Madre
del Buon Consiglio,
July-August 1986, the magazine published by the Augustinian Friars of Genazzano
(
A
Present-Day Testimony
FOR many years now, we have been surprised and amazed
to frequently see foreign young men recollected in deep prayer in the chapel of
the Madonna. We decided one
beautiful day to speak with them, asking why they came
so assidu- ously to our
shrine. They told us they felt much attraction to the very beautiful image of
the Madonna of Good Counsel, who showed special favors to the founder of
their association: Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. We expressed to them our desire
to have some testimony about the matter, and Professor Plinio was kind enough
to send us from
"IN December 1967, when I was fifty-nine years
old, I had a severe case of diabetes. As a result, my right foot became
gangrenous. For this reason, the doctor had to amputate my four small toes.
"This measure was taken without any hesitation,
since he seriously feared that the gangrene would spread to the entire foot,
which would then require a much larger amputation. In such a circumstance,
would it be preferable to perform that larger amputation, once and for all? In
view of this, I remained under observation in the hospital.
"Now, it so happened that some time
before those events, I coincidentally began reading the book La Vierge Mère du
Bon Conseil by Monsignor George F. Dillon (Bruges:
Desclée de Brower, 1885).
During the reading, I experienced a sensible consolation in my soul.
"Before my illness, my friend, Dr. Vincente Ferreira, had traveled to Italy and had the
kindness of bringing me a picture from Genazzano representing the venerated
painting of Our Lady of Good Counsel. That picture arrived at the moment of a
spiritual trial that made me suffer much more than my physical malady.
"Since 1960, I had been president of the National
Council of the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and
Property. Circumstances, not proper to go into here, gave me the certainty that
it was in the designs of Divine Providence that this organization might perform
an extensive action on behalf of Christendom in Brazil, in all of South
America, and even on the other continents.
"On the other hand, I was convinced that my
death, in this situation, would be ruinous for the effort which was beginning
to flourish vigorously... an effort that I ardently desired to achieve for the
greater glory of Our Lady before dying. So, I was in a state of true anxiety
regarding the uncertainties of my clinical and surgical situation.
"On December 16, another friend, Dr. Martim Afonso Xavier da Silveira Jr., gave me the
aforementioned picture on behalf of Dr. Vincente
Ferreira. When I fixed my eyes on it, I had the unexpected impression that the
figure of Our Lady, without changing at all, expressed for my sake an
indescribable and maternal sweetness; that she comforted me and instilled in my
soul (I do not know how) the conviction that the Blessed Virgin was promising
me that I would not die without accomplishing the desired work. This suffused
my soul with tranquility.
"I hold that conviction until today. And, by the
grace of Our Lady, that work has prospered admirably, warranting the hope that
it will reach its goal. When I was favored with this `smile-promise' of Our
Lady of Genazzano, I did not say anything to those present. Only much later did
I speak of this to my friends. Two of them, who were
visiting me at the hospital at the time I received the picture, upon hearing my
narration, said that they had noticed that the figure of the Mother of Good
Counsel looked at me with great pleasure, which fact caught their attention.
However, they did not notice the `smile-promise' that I mentioned. They sign
the present declaration with me.
"Thanks be to the
Blessed Virgin, my health was then restored in such a way as to amaze the
surgeon and render the second operation unnecessary.
"I write the present declaration with my heart
overflowing with love and gratitude to the Mother of Good Counsel of Genazzano.
"Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.
"São Paulo, May 10,
1985."