Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us

With these words we venerate Mary, Mother of Our Redeemer, mistress of all beautiful and lofty things of which she is overflowing. God's Angel, send to her, said: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. " (Luke 1:35). And she became the seat of God's Wisdom, who gave her along with many gifts, a gift of good counsel: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness" - as foretold by prophet Isaias(11:1,2). She conceived and nourished in her virginal womb and was the best Mother to our Lord Jesus, an Angel of God's Great Counsel. The gift of counsel is the ability for prudent consideration of difficult and decisive moments, which helps to chose the most suitable action. We can see many examples of this ability in Mary's life - in her "fiat" to become the Mother of God, in her decision to stay silent for a while rather than to tell all good news to Joseph, in Nazareth when she was able to be both the Mother and to adore her divine Son. When she could see in Cana both her Son and the Son of Eternal Father, when she said obediently farewell to Him before He started His public Ministry and Passion. That is why the Holy Church puts the following words in her mouth: "Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine." (Proverbs 8:14). She was the best counselor to the developing Church. She gave the Apostles so many details of Jesus' hidden life, she advised how to direct Church in His Spirit. And every one of us, her faithful children, certainly experienced her good motherly counsel and help at least once, in particular in temptations against purity and faith, in vocations to religious life, in bringing up children, in difficult situations. We can say: "[the] counsel continueth like a fountain of life. " (Ecclesiasticus 21:16). Our Lady is the best possible counselor given to us by Jesus. We should not forget about it when listening to good advice and wisdom of our brethren. Our Lady is our most valuable, reliable, sincere and loving adviser. And she encourages us herself to seek her help: "Give ear, my son, and take wise counsel, and cast not away my advice " (Ecclesiasticus 6:24)