From "THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD," October, 1884. DEVOTION to our "Mother of Good Counsel" is not without being cultivated in these countries, but it is cultivated to a far less extent than it ought to be. "Good Counsel" is one of the attributes that strikes us as specially becoming in her whom we salute as the "Virgo Sapiens," and to whom the Church applies the words of the Holy Ghost"in me is Counsel." Besides, we feel assured that it is an attribute that is calculated to call forth in a very special way the devotion of the faithful, who are so trustful in the protection and guidance of the Mother of God, particularly in times of doubt and difficulty. Yet the picture of the " Virgin Mother of Good Counsel "-and it is indeed a very distinctive and devotional picture-is not often met with in our churches or oratories, nor is the invocation of the Blessed Virgin under this sweet title so frequently on our lips as the many other ejaculations that are so familiar to us from childhood onwards. The real cause, however, of this omission is to be traced to the fact that the people generally had no knowledge of the devotion to the Mother of God under this special form: at least we had no full history of its origin and wonderful development in other countries. This want, we are happy to say, is now admirably met by Monsignor Dillon's beautiful book.

Among the shrines of the Blessed Virgin, there is none, perhaps, so ancient, and few more famous for its miracles, the number of its pilgrims, and the extraordinary manifestation of piety to be witnessed there from year to year, than the shrine of the "Virgin Mother of Good Counsel." This famous shrine is at Genazzano, a picturesquely situated little town, in the Sabine Ranges, some thirty miles from Rome, near Palestrina, the old Praeneste capital of Latium. Here our Mother of Good Counsel has been honoured under this beautiful title from the earliest times, indeed from those far off times when the deserted pagan temples round Rome were taken up by the Christians, and the abominations of idolatry replaced by the pure worship of the true God. We are told that the first sanctuary of our Lady of Good Counsel at Genazzano had been a temple of Venus.

In course of time God manifested His pleasure at the great honour paid to His Mother at Genazzano by a miracle of a kind which reminds us forcibly of that other renowned sanctuary, the holy House of Loretto. In the year 1467, a beautiful picture of the Virgin, holding in her arms the Divine Infant, passed miraculously from Albania when seized by the Turks, to the shrine at Genazzano. This picture is preserved with jealous care, and we have been told by friends, who were present on the occasion of the annual Feast when the picture is uncovered, that the piety of the people was such as to make even one who had witnessed the enthusiasm of the pilgrims at Lourdes, to marvel.

But we must send our readers to Monsignor Dillon's highly interesting book for a full history of our Lady's Shrine at Genazzano. The work is so complete and of so useful a character as to merit the high commendation of Cardinal Simeoni; and even the Pope himself has sent to the Right Rev. author, with his blessing, a letter of praise and thanks.

If we may venture to make a suggestion to the Right Rev. author, we would say to him to complete his splendid service in spreading devoting to our Virgin Mother of Good Counsel by publishing in due course a small popular Manual, embodying in a concise form the history of this venerable and famous shrine, with prayers and suitable devotions. Thus he will establish a very strong claim to the reward he speaks of so earnestly and lovingly, "Qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt."

From "THE DUBLIN REVIEW," October, 1884.

IN a very handsome volume of over 600 pages, printed with extreme clearness and wonderful correctness at the Propaganda Press in Rome, Monsignor Dillon, of Sydney, sets forth with great detail and with pious warmth the history of the miraculous image of Our Lady at Genezzano. Many of our readers will know that this widely venerated effigy is said to have appeared suddenly on the wall of an unfinished church at Genezzano, now more than four centuries ago. A short time afterwards there came to the sanctuary two

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strangers from Albania, who declared that the image was no other than one which had been venerated from time immemorial in Scutari (not Scutari on the Bosphorus, but the Albanian town), and which had disappeared precisely at the time they left their native land. This double tradition Monsignor Dillon undertakes to substantiate. That there is a celebrated Madonna at Genezzano, and that many graces and miraculous favours have been received there, no Catholic would think of disputing. And whoever goes carefully through this elaborate work, will easily convince himself that there was a miraculous apparition in 1467 As to the sacred image itself, as now venerated, it is a fresco, painted (if it be painted) on thin hard mortar, as if it had been detached from the surface of the wall. It is stated by those who have seen it to be still altogether detached from any wall or backing. Its existence in this state for upwards of 400 years is by itself a wonderful fact. Representations of the sacred image are not uncommon, and there are probably few who have not looked on the most characteristic face of Mary, and on the Divine Infant, lovingly leaning His cheek against hers, with one little arm round her neck and the hand of the other grasping her robe at the throat. Genezzano is not far from Rome, in a land rich with Christian shrines and memories of the past. We cannot doubt that this charming book, written with the leisure of an antiquarian and the piety of a true Catholic, will not only send many pilgrims to Our Lady of Good Counsel, but will increase her glory and promote devotion to her in all English-speaking lands.

SUFFERINGS OF THE NUNS OF ITALY.

Catholics are already aware that by the laws of Italy the whole property, real and personal, of all religious orders, both of men and women, was confiscated in that country. A very small pension, heavily taxed and not always satisfactorily paid, was allowed to the older membersthe younger ones getting nothing, or next to nothing-perhaps two-pence a day to live upon. For this the Government took their lands, their funds, their house property, their Convent buildings, their very churches, cemeteries and all the furniture, sacred and secular, they possessed. They were disbanded, prevented from receiving novices, or, as religious orders, even educating children. Sometimes public feeling forced their persecutors to give them a few rooms in their old homes, or to huddle several communities into one large barrack. In cases where a part of their Convent only was allowed them, the rest was used as Government offices, or very generally for soldiers' barracks. It thus became a kind of living death for these poor religious. They mostly, however, held together with wonderful tenacity, and as the old inmates died out the younger ones, with but a few half-pence a day to live on, grew on in years and weakness and want. Many of these-indeed all the choir sisters-brought fortunes, which were placed in the common funds of their several institutions, and so found and taken by the mean-spirited Freemasous now in power in Italy. The consequence is that these poor nuns, long absent from the thoughts of relatives, die in great numbers and in much want. The present work and that on Our Lady of Good Counsel have been given over by the author for their relief. He has just received the following letter from Monsignor Kirby, who lays out, with every care and judgment, all he can get together for the benefit of these suffering spouses of Christ.

"I received the alms you kindly forwarded from their Lordships the Bishop of Leeds and the Bishops of Aberdeen and Dunkeld, in aid of the poor nuns in the Papal States. May God reward them for their charity.

"But what shall I say, my dear Monsignore, for your own generous offerings for these suffering Spouses of Jesus Christ? Through your assistance I have been able to relieve many holy suffering communities in Frascati, Viterbo,

Foligno, Assissi, Monte Falco, and other localities, not forgetting the nuns you specially mentioned for relief in Rome. They suffer terrible privations, but their charity and patience would do honour to the early Christians. They pray constantly and earnestly for those who assist them in their bitter need.

Still more touching descriptions of the destitution of these poor servants of God may be obtained from the Divin Salvatore of Rome, which devotes many of its columns to the service of the collection made in favour of the despoiled

nuns.

The following items, taken from a current number of that journal, will give an idea of the need existing. The Editor says:—

"On the 7th of March we received the following letter from a venerable religious, who has the care of a parish and of a monastery :- The letters you sent me have arrived, as so many angels of comfort, with your charity. The Mother Abbess did not know what to do in the future. She had to withdraw the one plate of nourishment hitherto given daily to the religious. My heart is afflicted, because I know that if they have not food the choir cannot be sustained, and already some of them are prostrated, from weakness of the stomach, in need of ordinary food.' The day after the Prioress of a Dominican Convent writes:-Our misfortunes are at their height, and it seems that everything conspires against us. The very old and helpless sisters must be deprived of the lay sisters' help, whom we took into the religious life, but who must now leave us for want of food. The aged will have to die for mere want of necessaries. We do not ask the Government for anything to maintain lay sisters, but these are now not even permitted to us. For charity pray to God that some may be moved to pity us.' Four days ago a Benedictine Superioress thus commenced her letter to us :-The day before yesterday, having shed many tears before the Image of Most Holy Mary, beseeching Her to send me some help, because I had at last arrived at extreme necessity, your letter arrived with alms. Ah, so great was my joy, that before opening it I carried it before the sacred Image to thank Our Lady, and have called the nuns, who did the same. My Father, believe me, that in order to exist together, we suffer much want indeed.' Five days after another Superioress writes to us :-The moment I received your most valued letter, I exclaimed, Oh, my dear St. Joseph, how much I thank you who hast given to that good Father the inspiration to help me in my present agony. I cannot describe to you the sorrowful condition in which I find myself. As many farthings as you have sent me, I pray that they may become so many precious graces, which may fill with benediction the families who give such blessed help to us poor abandoned religious.'"

Not long after another Superioress wrote:

"Do you then discharge our duty to the kind and pious benefactors who do not forget the suffering spouses of Our Lord in times when so many hate and illtreat them, and seek new means to render them, if that were possible, unhappy. But that can never happen, because it is our greatest felicity to be hated by the enemies of Jesus Christ. At present we are prohibited to receive young-lady boarders, who, by their payments for education, might help us not a little in our misery. But we confide in the good, generous hearts who come to our assistance."

On the 17th of May, from the ends of Italy, the following letter came

to us:

"On Tuesday I received, as a consoling angel, your letter with the bountiful alms it contained. What my joy was on that day I cannot tell you. I seemed like one confounded to such an extent that my nuns understood that some extraordinary grace had been given me by our great Patriarch St. Joseph. When I told them what had been given they were in jubilee at it, and I cannot tell you how many prayers and fervent communions will be offered, and have indeed been offered already to God for those who have been so kind to

us.

Oh, my Father, if you but knew what my sorrow had been that day. An implacable creditor pressed me, and I had not on that day one loaf of bread to take the hunger away from my poor community. My Father, I cannot tell you what terrible hours I passed. During certain days I felt as if a knife had pierced my heart. I wept scalding tears, and almost lost confidence. Ah, Father, do not forget us, for charity sake, I beseech you, with all my heart."

A few days after this (for we take the letters at haphazard as they come to our hand) we received another, which thus commences :

"Oh, my Father, how much am I obliged to you. You have called me to life again. I went to ask the Archangel Raphael to be mindful of us, poor deserted sisters, and the holy Archangel heard me! Wherefore may God be blessed, and thanks without end for your charity and that of our benefactors. See how wanting in discretion I am, my Father, the more you are mindful of us, the most distressed of all. I do not wish to be importunate. That would not be well. But our misery surpasses perhaps the misery of other convents. All my poor lay sisters are long barefooted, and I cannot get them shoes, for I have no means to buy leather. We, the choir sisters, wear clogs of wood, which, when once made, last very long; but our poor lay sisters work very hard, and wear away their clothing very much."

Another letter comes from a Benedictine Abbess in Tuscany. She. says:

Reflecting on our sad circumstances, and knowing by experience your charitable heart, I have at last determined to ask you for some charity, for the love of Jesus. We are twenty-five in community, without a morsel of bread in our house, and deprived absolutely of the means to obtain it; the Lord having permitted that we should be abandoned by all, because we are all in great distress and tribulation. Your Reverence by these words may understand my internal affliction and the nature of the sword that pierces my heart."

Here is a letter from a holy Prioress of Augustinian nuns, driven out of their convent and obliged to rent a house :

I reply, with deep gratitude, to your precious letter, and thank you infinitely for the alms sent in it. I thank the Giver of every good, and after Him all those who have concurred to aid us, and you who are the head of the good work, so full of charity, as is that of assisting us poor creatures reduced to extreme necessity. For as this necessity is all the more increased as we, most unfortunate, have been driven out of our convent, and with sorrow and fright, have been obliged to rent this poor house at a sum beyond the possibility of our being able to pay. May Jesus, our Spouse, be blessed for all these misfortunes. There remains to us one only consolation. It is that daily we have the holy Mass in a little chapel, and we can remain with Jesus in the Eucharist. Where Jesus is there is nothing that we can desire. They have at length taken our convent from us, but of Jesus no one can deprive us."

Another Superioress writes:

I am always more and more confirmed in the belief that your reverence is inspired by God. Three days passed and I had not a farthing to buy bread for my poor community. But I had recourse to our sweet Mother Mary with loving confidence, that she would give me the means of keeping life in my poor daughters. I wept with emotion and exclaimed, "Blessed is he who confides in the Lord."

Another letter, dated 24th of last October, is as follows:

"My Father, how grateful I am. I found myself at the height of misery, but seeing your gift my heart bounded with joy. Oh, I can at least give a little to my dearest daughters who, poor children, for the most part, are infirm and weak in stomach because of long abstinence from

nourishing food or drink of any kind! But how can I help them? I cannot get boarders, and benefactors there are none, because our relatives have to think of their own families, My only resource is your charity. You dry my tears. You console my heart in so many and such great necessities."

A Superioress of Tuscany, after having recommended a sick sister whom she called, "an angel of innocence and of goodness, and on the point of taking wing for paradise," and having received some assistance, writes:

"Jesus watches over His spouses. This morning I received your offering for the sick sister, which the great charity of your reverence sent me. I am confused in seeing myself so benefited without any merit. The sick sister remains alive, always the victim of her beloved Spouse Jesus. She wastes away as wax before the fire. She suffers with heroic virtue, and wishes that your reverence would bless her in order to have greater strength to suffer more and more in union with Jesus crucified, whom she has always before her eyes, and continually kisses. I do not know how to describe her satisfaction at the charity shown her, nor to tell you her gratitude. I will tell you only that with all her heart she says to you, 'May Jesus reward him together with the benefactors.' She is young, only twenty-four years of age, and is in the monastery three years and three months. The Lord has placed this beautiful flower (she is called Rose) in His garden, and He will take it at His pleasure. It seems that we are not worthy to possess it."

The number of the Divin Salvatore, from which the above extracts are taken, has been selected almost at random from a file of that excellent journal. The editor very feelingly ends the record as follows:

"We repeat that these few extracts from letters are given solely as a sample of numberless other letters of the same class, which might form many volumes. Ah, how many pages, besides, would be necessary if we should have to narrate the sufferings and the secret martyrdoms endured, during, now more than twenty years, by so many thousands of Italian religious ladies for the sublime love of that Crucified God, to whom they were and are consecrated. But such pages are written in characters of gold only in the book of eternal life, and from this book it is not given to us to copy. Let it suffice to know that these admirable creatures so intensely hated by the world of the sectaries (Freemasons, etc.,) because guilty of being models of virtue, flowers of purity, doves of innocence, beings more of heaven than of earth, have won, and still win by their undaunted perseverance, a most glorious victory over this world, enemy as it is, of the Name and the Cross of Christ."