Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the Order of San Agustín (OSA)he visited at the beginning of his pontificate the sanctuary of the mother of good advice in Genazzano, Italy, near Rome. The enclosure houses a famous image of the Virgin Mary that, according to tradition, appeared there in miraculous circumstances.
Known to the title of “Our Lady of Good Council” or “Mother of Good Council”, the small image of the Virgin Mary that is preserved in the Genazzano church has been revered by the Augustinians for centuries. The Augustinians of the west, which Pope León directed as a provincial prior before his election, supervises the Province of our mother of good advice.
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During Your visit to the Church on May 10León talked about the protection of the Virgin Mary and the importance of devotion to her. He prayed on the altar and before the Mariana image, and also raised a prayer to the mother of the good advice with the assembly.
“As the mother never abandons your children, you must also be faithful to the mother,” said Pope León.
Who is Our Lady of Good Council?
The title of the “Good Council” given Mary is a recognition of the Mother of Christ as a source of wisdom and celestial guide.
According to tradition, on April 25, 1467, feast of San Marcos, a mysterious cloud descended on an old deteriorated church of the 5th century in Genazzano, which had previously been dedicated to Our Lady of Good Council and was being restored by the Augustinians, having been entrusted to that order in 1356.
When the cloud disappeared, a fragile image of the Blessed Virgin was found with the child on a fine plaster sheet. It is said that the paint, about 45 square centimeters, floated in the air, without any support.
It was widely believed that the image – which was said to date from the time of the Apostles – had been miraculously transported to Italy from a church in Scutari, the capital of Albania, just before the Ottoman invasion of that same year. However, According to the Augustinians of the west mediumscientific evidence carried out in the 1950s showed that the small image was probably painted between 1417 and 1431 for the Church and was reprimanded before being discovered later when a poor widow donated everything she had to finance the renewal of the Church.
Regardless of how, in the following months to the appearance of the image, a local priest who acted as a notary registered more than 160 miracles, including physical cures, replied sentences and dramatic conversions.
Much of the Church of Our Lady of Good Council was destroyed during World War II, but the image remained intact and instead. Today is in a small chapel that constitutes the heart of the Church.
According to Ewtn Vatican’s descriptionthe Virgin Mary is represented with a blue mantle, a symbol of humanity, while the Child Jesus wears a red robe, symbol of her divinity. Mary’s face reflects the classical artistic tradition, while the child presents features of the Byzantine style, symbol of the union between the East and West. About them arches a rainbow, the biblical symbol of peace.
Over the years, a large number of potatoes, including Santos Papas, have visited the Genazzano Church seeking the guidance and wisdom of Mary, and have promoted devotion to Our Lady under this title.
The Urban Pope VII (1521-1590) prayed for the end of a plague in Rome; Pope Pius IX sought the intercession of the Virgin before the first Vatican Council, which began in 1869.
Leo XIII, spiritual predecessor of Leo XIV and devotee of Our Lady of Good Council, added the invocation Mother of the good of the Concluda, Pronobis (“Mother of Good Council, pray for us”) Lauretan litanies In 1903. Leo XIII He also approved The white scapular of Our Lady of Good Council and entrusted the Augustinians.
In more recent times, San Juan XXIII went to the sanctuary to, like Pío IX, seek guidance for the Second Vatican Council. San Juan Pablo II ratified the devotion during A visit to the Church on April 22, 1993shortly after Conania consecrated To Our Lady of Good Council. Pope Benedict XVI ordered an image of the icon in the Vatican gardens in 2009.
Numerous pilgrims visit the Genazzano Church and participate in the annual spring celebration, which is celebrated on April 25. In the rest of the world, the feast of Our Lady of Good Council is celebrated on April 26.
How can we increase our devotion to Our Lady of Good Council?
—Prayer to Mary, Our Lady of Good Council On the CNA website, EWTN news agency.
—Litanies to Our Lady of Good Council on the EWTN website.
—Available icon In Ewtn’s religious catalog.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Jonah McKeown
Jonah McKeown is editor and producer of Podcasts of Catholic News Agency. He has a master’s degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri and has worked as a writer, radio producer and cameraman.