We turn to you, Our Mother of Good Counsel, as we seek to imitate your faith-filled life. May we be led by the same wisdom which God sent forth from heaven to guide you along unfamiliar paths and through challenging decisions.
Keep us united in mind and heart as we go forward in joyful hope toward the grace filled freedom that St. Augustine recommends.
O Virgin Mother of Good Counsel, hear our prayer as we look to you for guidance. Pray for us to our loving and merciful Father, to your Son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, giver of all wisdom, one God forever and ever. Amen.
The history of “Our Mother of Good Counsel” is rooted in a rich and somewhat mystical Church tradition spanning the past 15 centuries. It was during the reign of Pope Sixtus III in the 5th century that the residents of the town of Genazzano, about 35 miles east of Rome, constructed a church in honor of Our Mother. This church was later entrusted to the Augustinian Friars for its care and administration. Tradition maintains that on April 27, 1467 a cloud, accompanied by the sounds of angelic music, descended on an unadorned wall of this church during a celebration of the Feast of St. Mark and dissipated to reveal an 18-inch square fresco of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child. It is said that the fresco was suspended in the air in front of the wall with no visible support or attachment. Immediately, devotion to the Mother of God, which was strong to begin with, was intensified. Pilgrim groups arrived and miracles were chronicled – over 170 healings within the first six months. A registry of miracles onsite is maintained to this day. The reputation of Our Mother of Good Counsel spread far and wide.
The miraculous image of the Madonna and Child, which was originally called “Madonna of Paradise”, has always been regarded with special favor by the Papacy. In the 15th century, Pope Paul II gave approval to devotion to Mary under the title “Our Mother of Good Counsel”. In 1630, Pope Urban VIII made a papal pilgrimage to the church at Genazzano and implored the protection of the Virgin, which was emulated by Pope Pius IX over 200 years later in 1864. In 1753, Pope Benedict XIV had a gold crown placed above the fresco, and the fresco was visited in turn by such notables as St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. John Bosco. In 1779, Pope Pius VI granted the Augustinian Order the special favor of celebrating the feast of Our Mother of Good Counsel each year on April 26th, and Pope Leo XIII inserted the title “Mater Boni Consilii” into the Litany of Loreto and placed a copy of the fresco image in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican.
Pope Pius XII in the 20th century dedicated his entire pontificate to the Madonna of Good Counsel, and Pope John XXIII visited the shrine in 1959. During World War II, a bomb crashed through the church roof, destroying the sanctuary and high altar. The fragile fresco – egg-shell thin – was only a few yards away, but was miraculously undamaged. Pope John XXIII visited the shrine to pray for guidance before convening the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).