The Living Consolata

image of our Lady Consolata.

What is living within the icon of Our Lady Consolata? This might not seem one of the burning questions of the hour. The need to fathom our lady Consolata leads to the understanding of the reality of active-silent life that is in this icon. It leaves one speechless and gob smacked to express the sanctity of this icon, but only feeling it pierces through the heart.

This devotion has passed through the ages to the third millennium. It is celebrated in a special way at the Consolata Seminary, Nairobi with a little bit of weight.  What is this day that takes up with it eight days novena for preparation? Not the Sabbath absolutely. But the Consolata Feast, in the month of the Rosary and towards the end of the Eucharistic Year, for Mary and Eucharist are inseparable. It also coincided with the 16^th, when in a special way memories linger on Bl. Joseph Allamano, whose impact caused the spread of this great commissioning: “they will announce my glory to the nations.”

The joy of the eve of Consolata Feast tells it all, even the feet of the victims felt this happiness. First, it was the transition ceremony of our 16 brothers to Postulancy. Second, it was the procession with Our Lady from the Institute to the front part of the chapel, the Consolata Square.

The solemn vigil procession accompanied with lighted candles held three significances to the partakers: showing Consolata the paths we use in our day to day activities, bearing in mind always Our Lady Consolata when using the paths of this compound and appreciating Our Lady as a guest who visited us.

Lourdes and Fatima are contemporary in history. Our Lady Consolata is fresh too, although the icon dates back to the sixth century. St. Luke, author of the third gospel and Acts of the Apostles, painted the icon, ‘Lucan Madonna’. This marked the birth of the Consolata Icon that encountered ups and downs in the boat of life.

In her lifetime, the icon faced an ill-famed battle against the veneration of the sacred images spearheaded by Bishop Claudius of Turin, a Spaniard and iconoclast. Consolata icon was saved from destruction by pious hands. Fortunately, she came to vicinity when King Arduin Marquis of Ivrea built a chapel for Our Lady in St. Andrew’s church after getting healed miraculously in 1014 AD. This shrine became for the folks a “Place of Grace”, for they flocked to receive consolations and venerate Our Lady for having wiped out the heresies of the time, Divinity of the Trinity.

No sooner had the shrine gained momentum than the struggle for freedoms of the towns broke the hell loose, seeing the Shrine laid long forgotten into remnants.  Out of the blue, was the ongoing life of the icon buried under the bits and bobs.  The miraculous  re-discovery of the Consolata icon in a vision by John Ravasi, a French blind man, piloted the restoration of his sight, a remarkable event in the lives of the Turinese sending them eureka. The June 20^th   1104 incident made Pope Leo XIII to give added impetus to the devotion of Our Lady Consolata, establishing proper Mass and Office celebrated annually on 20^th June.

The etymology of Consolata goes way back to this epoch. Virgin Mary, to her people is indeed the one who cares. “La Cunsula” is both Latin and Italian jargon implicating both consoled and consoler pigeonholed in the Virgin Mary. The latter was consoled by God in her mission of being the first missionary of the gospel.

On the other hand, we too console her in our good deeds and words proper to the teachings of the Word and Magisterium.

When giving us Jesus Christ, she becomes the consoler of the whole humanity. Whoever hunted her refuge was not desolated but left consoled and loads less. Hence she is Our Lady of consolation, Consolata. To her Shrine all would advance yawning for her, the high and the low, in need and out of need, to pay homage and ask for guidance and assistance. Her hands are wide open showing the uniqueness in the two in one personality- consoled and consoler bearing the old adage: ‘Nemo dat quad non habet’, you cannot give what you do not have, for consoled she became consoler.

There, the Shrine, also went the great Turinese saints of the XIX century, who played a leading role in the religious revival of Italy: St. Joseph Cottolengo, St. Joseph Cafasso “pearl of the modern clergy”, St. John Bosco founder of the Salesians and Bl. Joseph Allamano, whose hands not only refaced the Consolata Shrine with gold and marble but also fuelled active participation by the faithful in all corners of the world, amid others.

The effect of Our Lady Consolata is witnessed in places her missionary sons and daughters labour to evangelise the non-Christians. Hers is the message of confidence in the values of the spirit, consolation beyond space and time. Let us all acknowledge her together with St. Maximus in saying; “…whatever was to benefit the world was to come from within her.” Our Lady Consolata lived to fight today.

(this article was published in the Sunshine magazine, the Consolata Seminary magazine, 2005)