The devotion to Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence is intimately connected to the history of the first Barnabite house in Rome.

In 1611, during the construction of the Church of St. Charles ai Catinari, dedicated to the great Cardinal protector of the Barnabites, St. Charles Borromeo, the Barnabites found themselves faced with such grave financial difficulties that they were forced to interrupt the construction. Father Blaise Palma, the pastor, decided to make a pilgrimage to Loreto to beg the aid of Our Lady. He was convinced that the Mother of the Lord would not be indifferent to his appeal. Upon his return from the pilgrimage, the grace hoped for happened - they received the necessary financial means to continue building the church. In 1650, the construction was completed.

Wishing to safeguard this intervention of the Virgin Mary, Fr. Palma wrote a lengthy and factual account and placed it in the parish archives. He recommended that everyone appeal to Mary with the greatest confidence whenever difficulties presented themselves.

A second event also influenced the origins of the devotion to Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence. In 1659, forced to abandon their second house in Rome, the Barnabites wished to remove part of a wall on which was painted a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. Unfortunately, in 1663, when they tried to place it over an altar, it fell and broke into a thousand pieces. To repay the Barnabites, the architect responsible for the wall offered them a remarkable painting of the Blessed Mother holding the Infant Jesus in her arms. It was a painting by Raphael's disciple, Scipion Pulzone, known as Gaetan. This painting was placed on the altar of a chapel on the first floor of the St. Charles rectory behind the main altar. The Barnabites used to gather there daily for the recitation of the Divine Office and their spiritual exercises.

By accident Father Januarius Maffetti, a member of the Barnabite community of St. Charles, discovered Father Palma's writings in the community archives. As he read them, he was struck by his confident love, lively faith, and kindly gratitude toward the Mother of God and was moved by an ardent desire to spread devotion to Our Lady. Thus the devotion to Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence, was officially born.

From its beginnings our Order promoted devotion to the Blessed Mother. For our Holy Founder, his ardent love for Christ could not be separated from a filial devotion toward the Blessed Mother which he learned from his mother, Antonietta Pescaroli, a widow at 19, and a truly remarkable Christian mother. He recommended to his followers that, to advance in religious perfection, they were to honor and love this dear Mother, the Queen of Angels.

By decree of Father Benedict Nisser, Superior General, on August 5, 1896, every Barnabite is to have a copy of the painting of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence, in his room. She is the Madonna of the Barnabites.

In Gaetan's Madonna, the Child's fingers confidently clasp those of Mary. The Barnabites interpret this pose to be a symbol of the sacred source of the power of the Mother of God. The Child seems to be saying: "Mother, I place in your hands the authority to act in my name. From my infinite treasure, you are to provide good things to all those who implore your aid." This is the source of the title of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence.