Salus Populi Romani

Salus Populi Romani (English: Protectress of the Roman People) — Protectress translates literally as 'salvation' or 'health' — is a title given in the 19th century to the Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child holding a handkerchief and Gospel book respectively, reputed to date to the Early Christian era, in the Borghese or Pauline Chapel of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.

It has historically been the most important Marian icon in Rome, and although devotion to it declined somewhat relative to other images, such as Our Mother of Perpetual Help, over the centuries, it regained some status by being canonically crowned by Pope Pius XII on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary in October 11, 1954. Recent papal devotion includes Pope Benedict XVI who venerated the image on various occasions, referred to the Virgin Mary, as the mother of God with that title, as he asked her to "pray for us". Pope Francis also made this icon one of his first places of pilgrimage the day after his election to the Papacy.

The phrase Salus Populi Romani goes back to the legal system and pagan rituals of the ancient Roman Republic, where Livy tells us that the augur would ask the gods for permission for the praetors to pray for it, later embellished as a Marian title for the Blessed Virgin Mary upon the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine through the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.