From the desk of the Tar Heel disciple:
May 19, 2025
“Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pope Leo XIV, and the White Scapular”
On the Saturday after his election to the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV made an unannounced visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, located about 25 miles from Rome, in the town of Genazzano, where an image of the Blessed Virgin May under this title has been venerated since its appearance there in 1467. The church had been entrusted to the Augustinian friars, the order to which the new pope belonged, in 1356. The famous image of the Holy Mother and Child Jesus is a mere 40 to 45 centimeters, a fresco executed on a thin layer of plaster that is said to be no thicker than an eggshell. The legend of its appearance in the church states that on the feast of St. Mark, April 25, 1467, people heard “heavenly music” and saw a cloud descend onto a wall of the church. When the cloud dissolved, the image was made manifest, apparently suspended in the air. Some reported that a thread could be passed from top to bottom between the image and the wall. Many of the faithful believed that the image had been miraculously transported from a church in Albania, just prior to an invasion there by the forces of the Ottoman Empire.
Pilgrims began to arrive in great numbers and many miracles were soon reported. The first pope to make a pilgrimage to venerate the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel was Urban VIII in 1630. In 1682, Pope Innocent XI had the image solemnly crowned. Blessed Pius IX made his pilgrimage in 1864, followed by St. John XXIII in 1959, and St. John Paul II in 1993. And now, in our own day, Pope Leo XIV has made haste to venerate her image and to entrust himself to her at the dawn of his papacy.
In 1903, Pope Leo XIII added the invocation, “Mater Boni Consilii,” to the Litany of Loreto. Ten years earlier, in 1893, he had approved and commended the “White Scapular” of Our Lady of Good Counsel for use by the faithful. This sacramental is made of white wool and includes images of the famous fresco and the papal coat of arms, along with the words provided by Leo XIII, “Fili acquiesce consiliis ejus” (Child, listen to her counsels).
The shrine of Our lady of Good Counsel is still entrusted to the Augustinian friars and her feast day is observed on April 26 (so as not to conflict with the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist, the day when the image first appeared). The new Holy Father has given us a beautiful witness of his devotion to the Holy Mother of God. Let us commend him and his pontificate to her loving care. Our Lady of Good Counsel, pray for him!
