Newsroom (February 15, 2026, 14:22, Gaudium Press) When our Lord Jesus Christ spoke the word trust, “a profound and wonderful transformation took place in people’s hearts,” says a wise writer. “The dryness of their souls was moistened by heavenly dew. The darkness of their spirits was transformed into light, and anguish was replaced by calm serenity.” The same invitation once made by our Lord is repeated to us today. Trust! How necessary this virtue is in today’s world!
How wrong are those souls who, feeling their shortcomings and miseries, do not dare to approach the Divine Savior. They fear that such a pure and exalted God would not incline toward them, or would not forgive their faults. God is mercy, and since we sincerely desire to convert, He will have pity on our misery and deign to save us and place us close to His Sacred Heart. Moreover, so that we might experience His goodness in more eloquent human terms, He created maternal love.
From the top of the Cross, as He gave up His soul to the Father, He gave us His own Mother to be ours as well: “Woman, behold your son. (…) Son, behold your Mother” (Jn 19:26-27). As the Church has explained since its earliest centuries, all humanity was represented in St. John. That indescribable gift of also being children of the Mother of Heaven likewise facilitates our practice of the virtue of trust.
History of Our Lady of Trust
These reflections bring to mind a beautiful painting of Our Lady of Trust venerated in the Eternal City, in the chapel of the Pontifical Roman Seminary, next to the famous Basilica of St. John Lateran.
Devotion to Our Lady of Trust originated in Italy almost three centuries ago. It is associated with Blessed Clara Isabel Fornari, a Poor Clare who passed away in 1744 and whose canonization process is currently underway. As Abbess of the monastery in the city of Todi, Sister Clara was privileged by God with mystical graces. One of which was that of receiving the stigmata of the Passion on her limbs. Nurturing a very special devotion to the Mother of God, she always carried with her a miraculous painting depicting her with the Child Jesus in her arms. Numerous graces and cures were attributed to this painting, and as early as the 18th century, copies began to circulate in Italy, giving rise to devotion to the Blessed Virgin under the title “Mother of Trust.”
One of the copies ended up becoming more famous than the original itself. It was taken to the Major Seminary in Rome—the most important in the world, as it is the Pope’s seminary—where it became the patroness. Every year, it is venerated by the Pontiff himself, who visits it on the feast of the “Virgin of Trust” on February 24, although it is also popularly celebrated on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday.
From the beginning, the Virgin showed the seminarians that if they turned to her under the invocation of Our Lady of Trust, they could count on her help in all circumstances, no matter how difficult. In this regard, among the most notable prodigious events are the two occasions (1837 and 1867) when a cholera epidemic struck the Eternal City, and the Roman Seminary was miraculously spared by the powerful intercession of its Patroness. Additionally, during World War I, approximately one hundred seminarians were sent to the front lines and placed under the special protection of the “Madonna.” All returned alive, which they attributed to the Blessed Virgin. In gratitude, they enthroned the venerable painting in a new marble and silver chapel.
When it was placed there, it was accompanied by an ancient parchment, which is still preserved, bearing these consoling words of Sister Clara Isabel: “The divine Lady deigned to grant me that every soul who confidently presents itself before this painting will experience true contrition for its sins, with true sorrow and repentance, and will obtain from her Most Divine Son the general forgiveness of all its sins. Furthermore, my divine Lady, with the love of a true Mother, condescended to assure me that she will grant a special tenderness and devotion to her to every soul who contemplates this image.”
Devotion to Our Lady of Trust is particularly beneficial when praying the ejaculatory prayer “My Mother, my trust!” Many are those who are strengthened in trust, or regain it, simply by contemplating this beautiful painting, feeling overwhelmed by the maternal, serene, loving, and encouraging gaze of the Queen of Heaven.
And the Divine Child, also observing the faithful, points his index finger at the Blessed Virgin, as if to say: “Place yourself under her protection, turn to her, be entirely hers, and you will reach me.”
The post The Story of Our Lady of Trust, Never Despair – Today We Celebrate appeared first on Gaudium Press Español.
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