Only two days after his May 8 election as the vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV made the one-hour trip by car from the Vatican to the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy. It was his first pilgrimage outside of Rome. Since the 14th century, his religious institute, the Order of St. Augustine, has maintained this sanctuary, which houses the venerated image of the Mother of Good Counsel, also known as Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Journalist Jonah McKeown recounted that during the papal visit to the shrine, Pope Leo prayed silently before the sacred fresco and then prayed with the faithful gathered in the church, a large portion of which had been destroyed during World War II — the image of the Mother of Good Counsel, however, remaining unscathed. The pope exhorted his listeners: “As the mother never abandons her children, you must also be faithful to the Mother.”
A tradition asserts that April 25, 1467, on the Feast of St. Mark, a cloud descended on a dilapidated church in Genazzano. When the cloud lifted, a small image on a piece of plaster about 18 inches square depicting Mary holding the Child Jesus was found. It was said that the painting was hanging in the air, unsupported, when it was noticed. Many believe that the image was fashioned during the time of the Apostles, while others opt for a much later date.
Numerous popes were devoted to Our Lady of Good Counsel and her shrine. Pope Urban VII (Sept. 15-27, 1590), whose pontificate was the shortest in history, prayed at the sanctuary for the end of a plague crippling Rome, while in 1868, Blessed Pius IX (1846-78) sought Our Lady’s intercession for the First Vatican Council that would convene one year later. In 1903, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) added the invocation, “Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us” to the Litany of Loreto. He even approved the use of the White Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel and consigned it to the care of the Augustinians.
St. John XXIII (1958-63) approached the sanctuary to confide his special intention concerning the forthcoming Second Vatican Council. St. John Paul II (1978-2005) encouraged devotion to the Mother of Good Counsel when he entered the shrine in 1993. Later, he consecrated Albania to Our Lady of Good Counsel. And in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI (2005-13) directed that a replica of the revered image be placed in the Vatican gardens.
The Missal of the Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary was authorized by St. John Paul II in 1986. One of the 46 Masses is designated, “The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Good Counsel.” In the instruction before the Propers of that Mass, we read: “Our Lady is rightly honored under this title, for she is the Mother of Christ, Whom Isaiah with prophetic vision called ‘Wonderful Counselor.’ … In celebrating this Mass we earnestly ask God for the gift of counsel, to teach us how to know His will and to guide us in all we do. … This Mass, except for the Preface, is taken from the Proprium missarum Ordinis Fratrum sancti Augustini, approved in 1975 by the Congregation for Divine Worship.”
The Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel is still observed April 25 in Genazzano. In other locales, it is celebrated April 26.
Msgr. Mangan is on the faculty of Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.
