May 10, 2025. In front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, a multitude of the faithful crowded together to witness, filled with emotion, the arrival of the newly elected Pontiff Leo XIV, who wished to visit the miraculous fresco of Mary.

“I wanted so much to come here in these first days of the new Ministry of carrying out the mission of Successor of Peter that the Church has entrusted to me,”1 he affirmed to those present, after the period spent in prayer and recollection before the sacred image.

With this consecration of his pontificate from its beginning, the Holy Father showed the world his special devotion to Mary under the title of Mother of Good Counsel. This invocation became very dear to the Order of St. Augustine from the 15th century onwards, when “Our Lady, who was in Scutari, Albania, came from that distant country to Genazzano […]; and of her own free will, She gave herself and entrusted herself in her holy image to the hands of the Augustinians.” 2 However, we can conjecture that, in addition to this noble motive, another reason may have drawn the Holy Father to the feet of the Virgin of Genazzano.

As the one who counsels and guides souls in fulfilling God’s will, Mater Boni Consilii is thus the perfect patroness of the guides of the Barque of Peter amid the storms of the world. Who is more in need of protection, help, and direction than the visible Head of the Church? Who is more interested in obtaining from God the light of wisdom?

One of the proofs of this reality is that such devotion, although little known in our days, was highly valued by numerous Pontiffs throughout history and has, on several occasions, played a decisive role in the course of Christendom.

First honours for the invocation

After Pope Paul II (1464-1471) examined the facts concerning the miraculous arrival of the fresco in Genazzano in 1467, and granted the official approval of the Holy See for this devotion, Mater Boni Consilii began to act in the heart of the Church. It is known, for example, that Sixtus IV (1471-1484) had a great devotion to her.

At the end of the 15th century, Alexander VI (1492-1503) granted special indulgences to the souls in Purgatory for each Eucharist celebrated in the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Later, Gregory XIII (1572-1585) further determined that the altar of her shrine should become a privileged altar3 for Masses every day of the year and for all the clergy.

New papal privileges

The pontificates of St. Pius V (1566-1572) and Innocent XI (1676-1689), during which the Ottoman threat clouded the horizons of Christendom and the Church, would be marked by the protection of the Queen of Good Counsel, as seen in a previous article.4

The Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto and the Siege of Vienna would forever shine in the firmament of history as a symbol of the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her children. Solemnly crowned by order of the Holy Father on November 17, 1682 – a gesture with which her intercession was implored for the union and mobilization of Catholic sovereigns against the infidels – the Virgin of Genazzano would not forsake those who placed themselves under her maternal dominion.

After such portentous manifestations on the part of the sacred fresco, it was to be expected that the Holy Church would honour her invocation even more.

Firstly, Pope Pius VI (1775-1799) saw fit to offer Our Lady of Good Counsel one of the most eminent privileges that can be granted to a devotion: in 1777 the Pontiff granted the Augustinians of Genazzano a proper office for the celebration of the date of the fresco’s arrival at the sanctuary, to be recited there on April 25, and by the entire Order on April 26.5 Thus was instituted the first commemoration of Our Lady of Good Counsel, a source of even more numerous graces, valuable counsels and infallible help for all Marian devotees.

Benedict XIV (1740-1758), another faithful devotee of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio, also granted papal approval to a notable association called the Pious Union of Our Lady of Good Counsel. It was a spiritual league of devotees registered in the sanctuary’s register, whose goal was to honour the invocation every day with some act of homage, promote devotion to her throughout the world, and diligently observe the inspirations granted by the fresco in order to avoid sin and please God. Upon approving the association, the Pontiff himself wished to be enrolled in it as its first member.6

In addition to Benedict XIV, several other Popes joined the pious union, among them Blessed Pius IX (1846-1878) and Leo XIII (1878-1903).

The latter, wishing to further honour his heavenly Protector, on March 17, 1903, elevated the Shrine of Genazzano to the category of Minor Basilica; and, to encourage souls to love the Mother of Good Counsel, on April 22 of the same year, by a decree of the then Sacred Congregation of Rites, the invocation Mater Boni Consilii was included in the Litany of Loreto.7

 Pauline Chapel – Vatican Palace e St Pius X.

A gift from Our Lady to the Holy Church

In 1903 Our Lady, certainly with more power to influence the Popes due to the new privileges with which She had been honoured, once again made felt the effectiveness of her discreet but infallible counsel in guiding the Barque of Peter, this time during the decisive period of the conclave that followed the death of Leo XIII.

After the first session in the Sistine Chapel, held on August 3 of that year, Cardinal Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Dean of the Sacred College, addressed the secretary of the conclave, Archbishop Rafael Merry del Val, informing him that the number of votes for the election of the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, was only increasing, but that the latter refused to accept this most grave onus. He then requested that he ask the Cardinal one last time if he persisted in his refusal, so that he might eventually direct the votes toward another candidate.

Archbishop Merry del Val then went to the Pauline Chapel, where he found Cardinal Sarto kneeling before the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel. As he approached him and conveyed the Dean’s message, he noticed tears beginning to run down his face… and he continued to insist on refusing the position. Archbishop Merry del Val, however, by divine inspiration, reassured him: “Eminenza, si faccia coraggio, il Signore l’aiuterà – Your Eminence, have courage, the Lord will help you.”

The Cardinal gazed at him intently, thanked him, and continued praying before Our Lady of Good Counsel.

A few hours later, he finally accepted the will of Providence and assumed the Chair of Peter. The Holy Church thus gained a most zealous shepherd, one of its bravest combatants in the turbulent 20th century: St. Pius X.8

Perhaps in memory of and gratitude for the graces received during those hours of anguish spent in the Pauline Chapel, St. Pius X (1903-1914) kept an image of Our Lady of Good Counsel on his desk throughout his long and arduous pontificate.

The Papal devotion reaches our days

More recently, Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) counselled devotion to the Virgin of Genazzano when, in one of his first general audiences, on October 25, 1978, he explained the need for the virtue of prudence:

“I the Pope, what must I do to act prudently? […] He must pray and endeavour to have that gift of the Holy Spirit which is called the gift of counsel. And let all those who wish the new Pope to be a prudent Pastor of the Church, implore for him the gift of counsel. And for themselves, let them also ask for this gift through the special intercession of the Mother of Good Counsel.”9

In April 1993, the Pontiff visited the famous Shrine of Genazzano in order to implore special graces for the apostolic journey he was about to undertake to Albania on the 25th of the same month.10

His successor, Benedict XVI (2005-2013), inaugurated a mosaic of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Vatican gardens on July 11, 2009. Several authorities honoured the event with their presence, including the Pope’s Secretary, Msgr. Georg Gänswein, and the Prior of the Order of St. Augustine, Fr. Robert Francis Prevost – the future Pope Leo XIV.11 Benedict XVI blessed the mosaic with the intention that many would pray there and offer praise to the miraculous invocation.

Mary will guide the course of history through the Popes

Helper and counsellor of the Popes, Our Lady of Genazzano has always fulfilled her role as Mother of the Church to perfection throughout history, guiding it unharmed amidst the most varied difficulties and infernal attacks.

In these times, marked by crises of all kinds, it is most certain that She is more attentive than ever to the needs of the Mystical Body of Christ and watches over the Successor of Peter with immeasurable zeal.

To Leo XIV, under the ineffable protection of the Mother of Good Counsel, to whom he dedicates special devotion, is entrusted the guiding of the ship of the Church to the port of salvation, fearless in the face of storms, in imitation of his illustrious predecessors. 

Pope Leo XIV during his visit to Genazzano, on May 10, 2025

Notes:

1 VATICAN NEWS. Pope visits Marian sanctuary outside Rome. In: www.vaticannews.va.

2 DE ORGIO, Angelo Maria apud CLÁ DIAS, EP, João Scognamiglio. Mãe do Bom Conselho. 3.ed. São Paulo: Lumen Sapientiæ, 2016, p.293.

3 A plenary indulgence is granted for the deceased for whom the Holy Sacrifice is offered when Mass is celebrated at a privileged altar, provided that he died in a state of grace.

4 A Wonderful Counsellor, in this issue.

5 Cf. DILLON, George F. The Virgin Mother of Good Counsel. Rome: Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda Fidei, 1884, p.421.

6 Cf. CLÁ DIAS, op. cit., p.275.

7 Cf. LEO XIII. Ex quo Beatissima Virgo Maria: ASS 35 (1902-1903), 627.

8 Cf. MERRY DEL VAL, Rafael. El Papa San Pio X: Memorias. 2.ed. Madrid: Atenas, 1954, p.3-

9 ST. JOHN PAUL II. General Audience, 25/10/1978.

10 Cf. L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO. Papi e santi pellegrini al santuario agostiniano. In: www.osservatoreromano.va.

11 Cf. VALIANTE, Francesco M. Nei Giardini Vaticani un mosaico della Madonna del Buon Consiglio. In: www.madredelbuonconsiglio.it.