a year of prayer: 365 Rosaries

Today, April 26, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel ("Madonna del Buon Consiglio")-- the miraculous love and grace that the Blessed Virgin revealed to the faithful through an iconic fresco of Holy Mother and Child.

In Genazzano, Italy—a small town about 25 miles outside of Rome-- the Church of the Virgin Mother of Good Counsel had fallen into disrepair. In the fifteenth century, a pious widow and tertiary of the Augustinian Order, Petruccia Noteria, undertook the monumental task of restoring the church following a vision from the Blessed Virgin. She implored her neighbors to help her with the task, but instead, they scoffed and jeered, accusing her of madness at her advanced age, and mocking her alleged holiness. Petruccia was not to be deterred, however, and committed all of her resources to the repairs of the church. She was not deterred by the derision of her friends and neighbors, instead saying to them, “My dear children, do not put too much importance on this apparent misfortune. I assure you that before my death the Blessed Virgin and our holy father Augustine will finish the church begun by me.”

On April 25, 1467, the entire town would have their eyes opened. It was traditional to celebrate the feast of Saint Mark, the patron saint of the city, with a fair in the city’s town center—where the partially restored Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel stood. During the festival, a luminous white cloud drifted over the village, with heavenly music seeming to emanate from within it. The cloud, which drew quite a bit of attention, drifted over the church, enveloping it. The church bells began to ring of their own accord, echoed by the bells of every other church in town. When the cloud lifted, a fresco of the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus appeared, miraculously hanging in the air. The townspeople were moved by the miracle, crying out to their Mother of Good Counsel.

Following the miraculous apparition, the people rallied around Petruccia, and the church was finished quite quickly. A chapel was built to house the fresco, which continues—to this day—to hang suspended in the air, approximately 1 inch from the wall of the church. So many miracles were recorded—including healings—that Rome dispatched a registrar to record them. Nearly 175 miracles were recorded in the first 5 months. Pope Paul II immediately ordered an investigation, and the results have been preserved. The same fresco was discovered to have miraculously appeared in a church dedicated to the Annunciation in Scutari, Albania centuries before, but due to Petruccia’s faith, was miraculously transported to Italy.

The fresco—painted on a thin sheet of porcelain approximately the thickness of an eggshell—became known as Our Lady of Good Counsel of Genazzano. To this day, pilgrims flock to see the image, which despite the church being bombed during the second world war (and the chapel within which it was housed destroyed) miraculously escaped unscathed.

Our Lady of Good Counsel has been approved by the Vatican, and many popes throughout history have been especially devoted to her. She is the patron saint of those seeking enlightenment. Her feast day is celebrated April 26.  Her miraculous intercession reminds us that the love of Our Blessed Mother is perfect, her virtue knows no bounds, and her constant heavenly intercession for each of us is a gift not to be taking for granted.  Pray for us, Our Lady of Good Counsel!  Intercede for us with Jesus, Our Lord!


Prayer of Our Lady of Good Counsel:


O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are lead by our anxious uncertainty in our search for and attainment of what is true and good, invoking thee by the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel. We beseech Thee to come to our assistance, when, along the road of this life, the darkness of error and of evil conspires towards our ruin by leading our minds and our hearts astray.


Do Thou, O Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the doubtful and the erring, that they be not seduced by the false appearances of good; render them steadfast in the race of the hostile and corrupting influences of passion and of sin. O Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from Thy Divine Son a great love of virtue, and, in the hour of uncertainty and trial, the strength to embrace the way that leads to our salvation.


If Thy hand sustains us, we shall walk unmolested along the path indicated to us by the life and words of Jesus our Redeemer, and having followed freely and securely, even in the midst of this world's strife, the Sun of Truth and Justice under Thy maternal star, we shall come to the enjoyment of full and eternal peace with Thee in the haven of salvation. Amen.