EUROPE : MIRACULOUS IMAGE - OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL - NOVENA


OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL
or 'Mater boni consilii' in Latin, is a title given to Our Lady, Mary mother of Jesus. It originates with a miraculous painting was found in the Augustinian Church in Genazzano, Italy in the 13th century. It was 40 by 45 centimeters on porcelain. This title was added to the Litany of Loreto. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, records from the reign of Pope Paul II (1464-71) relate that the picture was first called "La Madonna del Paradiso" and also known as "Madonna del Buon Consiglio". The painting was observed to hang suspended in the air without support.  Many Popes have visited the painting and increased devotion to our Lady with this title.
Start novena April 17 thru April 25, vigil of Feast Day.
NOVENA PRAYER:
Our Lady of Good Counsel
(State your petitions)
Holy Virgin, moved by the painful uncertainty we experience in seeking and acquiring the true and the good,
we cast ourselves at thy feet and invoke thee under the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel.
We beseech thee: come to our aid at this moment in our worldly sojourn when the twin darknesses of error and of evil
that plots our ruin by leading minds and hearts astray.

Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea,
enlighten the victims of doubt and of error so that they may not be seduced by evil masquerading as good;
strengthen them against the hostile and corrupting forces of passion and of sin.

Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from thy Divine Son the love of virtue and the strength to choose,
in doubtful and difficult situations, the course agreeable to our salvation.
Supported by thy hand we shall thus journey without harm along the paths taught us by the word and example of Jesus our Savior,
following the Sun of Truth and Justice in freedom and safety across the battlefield of life under the guidance of thy maternal Star,
until we come at length to the harbor of salvation to enjoy with thee unalloyed and everlasting peace. Amen.

(By Pope Pius XII, 23 January 1953)

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