Our Lady of Good Counsel

Thank you, Our Mother of Good Counsel, for many favors received. From Catholic Tradition:

In the Alban Hills, not far from the city of Rome, lies the little town of Genazzano, where the miraculous image of Our Lady of Good Counsel is venerated. The story of the picture dates back to 1467. Pilgrims assembled on the feast of St. Mark were startled by a mysterious rustling sound and strains of sweet music. Looking toward the sky, they beheld what seemed a soft cloud. Slowly it descended and rested in front of the unfinished wall of the church dedicated to the Mother of God under the title of Good Counsel. The picture rests suspended in the air without any visible means of support to maintain its stable condition, and this for five centuries! Although painted on a piece of plaster no thicker than an ordinary visiting card, the image has withstood the ravages of time. The artist of the painting is unknown.

It is said that 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. It is a picture to be loved, a plain and common picture [hence our unframed treatment], a pious image to be copied and hung in the homes of the poor. That is all the sweet Mother of Good Counsel asks for her picture: a home in our midst, by our firesides, a family to guard and watch over, hearts that will love and venerate her.

Overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, Mary became the Mother of God. His gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, and Counsel belong to her. She is Our Mother of Good Counsel because she is the Spouse of God the Holy Ghost. If to her was granted the wisdom to counsel her Son, surely she has the wisdom to counsel poor humanity. In her there is the wisdom of ages. For 2000 years, she has been watching the children of men upon this earth. Our Lady of Good Counsel knows how to help us. She can help us. She wants to aid and counsel us! Once she sees upon a soul the sign of the Cross of her Son, that soul may count upon all her assistance. She loves with an undying love all those for whom her Son died.

God trusted her with His own Son, Who clung to her till life was done. Through sorrow none can comprehend She mothered Jesus to the end. And if you think her love may fail, You thrust within her heart a nail!

Our Mother of Good Counsel has been called the Madonna of the Popes. Pope Leo XIII deserves to be ranked among the great lovers of this devotion. He established the white scapular worn by her servants, and his motto is like a watchword to the clients of Mary: "Children," he told the faithful, "follow her counsels!" To all she gives what is most needed to help us in this vale of tears; she gives us her Good Counsel. (Read more.)

Song of the Found Sheep

Good Shepherd mine;

Whatever made You leave the ninety-nine

To come like this in search of one lost sheep?

What raging fire

Constrained Your loving Heart? What mad desire

Impelled You on to comb the mountain steep?

Strange mystery:

That you should find such joy in finding me

When it should seem the joy should all be mine.

Please hold me fast;

Don't let me stray again as in days past,

But hide me safe within Your arms divine.

When in the West

The sun of my life's day shall sink to rest,

Enfold me still, O Lord, in Love's embrace.

Then with the dawn

Of that new Day, when night fore'er is gone,

Dear Shepherd mine, let me behold Your Face.

By a Carmelite Nun

Published with the kind permission of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Rochester, NY 

Fatima and the Mysteries of the Ark of the Covenant

 From Marianna Bartold.

Our Lady Will Declare the Time of Victory

From Marie-Julie Jahenny: Prophecies For Our Time:

 April 19, 1875: A vision of France.

"Marie-Julie is transported to an arid and desolate desert in the middle of confused darkness. Before her is a tomb, that of France. A foul smell rose from it which prevented one from approaching it. All of a sudden there is a bright light and Jesus Christ descends, opens the tomb, leans over the corpse and takes it in His arms, gently, as Saint Joseph used to take the Child Jesus. France wakes up and the Saviour speaks to her lovingly, in a language fragrant with divine ardour of the Canticle of Canticles. He promises her in the near future blessings, glories and triumphs that will surpass all the past victories because she weeps for her faults, for which she repents and she throws herself lovingly into the Sacred Heart. Then Jesus covers her again and disappears."

May 4, 1875: Another vision of the "Tomb" of France:

"France has come out of the tomb. She stands still in front of Jesus Christ who smiles at her tenderly. She is enveloped in a long black shroud, which represents her crimes. Jesus Christ divests her of it up to her chest. He covers her head with a veil that is dazzlingly white, then He tears from His Heart a flowering lily and plants it in the heart of the resurrected one." (Read more.)

Fifty Days of Easter

We have only just begun to celebrate! As Scott Richert writes:

...The period from Easter Sunday through Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter Sunday), also known as the Octave (or eighth day) of Easter, is an especially joyful time. But the Easter season doesn't end there: Because Easter is the most important feast in the Christian calendar—even more important than Christmas—the Easter season continues on for 50 days, through the Ascension of Our Lord to Pentecost Sunday. (Indeed, for the purpose of fulfilling our Easter Duty, the Easter season extends until Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost!)

So keep on celebrating and wishing your friends a happy Easter! As St. John Chrysostom reminds us in his famous Easter homily, read in Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches on Easter, Christ has destroyed death, and now is the "feast of faith."

You can read all about Easter, including its history, practice, how the date of Easter is calculated, what holidays fall during the Easter season, and much more in Easter 101: Everything You Need to Know About Easter in the Catholic Church.