Our Lady of Consolation or Comforter of the Afflicted (Latin: ) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Catholic Church.
History
The origin of this invocation is derived from the Augustinian friars who propagated this particular devotion. Along with Saints Augustine, and Monica, Our Lady of Consolation is one of the three patrons of the Augustinian orders. The title (English: Comforter of the Afflicted) is part of the Litany of Loreto, and is Augustinian in origin."Our Lady of Consolation", Marian Library, University of Dayton This devotion was propagated by the Augustinian monks. By the early 18th century the custom of asking for the final blessing before death in the name of Our Lady of Consolation was very popular.
In congregations of the Augustinian Order, the "Augustinian Rosary" is sometimes called the "Crown of Our Mother of Consolation". The traditional depiction in Augustinian houses show Mary holding the Child Jesus on her lap. They both hold the Augustinian cincture in their hands.
Archconfraternity
The oldest and most celebrated of these Confraternities of the Cord is probably the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Consolation, also called the Archconfraternity of the Cincture of Saint Monica, Saint Augustine and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.Hilgers, Joseph. "Sodality." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 17 Aug. 2014 In 1439, the Augustinian Order obtained the faculty to set up the Confraternity of the Cincture for lay people.Augustinian Recollects Later on, it was adopted by the Hermits of Saint Augustine as a distinctive part of their habit.Heckmann, Ferdinand. "Confraternities of the Cord." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 17 Aug. 2014
The confraternity of Our Lady of Consolation was founded in 1495 in Bologna, Italy. In 1575 both confraternities merged in a single Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture. Other similar confraternities were aggregated to the Archconfraternity in Bologna."Cofradia de Neustra Señora de la Consolacion y Correa"
The annual feast of the Archconfraternity is 4 September."Mary – Mother of Consolation", Augustinians of the Province of Australasia Members are obliged to wear a black leather belt, to fast on the vigil of the feast of Saint Augustine and to recite daily the "Little Rosary of Our Lady of Consolation" which is composed of thirteen couplets of beads. The essential prayers to be said are Our Father and Hail Mary repeated thirteen times after which is recited the Hail Holy Queen.Roten, S.M., Johann. "Chaplets: The Little Rosary of Our Lady of Consolation", Marian Library, University of Dayton
For the erection of and reception into this archconfraternity, special faculties must be had from the prior general. The headquarters of the society is the Church of Sant'Agostino, Rome where the body of Saint Monica lies.
Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The feast of Our Lady of Consolation is observed in several Catholic countries within orders or religious institutes.
The Order of Saint Augustine observe it on September 4. The Order of Friars Minor Conventual observe it on May 25 The Order of Saint Benedict on July 5.
In Malta, the feast is celebrated on the last Sunday of October with pyrotechnic displays by Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory. The Feast Day in Rome for Our Lady of Consolation is January 31; in the United States it is the Saturday after the Feast of Saint Augustine (August 28).
Argentina Pope Benedict XVI granted a decree of canonical coronation for the venerated 17th—century image of Our Lady of Consolation in Sumampa, Argentina, on 21 November 2009.
Pope Francis issued a decree to raise the shrine in Sampacho to the status of a minor basilica on 12 March 2024 for the Diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto. The inauguration rites took place on 10 June 2024 and was presided by the Archbishop of Cordoba, Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi.
Belgium
Pope Pius X granted a decree of pontifical coronation on 16 June 1907 towards a Pietà image dating from 1535 in the Franciscan church of Leuven. The rite of coronation was executed by the former Archbishop of Mechelen, Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier. The image, also known as "Our Lady of Koorts" or "Our Lady of Fever" due to its longstanding claim to heal the sick, was renamed Our Lady of Consolation of the Afflicted by popular demand.belgiansculptures.be
Pope Benedict XVI issued a Pontifical decree which raised the shrine of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ten Troost in Vilvoorde to the status of Minor Basilica on 1 March 2006.
England
The Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in West Grinstead, in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton dates from 1876 and is the first shrine in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be established in England since before the Protestant Reformation.
Pope Leo XIII granted this venerated image a decree of pontifical coronation, executed by the former Bishop of Southwark, John Baptiste Butt on 12 July 1893.
France
Stanbrook Abbey was founded in 1623 at Cambrai, France as the monastery of "Our Lady of Consolation", for English Catholic expatriates.
Pope Innocent X encouraged the devotion to Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted by establishing a French confraternity in 1652. Pope Pius IX granted a canonical coronation to an image in Verdelais on 2 July 1856. Pope Pius X granted a decree of coronation to another image venerated in Hyeres on 21 June 1909. Pope Pius XI raised the shrine in Verdelais to the status of Minor basilica via the Pontifical decree Exstat in Civitate on 1 February 1924.
The dioceses of Vannes, Valence, Montpelier, Laval, Nantes, Périgueux, Tours and many others, dedicated churches or chapels to Our Lady of Consolation.
The French painter and artisan, William-Adolphe Bouguereau painted the image Mater Afflictorum in 1875, featuring the Blessed Virgin Mary along with a lacrimating woman and deceased male child. It is housed in Musée des Arts décoratifs, Strasbourg, in Alsace, France.
Germany
Our Lady, the Consoler of the Afflicted is venerated in the Marian Basilica of Kevelaer. In 1642 a copperplate engraving, representing Our Lady of Luxembourg, was installed in a sanctuary erected the same year. It is one of the best visited Catholic pilgrimage locations in north-western Europe.
Pope Benedict XIV — granted its pilgrims abundant indulgences on 24 August 1740. Pope Gregory XVI — extended more titles to the image on 14 June 1840. Pope Leo XIII — granted a decree of pontifical coronation on 20 July 1890 and was crowned on 1 June 1892. Pope Pius XI — issued a Pontifical decree In Civitate Appellata which raised her sanctuary to the status of Basilica on 23 April 1923, the decree was signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri. Pope John Paul II — visited the shrine on 2 May 1987.
Iran The Cathedral of the Consolata, Tehran is a Latin rite church which is devoted to Our Lady of Consolation.
Italy
Bedonia Pope John Paul II issued a Pontifical decree titled Progredientibus iam Plurium on 1 September 1978 which raised the sanctuary to the status of a Minor Basilica in Bedonia, Parma.
Casalbuono
The devotion to Our Lady of Consolation in Casalbuono began when her image was introduced to the laity during the 19th century. Her shrine sits on top of Mount Difesa, which was built around the 18th century, to replace the older structure that was destroyed. It has since attracted pilgrims and become customary that the image be translated from the town parish church to her sanctuary during its feast days.
Pope Benedict XVI decreed the canonical coronation of the image on 28 August 2010 through the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The rite of coronation was executed by the former Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal Salvatore de Giorgi on 11 September 2010.
Nereto The image of Our Lady in Nereto recalls the invasion of the former Emperor of France, Lord Napoleon Bonaparte on 22 December 1798. Several soldiers of the Napoleonic Army raped and pillaged women in Nereto, and the townspeople retaliated against the army via murder. The army proceeded to charge into the town church of Nereto where a woman, Nicolina Tonelli had rung the bell and purported to release angels from the bell tower of the church which fended off the soldiers and purportedly dislodged their bullets. This claim of miraculous event is now commemorated annually on December 22 and is also memorialized in the same bell. The local townspeople later crowned the image by popular demand and further credited her for the miraculous repulsion of the Napoleonic Army.
Reggio Calabria
The devotion started when the Bishop of Cavaillon, Girolamo Cancelli invited twelve friars of the Order of Capuchins to the site donated by the Italian nobleman Giovanni Bernardo Mileto where an existing smaller statue was already enshrined. They finished a cloister in 1569 using the new rules of the Franciscan Order.
The Italian nobleman Lord Camillo Diano tasked the artisan Nicolò Andrea Capriolo in 1547 to make a larger image under this title. The canvas depicts Mary seated on a throne holding the Child Jesus and flanked by Saint Francis of Assisi holding a cross and a Bible and Saint Anthony of Padua holding a Lily flower and Christian book while a pair of Angels crown the head of Our Lady.
According to pious legend, this large painting mysteriously disappeared from its original place in Reggio Calabria Cathedral, only to be re-discovered by a young shepherd on the nearby hill of Eremo. The painting was brought back to the cathedral, only to be found again on the same hill. The faithful took this as a supernatural sign from the Blessed Virgin Mary and built a church on the exact site where the icon had appeared. The image remains today in what is known as the Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation in Eremo, Calabria. The first organized procession was recorded in 1636. The local townspeople decorated the image with silver crowns on their own accord on 10 November 1693 in thanksgiving for the earthquake relief in January 1693. These crowns are now located on the backside panel of the framed image.
Pope Innocent XIII granted the image a canonical coronation on 15 September 1722 with ornate crowns offered by the Vatican Chapter, currently installed on the image.
The local government further decreed the Marian title as their city patroness on 26 August 1752. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Theodore the Martyr and Saint Catherine of Alexandria but the enshrinement of the image dedicated it to Our Lady of Consolation of the Afflicted by popular demand. The church was completely damaged due to earthquake in 1908 and was rebuilt in 1965. A new altar was made and modern bronze panels were crafted by Italian artist Alessandro Monteleone (1897–1967).
Pope Paul VI raised the shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via the decree Rhegium Urbs on 28 November 1971. The image was stolen from its shrine on 17 August 1982 but was returned a few days later due to great public outcry.
Palatine Hill
Another image in Rome is enshrined since 23 June 1385, a condemned prisoner named Giordanello degli Alberini was in the Campidoglio waiting to be executed, entrusts his testamentary dispositions to the Roman notary Pietro Mancini. Among which he donates two gold florins to have an image of Our Lady painted to be placed in the place of executions in front of the gallows, next to Santa Maria delle Grazie under Mount Campidoglio. The painting was created and placed on the wall of some barns of the Mattei family in Vico Jugario. It represents the Virgin seated with the child standing on her knees in the act of benediction and supporting her globe. The image was restored and repainted by the Roman artisan Antoniazzo Romano several times in 1465.