The Story told by the Stained Glass
Window of Our Lady of Good Counsel
The image now known as "Our Lady of Good Counsel," dates back eight centuries. Painted sometime in the 1300s in Albania, the image of Mary and the child Jesus holding Mary in a tender embrace was originally known simply as "The Virgin of Scutari," because it was located in a church in the town of Scutari, Albania. It is noteworthy that the original image shows Jesus' head shaved, but with a ponytail, and feathers in the ponytail, which is the way the kings of Albania adorned their sons, a sign of the royal nobility of the child Jesus.
After invasion and defeat by Muslim Turks in January 1467, the condition of Christians of Albania was severely threatened. Churches were destroyed and many were imprisoned for their faith. Many others fled Albania in search of religious freedom. Here's where the story in the window begins.
In the window's center panel, standing in a piazza before an unfinished church, are two soldiers and a woman. The soldiers' names are De Sclavis and Giorgio. According to their testimony, they too had decided to flee Albania. However, on the morning of their departure, they first stopped to pray for safety in the chapel of Scutari, before the image of Mary and Jesus. Both reported to have seen the image detach itself from the wall, become enveloped in a cloud, and go before them on their journey. It led them across the Adriatic Sea, to Rome, where they reported seeing this cloud precede them over the walls of Rome and disappear.
Meanwhile in the village of Genazzano, 30 miles east of Rome, a pious woman named Petruccia, (depicted standing next to De Scalvis and Giorgio in the center panel of the window,) was widowed at age 39, her husband having been the caretaker of the Augustinian Friary there. After his death, it was revealed to her in prayer, "Mary Most Holy, in her holy image of Scutari, wishes to leave Albania." In this revelation, Petruccia was charged with preparing a place for this holy image to come to. Of course, when she told the town-people of this revelation, she was soundly mocked and received no support for her project. Petruccia for her part was undeterred. Using what remained of her inheritance, she received permission from the Augustinian Friars, (who appear in the left side panel of the window), to renovate an old chapel that had fallen into ruins. The chapel's name was "Our Lady of Good Counsel."
It happened that on April 25, 1467 at about four in the afternoon, while the towns people were enjoying a festival in honor of the Feast of St. Mark, a bright cloud descended as many townspeople looked on (depicted in the right side panel of the widow). The cloud descended and rested on the unfinished walls of the old chapel, and as the cloud dissipated, the image of Mary holding Jesus was revealed.
Word of this miraculous event quickly spread to the surrounding towns, as well as to Rome, where De Scalvis and Giorgio were desperately trying to discover where the cloud they had followed for so long had disappeared to. Upon hearing of the miraculous appearance of a painting of Mary and Jesus in Genazzano, they immediately went there and identified the image as "the Virgin of Scutari," an image forever more to be known as "Our Lady of Good Counsel."
The image now known as "Our Lady of Good Counsel," dates back eight centuries. Painted sometime in the 1300s in Albania, the image of Mary and the child Jesus holding Mary in a tender embrace was originally known simply as "The Virgin of Scutari," because it was located in a church in the town of Scutari, Albania. It is noteworthy that the original image shows Jesus' head shaved, but with a ponytail, and feathers in the ponytail, which is the way the kings of Albania adorned their sons, a sign of the royal nobility of the child Jesus.
After invasion and defeat by Muslim Turks in January 1467, the condition of Christians of Albania was severely threatened. Churches were destroyed and many were imprisoned for their faith. Many others fled Albania in search of religious freedom. Here's where the story in the window begins.
In the window's center panel, standing in a piazza before an unfinished church, are two soldiers and a woman. The soldiers' names are De Sclavis and Giorgio. According to their testimony, they too had decided to flee Albania. However, on the morning of their departure, they first stopped to pray for safety in the chapel of Scutari, before the image of Mary and Jesus. Both reported to have seen the image detach itself from the wall, become enveloped in a cloud, and go before them on their journey. It led them across the Adriatic Sea, to Rome, where they reported seeing this cloud precede them over the walls of Rome and disappear.
Meanwhile in the village of Genazzano, 30 miles east of Rome, a pious woman named Petruccia, (depicted standing next to De Scalvis and Giorgio in the center panel of the window,) was widowed at age 39, her husband having been the caretaker of the Augustinian Friary there. After his death, it was revealed to her in prayer, "Mary Most Holy, in her holy image of Scutari, wishes to leave Albania." In this revelation, Petruccia was charged with preparing a place for this holy image to come to. Of course, when she told the town-people of this revelation, she was soundly mocked and received no support for her project. Petruccia for her part was undeterred. Using what remained of her inheritance, she received permission from the Augustinian Friars, (who appear in the left side panel of the window), to renovate an old chapel that had fallen into ruins. The chapel's name was "Our Lady of Good Counsel."
It happened that on April 25, 1467 at about four in the afternoon, while the towns people were enjoying a festival in honor of the Feast of St. Mark, a bright cloud descended as many townspeople looked on (depicted in the right side panel of the widow). The cloud descended and rested on the unfinished walls of the old chapel, and as the cloud dissipated, the image of Mary holding Jesus was revealed.
Word of this miraculous event quickly spread to the surrounding towns, as well as to Rome, where De Scalvis and Giorgio were desperately trying to discover where the cloud they had followed for so long had disappeared to. Upon hearing of the miraculous appearance of a painting of Mary and Jesus in Genazzano, they immediately went there and identified the image as "the Virgin of Scutari," an image forever more to be known as "Our Lady of Good Counsel."
