The devotion to the Mother of Good Counsel is associated with the story of a miraculous icon. The sacred image is found in a church in Genazzano, a beautiful town thirty miles south-east of Rome. The church dedicated to the Mother of Good Counsel was built there in the fourth century. In recognition for the financial help received from the people of Genazzano who helped to renovate the Church of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Pope Sixtus III (432-440 A.D.) gave them some land. On this land, the people built a Church and called it Our Lady of Good Counsel. In 1356 the church was given over to the Augustinians. Restoration started in 1467, when a widow, Petruccia, sold all her belongings to help finance the project. However, funds ran out before the task was completed.
That same year, in the midst of the festivities for the feast of Saint Mark, all the residents of Genazzano heard a beautiful melody coming from heaven. As they looked up, they saw a white, shining cloud that descended on the church of the Mother of Good Counsel and obliterated an unfinished wall of the parish church. The cloud gradually vanished, revealing a beautiful painting of Our Lady tenderly holding her Divine Son in her arms. Immediately, Mary began to cure the sick and grant countless graces.
« Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. ‘This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death.' » [LG § 57] (C.C.C. # 964)
The image was painted on a sheet of plaster so thin that it would have been impossible for any human hand to remove it without damage. It had survived the subsequent centuries through the tumult of several earthquakes and withstood the bombing during World War II. Several altars were destroyed, walls caved in, and the roof was crushed. The icon, only yards away from the explosion, remained intact.
The icon at Genazzano depicts a mother figure that is half turned toward her son and half toward the viewer, reflecting Mary’s concern for both Jesus and his Church. The figures themselves represent Mother and Child after they had returned from the temple where Mary heard the sad prophesies of Simeon. Mary’s eyes are half-veiled as though she were lost in contemplation, taking counsel with her God. The little Child does not return the gaze of the beholder, as happens in so many pictures, rather He draws our eyes upward to Mary as if to tell us to look for Counsel there, in the very Seat of Wisdom.
VIGILS
Hymn
Psalms from the common of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ps 24
No one who obeys me will never have to blush, no one who acts as I dictate will ever sin. (Si 24,22)
Ps 46
Whoever fears the Lord drink the water of wisdom. He will lean on her and will not fall. (Si 15, 3-4)
Reading: Si 24,8a. 9-22 (or Pr 8, 6-11.22-31)
“Listen to Wisdom! My Creator, who created the universe, told me where I was to live. He created me in eternity before time began and I will exist for all eternity to come. I served him in the Sacred Tent and then made my home on Mount Zion. He settled me in the Beloved City and gave me authority over Jerusalem. I put down roots among an honored people whom the Lord had chosen as his own. I grew tall like the cedars in Lebanon, like the cypresses on Mount Hermon, like the palm trees of Engedi, like the roses of Jericho, like beautiful olive trees in the fields, like plane trees growing by the water. My breath was the spicy smell of cinnamon, of sweet perfume and finest myrrh, of stacte, onycha, and galbanum, the fragrant incense in the Sacred Tent. Like an oak I spread out my branches, magnificent and graceful. Like a grapevine I put out lovely shoots; my blossoms gave way to rich and glorious fruit. Come to me, all you that want me, and eat your fill of my fruit. You will remember me as sweeter than honey, better than honey from the comb. Eat me, and you will hunger for more; drink me and you will thirst for more. Obey me, and you will never have cause for embarrassment; do as I say and you will be safe from sin”.
Responsory:
R/ Give me the wisdom which comes from you.
V/ Blessed is he who reflect with intelligence; and who follow his heart in search for knowledge.
V/ The one who leans on her, in the midst of the assembly, he will speak.
Ps 87
I am the mother of beautiful love, of fear, knowledge, and holy hope. Since I am eternal, I am given to all my children, who are named by him.
Gospel: Jn 2, 1-11
The whole Christian message, can be summed up with one simple verse which comes from the expert on what it means to live a Christian life. That expert is, of course, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her simple, yet profound advice we heard in our Gospel today: “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).
This advice may sound a little simplistic, but in reality, it is the greatest advice one could hope to hear in living as a follower of Christ. This is one of the reasons why we invoke Mary under the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel, for her simple words of counsel to “do whatever He tells you” will always lead us to a deeper union with Jesus, the “Wonder- Counselor”(Isaiah 9:5) spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah. (Most Rev. Paprocki, Bishop of Springfiels in Illinois). She lived her whole life under the guidance of the “Spirit of counsel”, who “overshadowed” her; she “gave herself wholeheartedly to God’s wise and loving plan for renewing all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1: 10); “generously God poured out” on her “the gifts of the Holy Spirit”, principal among which is the “spirit of wisdom” ( cf. Wisdom 7: 7b).Our Lady, enlightened by the gift of counsel, is honored as Mother and teacher as she cries out in gratitude in the words of Wisdom itself: “To me belong counsel and prudence, understanding and strength are mine” ( Proverbs 8: 14); gifts willingly shared with the children and disciples of Wisdom, whom Mary instructs that they must before all else do what Christ has told them to do (cf. John 2: 1-11).
Overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, Mary became the Mother of God. His gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, and Counsel belong to her. To all she gives what is most needed to help us in this vale of tears; she gives us her Good Counsel. Through Mary, Our Lady of Good Counsel, we see the grace of God at work. Through Mary, we are drawn to her beloved Son Jesus.
Te Deum
Prayer: Lord, you know that our thoughts on earth are full of fear and uncertainty; through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary send us the gift of counsel to teach us how to discern your will and to guide us in all we do.
Through our Lord Jesus-Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
MORNING PRAYER
Invitatory:
Celebrating the feast of Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, let us acclaim the Lord, alleluia.
Hymn
Psalms and canticle from Sunday I
Ps 63: Those who seek her early will be filled with joy. (Si 4,12)
Ct, Dn: Whoever possesses her will inherit honour and wherever he walks, the Lord will bless him. (Si 4,13)
Ps 149: I walk in the way of uprightness, in the path of justice. (Pr 8,20)
Reading: Si 4, 12-15
Loving Wisdom is loving life itself; rising early to look for her is pure joy. Anyone who obtains Wisdom will be greatly honored. Wherever he goes, the Lord will bless him. Wisdom’s servants are the servants of the Holy One, and the Lord loves everyone who loves her. Those who obey her will give sound judgments; those who pay attention to her have true security.
Responsory:
R/ Listen to the counsel, accept the discipline, alleluia, alleluia
V/ that at last you will become wise, alleluia, alleluia
Glory…
NT2: Blessed are you, Virgin Mary, and worthy of praise. From you has risen the Sun of justice, Christ our Lord, the Messenger of the great counsel. Alleluia.
Intercessions:
Let us pray Jesus, who desired that his mother would also be ours, and ask him:
May Mary, full of grace, counsel us always.
1. Jesus our Savior, who hung on the cross, offered to St John, Mary as a mother
-grant that we always conduct ourselves as her true sons.
2. Jesus, our redeemer, whose Mother was preserved from original sin,
-keep us pure from all sin.
3. Eternal Word, who wanted that the Gospel may be preached to all creation,
-help the missionaries, so that, through the intercession of Mary, they can accomplish the mission that is entrusted to them.
Our Father
Prayer: Lord, you know that our thoughts on earth are full of fear and uncertainty; through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary send us the gift of counsel to teach us how to discern your will and to guide us in all we do. We ask this…
DAYTIME PRAYER
Hymn
Psalms from the weekday
Reading: Pr 8, 6-7.14
Listen to my excellent words; all I tell you is right. What I say is the truth; lies are hateful to me. I make plans and carry them out, I have understanding and I am strong.
Blessed be the man who listens to me, alleluia.
-watching every day at my door, alleluia
Prayer: Lord, you know that our thoughts on earth are full of fear and uncertainty; through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary send us the gift of counsel to teach us how to discern your will and to guide us in all we do. We ask this…
EVENING PRAYER
Hymn
Psalms from the common of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ps 122: Approach me you who desire me and take your fill of my fruits, for memories of me are sweeter than honey. (Si 24, 19-20)
Ps 127: Whoever listens to me may live secure. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid. (Pr 1,33)
Ct, Eph: In my prayers I asked outright for wisdom, I have directed my soul towards her and in purity I have found her. (Si 51, 13.20)
Reading: Rm 11,33-36
How great are God’s riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways? As the scripture says,
“Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice? Who has ever given him anything, so that he had to pay it back?”
For all things were created by him, and all things exist through him and for him. To God be the glory forever! Amen.
Responsory:
R/ What I have learned with simplicity, I speak without fear, alleluia, alleluia
V/ If your heart is wise, my heart also rejoices in me, alleluia, alleluia
Glory …
NT1: Mary kept all these things in her heart. Alleluia.
Intercessions:
May the all-powerful Lord, in his goodness, hear the prayers of the Virgin Mary as she intercedes for us.
Let us pray:
Mother of Good Counsel, intercede for us.
1. Lord, grant us, in each of our communities, to have one heart and one mind
–and grant that all, united by love, may be unanimous and faithful to the prayer, with Mary, Jesus’ Mother.
2. God who wanted that Mary may be the mother of the family in the house of Jesus and Joseph,
-grant that all mothers be for their children an example of wisdom and love.
3. God, who made Mary Mother of Good Counsel, help us always to accomplish what Mary tells us.
4. God who made Mary to ascend to the glory of heaven with her body and soul,
-grant to all our departed brothers to share in his glory.
Our Father
Prayer:
Lord, you know that our thoughts on earth are full of fear and uncertainty; through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary send us the gift of counsel to teach us how to discern your will and to guide us in all we do. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
If Our Blessed Mother is willing to ask her Son to work miracles to let us know of her motherly concern, Our Lady of Good Counsel is certainly willing to speak words of advice and instruction to help us over the hurdles of our daily lives.
Our Lady of Good Counsel, pray for us!
By Sr Marie-Nicole, Raimbert – The Philippine