Devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel is especially associated with the ancient Marian image venerated at the Augustinian church in Genazzano, Italy. Popes have encouraged this title, and Pope Leo XIII added it to the Litany of Loreto. This traditional prayer asks Mary, the Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, to guide Christians through doubt, error, temptation, and difficult choices. Catholics pray it before important decisions or whenever they need clarity and steadfastness. Its confidence rests on Mary’s maternal intercession, which always leads the faithful to Jesus. The Catechism describes prayer to Mary as asking her to pray for us throughout our lives (CCC 2677).
O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are led by our anxious uncertainty in our search for and attainment of what is true and good, invoking you by the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel, we beseech you to come to our assistance, when, along the road of this life, the darkness of error and of evil conspires towards our ruin by leading our minds and our hearts astray.
O Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the doubtful and the erring, that they be not seduced by the false appearances of good; render them steadfast in the face of the hostile and corrupting influences of passion and of sin.
O Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from your Divine Son a great love of virtue and, in moments of uncertainty and trial, the strength to embrace the way which leads to our salvation.
If your hand sustains us, we shall walk unmolested along the path indicated to us by the life and words of Jesus, our Redeemer; and having followed freely and securely, even in the midst of this world’s strife, the Sun of Truth and Justice under your maternal Star, we shall come to the enjoyment of full and eternal peace with you in the haven of salvation.
Amen.
When to pray it: Pray this prayer before making an important decision or whenever you need wisdom, clarity, and perseverance.
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