Our Lady of Good Counsel was a Church located in the small Italian village of Genazzano about 30 miles from Rome. It was given by Prince Colonna to the Augustinians in the 15th century.They set about to rebuild the ruined Church with the help of a wealthy lady named Petruccia De Geneo.
The people of Genazzano were celebrating St. Mark's Day on April 25, 1467 outside the Church when at about 4pm they heard strings of exquisite music. Looking up at the clear sky they saw a cloud descending and resting on the unfinished wall of the Church. As it dissipated the image of Our Lady with the Christ Child was seen resting on the unfinished wall. The people believed that it had come from heaven and they gave it the title of Our Lady of Paradise. This image to this day is standing without support even though earthquakes and aerial bombing of World War II have destroyed much of the church.
Where had it come from?
The story is told that during the seige of Shkdra (Scutari) by the Turks in the 15th century, two escaping Albanians, Gjorgji and De Sclavis, stopped by the Church to pray. While at prayer, they noticed the painting of Our Lady moving away from the wall and passing over their heads. They followed the painting outside the church where they saw it rise high into the sky where it became wrapped into a cloud and vanished in the direction of the Adriatic and Italy. Inspired by God they set out for Italy where while searching from city to city they heard a rumors of the astonishing appearance of a new picture at Genazzano. They went there and found the same image which had left Scutari.
Pope Paul II (1464-1471) ordered a thorough investigation into the miraculous nature of the image. The following conclusions were reached: 1) The painting which had been done of a thin layer of porcelain or plaster, the thickness of an eggshell, could not have been removed by human hand. 2) This thin layer of porcelain or plaster stands upright without any support except for a narrow ledge on which it rests. 3) The image had indeed disappeared from its church of origin and that an empty space of exact dimensions was still present in the Albanian church.
The Augustinians have been responsible for spreading devotion to the miraculous Our Lady of Good Counsel throughout the world.
Prayer to Our Lady of Good Counsel Composed by Pope Pius XII
O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are led 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 they maternal star, we shall come to the enjoyment
of full and eternal peace with Thee in the heaven of salvation. Amen.
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