Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Reflections on devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel

This is the famous image of the Mother of God under the invocation of Our Lady of Good Counsel as seen in the Church of the Augustinian fathers in Genazzano, Italy.

The invocation of this image shows Our Lady in one of her most maternal roles, in one of her roles that is most suited to the Queen of the Universe, which is precisely to give good counsel.

As Queen of the Universe, Our Lady governs everything. Not only is it proper for the person who governs to order, but to give counsel as well. Actually, certain types of counsels are orders, at least when they come from Our Lady. For those who really love Our Lady, all her counsels are orders.

Now, what can one say of Our Lady of Good Counsel? Here we see Our Lady as Mother, giving counsels in the depth of our souls.

And how does Our Lady give counsels in the depth of our souls? She counsels in the depth of our soul by the voice of grace; she obtains graces that place good counsels in our souls.

Therefore, in the moment of doubt, in the moment of perplexity, in the moment when we have no doubt, but when a counsel we did not even deem necessary may open our eyes to something that we need to see, in all of these moments the invocation to Our Lady of Good Counsel is of the highest importance: here we Our Lady who gives good counsel.

How does this good counsel appear in the soul?

For each one of us, good counsel appears in the soul, above all, by the voice of our vocation. Whenever we hear things that are according to our vocation, whether it be interiorly or exteriorly, we should take them as good counsels. Whenever we feel a movement that suddenly gives us a desire for good, we should take it as a good counsel.

Whenever we hear a grace interiorly that gives us fear of evil, we should take it as a good counsel. Whenever we receive good example that we know sanctifies our soul, we should take it as a good counsel.

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