Our Lady of Good Counsel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Mater boni consilii) is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after a miraculous painting now found in Genazzano, Italy. According to tradition, in the year 1467, in the midst of the festivities for the Feast of St Mark, the townfolk suddenly heard "exquisite music." A mysterious cloud then descended and obliterated an unfinished wall of the parish church.
In front of the populace, the cloud dissipated and a beautiful painting, no thicker than a carte-de-visite, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ Child was revealed. Many miracles occurred in the portrait's presence, and it was discovered that it had been miraculously transported from a church in Albania.
Such was the holy image's power that Pope Urban VIII made a "glittering" pilgrimage there in 1630, invoking the protection of the Queen of Heaven, as did Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1864. On November 17, 1682, Blessed Pope Innocent XI had the picture solemnly crowned. Her Feast is celebrated on April 26th.
The small Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel (the White Scapular) was presented by the Hermits of St Augustine to Pope Leo XIII, who, in December 1893, approved it and endowed it with indulgences.
[edit] Bibliography
- Miraculous Images of Our Lady, by Joan Carroll Cruz, OCDS, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc, 1993. ISBN 0-89555-484-4
