meaning Refuge of Sinners is a Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic (term)

The term Roman Catholic appeared in the English language at the beginning of the 17th century, to differentiate specific groups of Christians in communion with the Pope from others; comparable terms in other languages already existed...

 title

Titles of Mary

Mary is known by many titles , epithets , invocations and other names ....

 for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its use goes back to Saint Germanus of Constantinople in the 8th century.

Refugium Peccatorum is one part of four Marian advocations in the Litany of Loreto, the others being Salus Informorum (illness) Consolatrix Afflictorum (sadness) and, Auxilium Christianorum (help of the Christians). Each advocation extolling Mary’s role as advocate for spiritual and corporeal mercy has a rich history, but in general, the notion of asking the Blessed Virgin Mary for help in temporal needs dates back to Saints Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr

Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....

, Irenaeus

Irenaeus

Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...

 and Ambrose of Milan.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, Eve is viewed as being responsible for the sufferings of humans since their fall from Heaven and the Virgin Mary is viewed as the source of all healing. She is the new Eve, who cannot eliminate the damage created by Eve, but limit it. Her fullness of grace, her position among the disciples of Christ and her title as Mother of God are seen as assurances that the Virgin Mary is a powerful intercessor.

The Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners was established at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in the 19th century, and spread throughout the world.

The 18th century Jesuit preacher Antonio Baldinucci had a particular devotion to the Refugium Peccatorum image of Virgin Mary in the Church of the Gesu (Frascati)

Church of the Gesu (Frascati)

Church of the Gesu is a Roman Catholic church in Frascati, in the province of Rome, in Italy.The church was originally built in 1520. In 1554 the city began the construction of the present church, but did not complete it. In 1560 the Jesuits took possession of the site and completed it by 1597,...

 in Italy and commissioned a copy which he considered miraculous and carried it with him in his travels. The Jesuits spread copies of the image of the Madonna of Refuge in Mexico by the 19th century, and it began to be depicted in missions there, often with clouds surrounding the lower portion of the image of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus.

In some 19th century images, biblical scenes are included below the image of the Madonna

Madonna (art)

Images of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child or Virgin and Child are pictorial or sculptured representations of Mary, Mother of Jesus, either alone, or more frequently, with the infant Jesus. These images are central icons of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity where Mary remains...

, e.g. Peter's visions as well as the depiction of a safe harbor (Psalm 108:30).

The term "Refugium peccatorum" is also used other works of Roman Catholic Marian art

Roman Catholic Marian art

The Blessed Virgin Mary has been one of the major subjects of Christian Art, Catholic Art and Western Art for many centuries. Literally hundreds of thousands of pieces of...

. For instance, there is a marble statue representing the Virgin Mary, on the grand staircase of the old municipal palace in Venice, Italy. The name came from the fact that the convicts were allowed to stop in front of the Virgin Mary’s statue to pray for their soul on the way to the scaffold.