Our Lady of Confidence

Devotions

A title expressing trust in Mary’s intercession, most notably attached to a historic Roman image venerated since the eighteenth century as Refuge of Sinners.

Our Lady of Confidence is a Marian title inviting Catholics to approach Mary with childlike trust. Its best-documented expression is an eighteenth-century Roman painting, long venerated by seminarians at Rome’s diocesan seminary and canonically crowned in 1838, though the title has also been applied independently to other images and local devotions.

Quick Facts

  • Category: Marian Titles — Doctrinal and Devotional Titles
  • Origin: A title of trust in Mary’s intercession, tied most notably to an eighteenth-century painting venerated in Rome
  • Feast: Varies by title and local calendar; the Roman devotion is kept the last Saturday before Lent
  • Church status: a Catholic Marian devotional title, expressed through particular local images rather than one universal observance
  • Private revelation: not dependent on private revelation; the title rests on an approved image and centuries of devotional practice, not a reported apparition

What Is This Devotion?

Devotion to Our Lady of Confidence asks Mary’s help with the specific virtue of confidence — the childlike trust Scripture and Catholic spirituality commend, approaching God and, through Mary’s intercession, relying on his mercy rather than one’s own merits. The best-documented expression of this title is a particular painting: an image of Mary and the Christ Child, in which the child points toward his mother, long venerated in Rome under the further title Refuge of Sinners.

Origin and History

The image itself was painted by the seventeenth-century Italian artist Carlo Maratta and given to Chiara Isabella Fornari, later abbess of a Poor Clares convent in Todi, where it was venerated as Refuge of Sinners. A copy was placed in the chapel of the Jesuits’ Collegio Romano in Rome; after the Jesuits’ suppression in 1773, the building became a diocesan seminary, and the image remained there as the seminary’s own particular devotion. In 1837, during an epidemic in Rome, seminarians credited the image’s intercession with their protection, and the following year, on October 14, 1838, Pope Gregory XVI granted it a canonical coronation. The seminary community moved to the Basilica of St. John Lateran in 1913, carrying the devotion with it, and it remains a particular devotion of Rome’s seminarians to this day, with recent popes joining an annual veneration of the image.

As with several other titles on this site, Our Lady of Confidence is also used independently for other images and local devotions in various countries, each with its own separate history; the Roman seminary devotion described here is the most historically documented expression of the title, not the only one.

Catholic Theology

The virtue this title names — confidence, or trust — is central to Catholic spirituality more broadly: Scripture repeatedly calls believers to childlike trust in God’s mercy rather than self-reliance, and Mary is presented as the model of exactly this disposition, having entrusted herself entirely to God’s word at the Annunciation. Approaching Mary under this title is therefore an appeal to imitate her trust as much as to receive her intercession, asking not only for help, but for the confidence to receive it.

How to Practice It

  • Pray before an image of Our Lady of Confidence, asking for the grace of greater trust in God’s mercy.
  • Learn the history of the Roman seminary devotion, if drawn to its particular tradition.
  • Practice acts of confidence in daily life — bringing a specific worry or fear to Mary rather than carrying it alone.
  • Check the local history of any image bearing this title near you, since, as with Our Lady of Grace, the name has been applied independently in different places.

Associated Prayers

When It’s Observed

There is no fixed date for this title on the General Roman Calendar; the Roman seminary devotion is traditionally kept on the last Saturday before Lent begins, a locally particular observance rather than a universal one, and other local devotions under this title keep their own separate dates.

Church Status

The best-documented expression of this title is a genuine, canonically crowned Catholic devotional image with a clear institutional history spanning nearly three centuries. Like Our Lady of Grace, the title itself is also used independently elsewhere, so the specific history and standing of any given local image should be checked with its own community rather than assumed from another.

Common Misconceptions

“Our Lady of Confidence names one single devotion with one continuous history.”

The most documented case is the Roman seminary image described here, but the title has also been used independently for other local images and devotions, similar to how Our Lady of Grace names more than one distinct tradition. The shared name reflects a shared theme — trust in Mary’s intercession — not necessarily a shared origin.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the image of Our Lady of Confidence actually look like?

In its best-documented Roman form, it shows Mary holding the Christ Child, who points toward her — a gesture read devotionally as directing the viewer’s trust toward his mother’s intercession, consistent with the title Refuge of Sinners under which it was first venerated.

Why is this devotion connected especially to seminarians?

Because its documented history is centered on Rome’s diocesan seminary, where the image has been venerated since the eighteenth century and remains a particular devotion of men preparing for the priesthood there to this day.

Is this the same as other Marian titles about trust or refuge?

No. Catholic devotion has produced several related titles expressing trust, refuge or joy in Mary’s intercession, each with its own separate history; this page concerns specifically the title Our Lady of Confidence and its best-documented Roman devotion, not every similarly worded title.

Sources

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