Our Mother of Good Counsel (Latin: Mater Boni Consilii) formerly known as Our Lady of Paradise (Latin: Domina Nostra Paradisi) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a purported miraculous painting of the Madonna and Child enshrined within the Minor Basilica at Genazzano, Italy.
Pope Innocent XI granted a Pontifical decree of coronation to the image on 17 November 1682. The fresco image was reputedly painted by the Roman artisan Gentile da Fabriano and measures 40 to 45 centimetres (16 to 18 in) on a thin layer of plaster.
Over the centuries, devotions to this Marian title became widespread among Roman Pontiffs and Catholic saints, later added to the Litany of Loreto via the Pontifical decree Ex Quo Beatissima in 1903. The Rosary Pope raised her shrine to the status of Minor Basilica in the same year whilst the feast day is of the image is on 25—26 April.
During the reign of Pope Sixtus III in the fifth century, the town of Genazzano, about 48 kilometres (30 mi) south of Rome, had contributed a large portion of its revenue for the Roman basilica now known as Saint Mary the Great. In appreciation, a church, called Santa Maria, was built in Genazzano and was later entrusted by Prince Pietro Giordano of the Royal House of Colonna to the Augustinian Order in 27 December 1356 via notarized decree.
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.
Cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary
According to pious tradition documented by the Prior General of the Augustinian Order, Ambrogio Massari, published in his culminated work, Defensorium Ordinis Fratrum Heremitarum Sancti Augustini Responsivium ad Maledicta Canonicorum Assertorum Regularium Congregationnis Frisonariæ (Section: Chronica, 1482), that the miraculous event had occurred in the year 1467.
The local convent was in dire need of repair and a local widow without any children (aged 39), Petruccia da Nocera (also known as Petruccia de Geneo) (1428—1470) sold her house and material possessions. She was known for piety and was dedicated to the restoration project, but ran out of construction funds before the task was completed.
Due to this failure, Petruccia was greatly mocked by the local townspeople for which she requested a miracle from Heaven. In the midst of the festivities for the feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the townsfolk suddenly heard "heavenly 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 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 by angelic beings from a church in Shkodër, Albania just prior to its invasion by the Ottomans. This work was presented to Pope Sixtus IV who led a scrutinized investigation to the miraculous claims.
Petruccia da Nocera died in 1470 (aged 42) and her mortal remains were interred in the capped niche above the Marian image until 1734. Because the Marian image was already considered "low" at the eye—level of the faithful, it would be impious to place anything above the venerated image. Therefore, the Augustinian Order elected to transfer her mortal remains to the backside of the altar in 1882, where they remain for public veneration today. She also has the localized title of Blessed due to her association to the site.
The image was originally called "La Madonna del Paradiso" and now known as "Madonna del Buon Consiglio" (English: Our Lady of Good Counsel). Among her noted devotees have been Saints Aloysius Gonzaga, Alphonsus Liguori, Don Bosco, and Blessed Stephen Bellesini.
Medieval art experts consulted during a restoration conducted between 1957 and 1959 suggest that the image of the Madonna was once part of a larger fresco that covered the wall and was subsequently covered over with plaster. They believe the fresco is likely the work of the early fifteenth century artist Gentile da Fabriano, probably painted around the time of Pope Martin V (1417—1431).
Several Pontiffs have venerated Our Lady under this title:
Pope Pius V gifted a heart shaped Ex Voto to the shrine in 1571 in honor of the Battle of Lepanto, still preserved at the site.
Pope Urban VIII made a pilgrimage to the Gennazano shrine in 21 October 1630 due to the Roman plague at the time.
Pope Clement XII granted Plenary indulgences to pious Catholics who visit the shrine on 25 April, the original feast date of its Marian apparition.
Pope Innocent XI granted a Pontifical decree of canonical coronation to the image on 17 November 1682. The rite of coronation was executed on 25 November 1682.
Pope Benedict XIII established an Office of Catholic Mass under this title for the priests of Gennazano locality in 10 April 1727 in the form of a Papal indult, retaining them the original privilege to celebrate on 25 April, while others must move the feast date to 26 April (to avoid conflict with the Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist).