Our Lady of Good Counsel

Mother of the Good Council · Genazzano (Italy)

Before a small fresco appeared in Genazzano, the faithful come to Mary to ask for light in difficult decisions. His title - "Mother of the Good Council" - appears in the Lauretana Lethanias.

Origin and history

In Genazzano there was an ancient church of the Augustines, very damaged, which a velvet, Petricia de Genazzano, was trying to restore with her property. On April 25, 1467, according to tradition, a small fresco of the Virgin with the Child appeared on an unfinished wall, arrived - the tradition says - from Scutari (Shkodër, Albania) fleeing the Turkish invasion. The fresco barely rests on the wall, as suspended, which has always impressed the faithful.

As a result of the fact, the favors and conversions were multiplied, and the sanctuary became a great focus of pilgrimage. The Augustines adopted the Mother of the Good Council as the patron of his Order; Pope Pius IX introduced the invocation "Mother of the Good Council" in the Lauretana Letanias, and Leo XIII was a great devotee, proposing it as a model of light and guidance.