August 26 was the Feast Day for Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Our Lady of Good Counsel is one of the many titles given to Mary. Titles like Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima were given as the result of a Marian apparition. Our Lady of Good Counsel was a title given after a Marian miracle that took place in Italy during the 15th century.
The miracle of Our Lady of Good Counsel took place in Italy in a town south of Rome called Genazzano. The church where the miracle took place, Santa Maria, was already a pilgrimage site where miracles were reported to have happened. In 1467 on the Feast of St. Mark, the people of the town heard “exquisite music.” They said that a cloud came down and destroyed an unfinished wall of the church. When the cloud had disappeared, it left behind a fresco on a very thin piece of plaster of Mary holding the infant Jesus. It is thought that the fresco had been miraculously relocated from Scutari, Albania. Several popes have visited the site and have had devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel, including Pope Urban VIII, Pope Pius IX, Pope Benedict XIV, Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Pius XII.
Our province has been praying to Our Lady of Good Counsel for the last few years, as we make important decisions about the future of our Sisters and our facilities.
Our Lady of Good Counsel is one of the many titles given to Mary. Titles like Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima were given as the result of a Marian apparition. Our Lady of Good Counsel was a title given after a Marian miracle that took place in Italy during the 15th century.
The miracle of Our Lady of Good Counsel took place in Italy in a town south of Rome called Genazzano. The church where the miracle took place, Santa Maria, was already a pilgrimage site where miracles were reported to have happened.
In 1467 on the Feast of St. Mark, the people of the town heard “exquisite music.” They said that a cloud came down and destroyed an unfinished wall of the church. When the cloud had disappeared, it left behind a fresco on a very thin piece of plaster of Mary holding the infant Jesus. It is thought that the fresco had been miraculously relocated from Scutari, Albania.
Several popes have visited the site and have had devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel, including Pope Urban VIII, Pope Pius IX, Pope Benedict XIV, Pope Leo XIII, and Pope Pius XII. Pope Pius XII wrote a different novena to Our Lady of Good Counsel. (Source: https://www.praymorenovenas.com/lady-good-counsel-novena)
We have heard exquisite music in our hearts and know that we are privileged to have a home and have others helping to do the work of providing for us all. We have been praying the following prayer to Our Lady of Good Counsel through these transformative times:
Let us pray together that we have the wisdom and courage to trust and dare, choosing to live totally, Love Gives Everything.
O Holy Spirit, enlighten us, strengthen us as we seek your counsel for the decisions we face.
Keep us aware of what is before us: proclaiming the good news as School Sisters of Notre Dame by sharing our love, faith and hope, choosing appropriate skilled care for our Sisters, locating alternative living spaces for our Sisters in our retirement homes, supporting our staff during this time of transition, determining ways to continue the mission within the context of the international congregation and the world.
Our Lady of Good Counsel, walk beside us. May our choices lead to blessings on our community life and mission for the future.
Amen.
Please feel free to pray this prayer with us at any time, or to pray a Novena to Our Lady of Good Counsel in the nine days after her Feast Day.
