Church Lewisham. Initially it was displayed in the Chapel of All Saints’ Orphanage in Lewisham of which Fr Fynes-Clinton was the Chaplain. At some point it was moved to the Chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Sepulchre in Hoxton but, in 1912, it was acquired by Miss Ada Ford who lived in Lewisham and who then gave it back to Fr Fynes-Clinton. In her letter dated 23rd October 1912 she writes: Will you accept the Eikon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour for All Saints Chapel as long as you are Chaplain to the Community. But in the event of your leaving I give it to you entirely as my only wish is that it may be placed where our B(lessed) Lady will be Invoked and not regarded merely as a sacred picture. Yours very sincerely, Ada Ford. Fr Fynes-Clinton served at St Michael’s Church, Shoreditch from 1914 to 1921, when he was appointed Rector of St Magnus the Martyr where he stayed until his death in 1959, the icon remaining with him throughout.
The original Byzantine painting was taken from Crete to Rome in the 15th century and the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was established on 27 June in 1876. In the Russian Orthodox Church it is known as “Our Lady of the Passion”. The original is now thought to be in the Church of St Alfonsus in Rome.