Buono e Perpetuo Soccorso is a 19th century convent church at Via Merulana 170, in the rione Esquilino.
The dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her aspect of Our Lady of Good and Perpetual Help.
History[]
This is the church of the Generalate of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Good and Perpetual Succour.
The congregation was founded on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius by Caroline Lenferna de Laresle in 1851, and opened this convent at Rome in 1878.
It has recently become the spiritual home of an expatriate group of Catholic Mauritians.
Exterior[]
Despite its being part of the larger building that is the Generalate, the Diocese lists this as a church and not as a chapel -even though it seems to be a private establishment.
From the street, the complex is marked by a short screen wall containing an arched doorway with a triangular pediment. The top of the wall has a balustrade, and standing on this over the entrance is a slab with a relief sculpture of Our Lady in a conical mantle, being crowned by two angels. This is topped by a tympanum with a protruding archivolt on strap corbels. The tympanum contains the Marian monogram in a glory.
Interior[]
The church is a small rectangular space of four bay, barrel-vaulted and with a tiny conched sanctuary apse. The bays are separated by Doric pilasters in yellow marble, which support an entablature from which the vault springs. Further pilasters are folded into the corners, and another pair flanks the apse. The latter contains a vertically elliptical icon of the Madonna and Child.
Liturgy[]
Mass is celebrated publicly (Centro Storico database, accessed May 2019):
Weekdays 7:30;
Sundays and Solemnities 8:00.
The Mauritian community celebrate with a Mass on the second Sunday of the month.