The Enduring Legacy of Our Lady of the Snows; Our Lady of Good Counsel (part 2)

We have seen how Father Jakob Rem held a knotted matrimonial ribbon up before an icon of Our Lady of the Snows.  Once he unknotted the ribbon, it became dazzling white.  This was taken as a sign of Mary hearing his prayer on behalf of the troubled couple, Wolfgang Langenmantel and his wife, Sofia.  85 years later, in 1700, Wolfgang’s grandson, Father Heironymus Ambrosius Langenmantel, commissioned Johann Melchior Georg Schmidter to create a portrait which was representative of the Lagenmantek family, to be placed behind a family altar in the Church of St. Peter am Perlach.  This altar was to be dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel.

In the 5th century, during the reign of Pope Sixtus III, the town of Genazzano, about, 30 miles south of Rome, had contributed a large portion of its revenue for the Roman basilica now known as Santa Maria Maggiore. In appreciation, a church, called Santa Maria, was built in Genazzano and was later entrusted to the Augustinian Order in 1356. The Genazzano church became a popular place of pilgrimage. Numerous cures were said to take place there. The Augustinian friars were invited to minister to the spiritual needs of the pilgrims. They continue to serve there to this day. According to tradition, the story is said to have begun in 1467. By then the church was in dire need of repair. A local widow, Petruccia, was dedicated to the restoration project, but ran out of funds before the task was completed.

In the midst of the festivities for the Feast of Saint Mark, the townfolk suddenly heard "exquisite music." A mysterious cloud was then said to have descended on the unfinished wall of the parish church. In front of the people, the cloud dissipated and a beautiful fresco, no thicker than a carte-de-visite, a photographic likeness mounted on a card, formerly of the size of a visiting-card,. also called card-picture and card, and no more than eighteen inches square, of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child was revealed. It was widely believed that it had been miraculously transported from a church in Scutari, Albania just prior to its invasion by the Ottomans. The picture of Our Lady was at first called "La Madonna del Paradiso" and now better known as "Madonna del Buon Consiglio" (Our Lady of Good Counsel).

Such was the holy image's reputation that Pope Urban VIII made a "glittering" pilgrimage there in 1630, invoking the protection of the Queen of Heaven, as did Pope Pius IX in 1864. On 17 November 1682, Pope Innocent XI had the picture solemnly crowned. Among her noted visitors have been St Aloysius Gonzaga, St Alphonsus Liguori, St John Bosco, and  Blessed Stephen Bellesini.

In 1753, Pope Benedict XIV established the Pious Union of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Leo XIII, who was himself a member of the pious union, was deeply attached to this devotion.

The Augustinian Order contributed to the spread of this devotion internationally. The small Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel (the White Scapular) was presented by the Hermits of St Augustine to Pope Leo XIII, who, on 19–21 December 1893, approved it and endowed it with indulgences in a Decree of the Congregation of Rites.

On the front panel of the sacramental (to be made of white wool) is the image of the fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel, with the inscription, "Mater boni consilii [ora pro nobis]." On the second segment is found the papal coat-of-arms, which includes the Triple Tiara and the Keys of Heaven, with the words of Leo XIII: "Fili acquisce consiliis ejus" (Child, listen to her counsels).

On 22 April 1903, Pope Leo XIII included the invocation "Mater boni consilii" in the Litany of Loreto. In 1939, Venerable Pope Pius XII placed his pontificate under the maternal care of Our Lady of Good Counsel and composed a prayer to her.

Through the years, various institutions have been named in honor of Mary under the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel. These institutions include a college, high schools, and churches.

Her Feast is celebrated on 26 April so as not to conflict with that of St. Mark.