Mary, Our Lady of Good Counsel
“And Mary said: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord’” (Luke 1:46).
We know Mary, Jesus’s mother, by many names, including popular titles like Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Fatima. A less well-known one is Our Lady of Good Counsel, which we celebrate on April 25. Although the name certainly seems fitting, hearing it for the first time, I wondered about its origins.
Those Timeless Words
According to EWTN, the name “Our Lady of Good Counsel” originates from Mary’s “yes” to God’s invitation to participate in the divine plan, as well as her timeless words “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5), spoken to the servants at the wedding feast of Cana (her last words in the Bible).
Reflecting upon these statements provides us with direction and relevant advice no matter what stage of life we are in, whether we are a child, at the peak of our working years, or near the end of our days.
Keeping Our Eyes Open to Miracles
The feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel originates from a painting said to have been transported miraculously in 1467 from a church in Albania, before the church was invaded, to an Augustinian church in Genazzano, a small town outside of Rome. Thereafter, in a span of about four months, more than 160 miracles, many related to healing, were recorded there.
Since then, thousands of visitors, including Pope St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Kolkata, have traveled to the chapel to be in the presence of the painting. Church leaders and lay people alike are moved by the image and its historical significance. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI had an image of the icon placed in the Vatican gardens.
Mary, a Model to Honor and Emulate
Mary’s extraordinary qualities, including her ability to provide simple yet profound guidance, have long been viewed by Church leadership as honorable and worthy of imitation. In 1903, the title “Mother of good counsel” was also added to the Litany of Loreto. The Litany sets forth a number of beautiful ways for us to follow her lead (including other titles, such as seat of wisdom, cause of our joy, and spiritual vessel) and, in turn, bring peace to ourselves and the people around us.
Advice for Daily Life
Thinking more deeply about the act of providing counsel, I considered how my business card reads “Attorney and Counselor at Law.” Year after year, I see firsthand that the “counselor” part of my job is the one that clients most need and seek the most. Serving in the role of counselor requires communicating wisdom, offering tools to relieve emotional burdens, having foresight about issues clients need to know about but cannot yet see for themselves, and sharing hope. Mary’s words, “Do whatever he tells you,” serve as sound guidance for attorneys—and mothers, as both step into the role of counselor regularly.
Even though it is more than 2,000 years after her life on Earth, Mary continues to inspire and educate, and the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel is not only fitting but well deserving of a feast day for all of us to celebrate.
Linda A. Burrows is an attorney specializing in trusts and estates in southern California. She is the founder of Soul Soda, a non-profit with the mission of refreshing faith in those, particularly Catholics, who are feeling disconnected from their religious roots. She is a wife and mother of three teens. Linda’s Confirmation name was that of St. Gabriel the Archangel.