Pope Leo XIV, the first pope to come from the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), made a visit very early in his pontificate to the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, near Rome. It houses a famous image of the Virgin Mary that according to tradition appeared there under miraculous circumstances.

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Known by the title “Our Lady of Good Counsel” or “Mother of Good Counsel,” the small image of the Virgin Mary housed in the church at Genazzano has been held dear by the Augustinians for centuries. The Midwest Augustinians, which Pope Leo led as prior provincial before his election, oversee the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel.

During his May 10 visit to the church, Leo spoke of the Virgin Mary’s protection and the importance of devotion to her. He prayed at the altar and before the Marian image there, and also prayed a prayer to the Mother of Good Counsel with the assembly.

“As the mother never abandons her children, you must also be faithful to the Mother,” Pope Leo said.

Who is Our Lady of Good Counsel?

The title of “Good Counsel” given to Mary is a recognition of Christ’s mother as a source of heavenly wisdom and guidance.

​​According to tradition, on April 25, 1467, the feast of St. Mark, a mysterious cloud descended on an ancient fifth-century deteriorated church in Genazzano, which had previously been dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel and was being renovated by the Augustinians, having been entrusted to that order in 1356.

When the cloud disappeared, a fragile image of the Blessed Virgin and Child was found on a thin sheet of plaster. The painting, about 18 inches square, is said to have hung in midair, suspended without support.

It was widely believed that the image — said to date to the time of the apostles — had been miraculously transported to Italy from a church in Albania’s capital city, Scutari, just before its invasion by the Ottomans that same year. As the Midwest Augustinians tell it, however, scientific tests done in the 1950s gave evidence that the small image was probably painted sometime between 1417 and 1431 for the church and was painted over before later being uncovered when a poor widow gave all she had to fund the renovation of the church. 

Regardless of how it arrived, in the months following the appearance of the image, a local priest acting as a notary recorded over 160 miracles, including physical healings, answered prayers, and dramatic conversions.

Much of the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel was destroyed during World War II, but the image remained intact and in place. Today it is housed in a small chapel that forms the heart of the church. 

As described by EWTN Vatican, the Virgin Mary is depicted wearing a blue mantle — symbolizing humanity — while the child Jesus wears a red robe, signifying his divinity. Mary’s face reflects the classical artistic tradition, while the child displays features of the Byzantine style, symbolizing a union between East and West. Above them arches a rainbow, the biblical sign of peace.

Over the years, a large number of popes — including saintly popes — have visited the church in Genazzano seeking Mary’s guidance and wisdom, and have promoted devotion to Our Lady under this title. 

Pope Urban VII (1521–1590) prayed for the end of a plague in Rome; Pope Pius IX sought the Virgin’s intercession before the First Vatican Council, which began in 1869.  

Leo XIII, Leo XIV’s spiritual predecessor and a devotee to Our Lady of Good Counsel, added the invocation “Mater boni concili, ora pronobis” (“Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us”) to the Litany of Loreto in 1903. Leo XIII also approved the white scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel and entrusted it to the Augustinians.

In more recent times, St. John XXIII came to the shrine to, in similar fashion to Pius IX, seek guidance for the Second Vatican Council. St. John Paul II endorsed the devotion during an April 22, 1993, visit to the church, and soon afterward consecrated Albania to Our Lady of Good Counsel. Pope Benedict XVI had an image of the icon placed in the Vatican Gardens in 2009. 

Many pilgrims visit the church in Genazzano and take part in the annual spring celebration, observed on April 25. Elsewhere in the world, the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel is celebrated on April 26.

How can you increase your devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel?

— Prayer to Mary, our Lady of Good Counsel on CNA’s website

— Litany to Our Lady of Good Counsel on EWTN’s website

— Icon available at EWTN Religious Catalogue

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