Feast of the Coming of Our Lady of Good Counsel

A devotion spanning over five hundred years

The Feast of the Coming is the heart of the religious and civic identity of Genazzano, a town in the Prenestini Mountains within the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region. The festival commemorates April 25, 1467, the day when—according to the tradition handed down by the Augustinians—the Sacred Image of the Mother of Good Counsel suddenly appeared on a wall of the town's Augustinian church, having arrived from a small church in Shkodër, Albania, while threatened by the Ottoman advance, enveloped in a luminous cloud. Since then, the date has remained unchanged: the feast falls every year on April 25th, regardless of the day of the week.

The Sanctuary and the Sacred Image

The celebration takes place at the Basilica Sanctuary of the Mother of Good Counsel, elevated to the dignity of a basilica in 1903 by the will of Leo XIII and entrusted to the Augustinian Fathers. The Marian fresco, surprisingly small in size, is kept in a side chapel and protected by a shutter that is only opened solemnly on special occasions: the unveiling of the Image in the early morning of April 25th, accompanied by the festive ringing of bells, is the most anticipated and moving moment of the entire day.

How the festival unfolds

The rhythm of the celebration has been established for generations and spans several days:

• Novena of preparation in the preceding days, with the celebration of the Coming in the late afternoon, the Holy Rosary, the singing of litanies, and Holy Mass;
• Solemn procession on the eve, in the evening, which winds through the streets of the historic center starting from Piazza della Repubblica and returns to the Basilica for the Marian vigil;
• April 25th: unveiling of the Sacred Image in the early hours of the morning, Holy Masses throughout the day, a solemn Mass in the late morning, and a pontifical mass in the late afternoon;
• The following day, Masses of thanksgiving and supplication to the Mother of Good Counsel.

The civic side: fair, market, and the Fires of Saint Mark

Alongside the liturgical dimension, Genazzano experiences a day of popular celebration. From the morning, the town fills with a fair-market, with stalls selling local products, devotional items, sweets, and handicrafts along the streets leading to the sanctuary. The oldest tradition, however, is that of the Fires of Saint Mark: in past centuries, pilgrims reached Genazzano on foot and waited for dawn in the squares, lighting large bonfires to keep warm and illuminate the night. Even today, the memory of those fires accompanies the April 25th anniversary, which coincides with the feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist.

An international sanctuary

Devotion to the Mother of Good Counsel has always had a strong bond with Albania: the Albanian Catholic community in Italy considers Genazzano a point of reference and organizes its pilgrimages here, with the participation of the faithful from Turin, Venice, Florence, and Rome. The sanctuary is also a regular destination for diocesan and parish pilgrimages from all over Lazio, the Ciociaria area, and the Castelli Romani, and is linked to the memory of numerous popes who have supported its cult.

Why it is worth visiting

Those who arrive in Genazzano on April 25th find much more than a religious celebration: there is a medieval village clustered around the Colonna Castle, stone alleys, open cellars and taverns, and a festive village atmosphere that unites residents, emigrants who have returned for the occasion, and pilgrims. It is one of the best opportunities to discover the Prenestini hinterland, less than an hour from Rome, on a day when popular tradition and faith intertwine in a completely natural way.