Mary
Mediatrix of all Graces
Nossa
Senhora Medianeira
Birhen
ng Mediatrix ng lahat ng Grasya
NOTRE-DAME MÉDIATRICE de TOUTES GRÂCES
Que la très Sainte Vierge Marie soit la Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, ce n'est pas une doctrine nouvelle, et l'Office et la Messe approuvée par le pape Pie XI ne sont que la confirmation officielle d'une vérité qui découle de la Maternité divine de Marie et de tout le plan de Dieu dans l'ordre de notre salut. Cette fête était de plus en plus dans les voeux des serviteurs les plus fervents et les plus éclairés de la très Sainte Vierge; elle dérive de toute la doctrine de l'Église, de l'enseignement des Docteurs et des Saints; il suffit de nommer, parmi d'autres, saint Éphrem, saint Bernard, saint Bernardin, saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, dont le Traité de la vraie dévotion à la Sainte Vierge est, en quelque sorte, l'illustration magnifique de cette Médiation universelle de la Mère de Dieu.
Le titre par excellence
de Marie, Sa gloire suprême, le principe de toutes Ses grandeurs et de toutes Ses
vertus, c'est Sa Maternité divine. Si la tradition de l'Église L'appelle la
Trésorière du Royaume des Cieux, la Toute-puissance suppliante, la
Dispensatrice de la grâce, la Corédemptrice, la Reine du Ciel et de la terre,
etc., c'est en raison de Sa divine Maternité. Mais le titre qui semble le mieux
résumer tous les autres et le plus heureusement exprimer la mission de la
glorieuse Mère de Dieu, c'est celui de Médiatrice de toutes les grâces,
Médiatrice d'intercession, et de plus, Médiatrice de dispensation et de
distribution de toutes les grâces. C'est bien à cette doctrine que reviennent
ces paroles des plus grands docteurs et serviteurs de Marie: "Tout ce qui
convient à Dieu par nature convient à Marie par grâce... Telle a été la Volonté
de Dieu, qu'Il a voulu que nous recevions tout par Marie... Tous les dons,
vertus, grâces du Saint-Esprit Lui-même, sont administrés par les mains de
Marie, à qui Elle veut, quand Elle veut, autant qu'Elle veut..." Toute la
Liturgie mariale suppose ou exprime la doctrine de Marie Médiatrice universelle
de toutes les grâces.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/notre-dame_mediatrice_de_toutes_graces.html
Médiatrice de toutes
grâces, par décret du Ciel
Saint Alphonse de Liguori résume la tradition qui l'a précédé, en soulignant
les images fortes :
Marie est comme un aqueduc que le démon voudrait couper
Le démon le sait bien ; aussi, de même que, pour réduire la ville de Béthulie,
Holopherne en fit couper les aqueducs, cet esprit malin s'attache de tout son
pouvoir à détruire dans les âmes la dévotion envers la Mère de Dieu ; car, ce
canal salutaire une fois fermé, il lui devient facile de les subjuguer. [...]
Marie est la porte du ciel
Toute lettre de grâce émanée du roi passe par la porte de son palais ; ainsi,
remarque saint Bernard, nulle grâce ne descend du ciel sur la terre, sans
passer par les mains de Marie. Et, rendant raison de la même appellation, saint
Bonaventure ajoute que nul ne peut entrer dans le ciel, sans passer par cette
bienheureuse Porte qui est Marie.[...]
Elle entoure Jésus et tout ce qui vient de lui passe par lui
Un auteur interprète dans le sens de notre thèse, le passage où Jérémie prédit,
à propos de l'Incarnation du Verbe dans le sein de Marie, qu'une Femme
environnera l'Homme-Dieu : "De même, dit-il, qu'une ligne tirée du centre
d'un cercle ne peut en sortir sans passer par la circonférence, ainsi aucune
grâce ne peut nous venir de Jésus-Christ, centre de tout bien, sans passer par
Marie, qui, en recevant le Fils de Dieu dans son sein, l'a réellement environné
de toute part". [...]
Non seulement Jésus est né de Marie, mais aussi toutes grâces passent par elle
On le voit clairement : en affirmant que toutes les grâces nous viennent par
l'entremise de Marie, tous ces saints, tous ces pieux auteurs n'ont pas voulu
attacher à leurs paroles ce sens restreint, à savoir : que de Marie nous avons
reçu Jésus-Christ, la source de tout bien.
Ils nous déclarent en termes formels, qu'à partir de la naissance de
Jésus-Christ, et cela en vertu d'un décret divin, toutes les grâces provenant
de ses mérites furent distribuées aux hommes, le sont actuellement, et le
seront jusqu'à la fin du monde, par les mains et moyennant l'intercession de
Marie.
Saint Alphonse de Liguori (+ 1787), Les gloires de Marie
SOURCE : http://www.mariedenazareth.com/14326.0.html?&L=0
« Toute grâce arrive de DIEU au Christ, du Christ à la Vierge et de la Vierge à nous. »
Saint Bernardin de Sienne.
« DIEU a choisi Marie comme mère de son Fils afin qu'Elle puisse tout obtenir, et comme Mère des hommes afin qu'Elle puisse tout accorder. »
Bossuet.
« DIEU a choisi Marie pour la Trésorière, l'économe, la dispensatrice de toutes
ses grâces qui,toutes, passent par ses mains. – Elle les donne à qui Elle veut,
comme Elle veut, quand Elle veut et autant qu'Elle veut. »
Saint Grignion de Montfort.
« On peut affirmer que, sans Marie, absolument rien ne peut nous être distribué
de cet immense trésor de toute grâce accumulé par Notre-Seigneur. »
Ency.(Léon XIII. 1891).
« S'abstenir de recourir à Elle dans le besoin, ce serait voler sans ailes. »
Léon XIII.
« Aucun discours n'opère autant de profit et de componction que le sermon sur
la Miséricorde de Marie.
Saint Alphonse (Gloires de Marie).
« À la confiance en son intercession est attaché le Salut de tous. »
Saint Alphonse.
« Nul, ô Vierge très Sainte, n'est rempli de la connaissance de Dieu, que par
Vous ; nul n'est sauvé que par Vous ; nul n'obtient un don de la miséricorde de
DIEU que par Vous. »
Saint Germain de Constantinople, (orat. 2 in Dormition B. M. V.)
« Viens auprès de Marie avec moi, de peur d'être [b]sans Elle à jamais perdu »
Saint Ildefonse.
« Ô Marie, il vous est possible de rendre l'espérance du Salut, même aux âmes
les plus désespérées. »
Saint Jean Damascine.
« Le cœur de Marie est un palais où se tiennent les assises de la Miséricorde.
»
Sainte Sophie Barat.
« Telle est ma confiance, et elle va jusque-là que, si mon Salut éternel était
entre mes mains, je le remettrais dans les vôtres, parce que je me fie plus en
votre Miséricorde et en votre protection qu'en toutes mes œuvres. »
Saint Alphonse de Liguori.
« Pécheur, quel que tu sois, fusses-tu tout couvert de la fange de tes fautes,
eusses-tu vieilli dans l'iniquité, garde-toi de te livrer au désespoir ; va
donc à Marie et tu seras sauvé. »
Saint Bernard (cité par Saint Alphonse « Les gloires de Marie »).
« Si la vue de nos péchés nous épouvante et décourage, souvenons-nous que Marie
a été établie Reine de Miséricorde pour sauver par sa protection les pécheurs
les plus coupables et les plus désespérés, pourvu qu'ils se recommandent à
Elle. »
Saint Alphonse (« Les gloires de Marie »).
« Le secours que nous implorons de Marie par nos prières a son fondement dans
l'office de Médiatrice de la grâce divine qu'elle remplit constamment auprès de
DIEU... Or cet office ne rencontre peut-être son expression dans aucune prière
aussi bien que dans le Rosaire... »
Léon XIII - 1894.
« Pour l'extension du règne du Christ c'est de la puissance du Rosaire que nous
attendons les services les plus féconds en résultats. »
Léon XIII (encyclique Adjutricem populi).
« J'ai trouvé le peuple rebelle à l'Évangile, toutes les fois que, à côté de la
Croix du Sauveur, j'ai omis de montrer l'image de sa Mère. »
Saint François Xavier.
« Je suis toute miséricordieuse et maîtresse de mon Fils... Son cœur a tant
d'amour pour le mien qu'il ne peut refuser vos demandes... Par moi il touchera
les cœurs les plus endurcis... Je suis venue particulièrement pour la
conversion des pécheurs. »
Marie, Médiatrice de
toute Grâce
Rédigé par l'équipe
Theotokos
En communion avec nos
membres belges, fêtons ce 31 août Marie Médiatrice de toute Grâce
De toute éternité, Dieu a
prédestiné la Vierge-Marie à la Maternité divine et donc à la plénitude de
grâce, afin qu'elle fût parfaitement digne de sa mission de Mère de
Dieu-Homme, notre Sauveur.
La médiation du Christ
Au titre de Mère, la
Sainte-Vierge est la plus parfaite associée de son divin Fils.
Or le Christ est l'unique
et parfait Médiateur entre Dieu et les hommes. Par cette médiation :
Il mérite à la race
humaine tout entière la grâce de la réconciliation avec Dieu, par la
Rédemption ;
Il applique ce bienfait à
chaque personne humaine, par la distribution de la grâce.
La Sainte-Vierge est donc
l'intime associée de Notre-Seigneur dans son office de Médiateur universel
(Rédemption, distribution des grâces). Elle est donc appelée à bon droit "Médiatrice
de toutes les grâces".
Co-rédemptrice
La Vierge Immaculée est
Médiatrice de toutes grâces, en vertu de sa Co-Rédemption. En effet, par
son union étroite et continuelle avec le dessein et l'oeuvre de rachat
universel réalisée par le Rédempteur, Marie s'est voulue librement et
consciemment son associée et sa coopératrice.
1) Lors de l'Annonciation
Apprenant de l'Archange
Gabriel qu'elle était appelée à devenir la Mère du Messie-Sauveur,
la Vierge savait qu'en y consentant elle serait inséparablement associée
au sacrifice rédempteur par lequel le Messie opérerait l'universel Salut.
2) L'Immaculée est Mère
de Dieu bien plus encore "par son âme que par son corps" (St
Augustin)
La Vierge coopère avec le
Christ à notre rédemption plus encore par son union spirituelle avec Lui
que par sa seule maternité selon la chair. Les pensées et les vouloirs de
Marie sont en parfait accord la volonté et la sagesse de son divin
Fils. Ainsi, comme Jésus et avec Lui, la Vierge voulait que s'accomplît
l'Oeuvre par excellence de Jésus-Christ : notre rachat. Et donc, elle
n'avait d'autre but ni d'autre volonté que de Lui être indissolublement
unie en tout ce qu'il accomplirait et souffrirait pour notre rédemption.
3) Comme elle l'avait
réalisé tout au long de la vie de son Fils, la Vierge s'identifia à Lui
-aussi loin que le lui permit sa nature humaine- dans ce couronnement de
l'Oeuvre rédemptrice que furent la Passion et la Mort de Jésus.
Invisible aux heures qui
entendirent résonner les "Hosanna au Fils de David", l'Immaculée,
en revanche, se voulut présente au Calvaire, droite au pied de la Croix.
Son âme, son coeur, toutes ses puissances sensibles et spirituelles
vécurent intensément, en vertu d'une communion de très parfait amour,
toutes les douleurs du Corps et de l'Âme endurées par son Fils très-aimé.
L'Immaculée voulait cette
participation vive et effective à la Passion, à la Mort même de Jésus ;
elle voulait ce glaive implacable qui transperçait de part en part son
âme immaculée et son coeur maternel. Elle offrit tout cela en le
fondant dans l'immense, dans l'infinie douleur et agonie de son divin
Fils. Elle voulut faire sienne toute sa souffrance à Lui, pour notre rédemption
à nous.
Ainsi la Vierge
Co-rédemptrice a-t-elle contribué, à la suite du Rédempteur, et avec
Lui, à mériter toutes les grâces destinées à toute l'humanité.
Notre Mère
La Vierge-Marie est aussi
la "Médiatrice de toutes les grâces" dans l'application de chaque
grâce à chaque homme en particulier.
Cela s'opère par mode
d'intercession céleste Dans la gloire, où elle vit depuis son Assomption,
l'Immaculée contemple sans cesse la Très-Sainte Trinité et participe ainsi,
d'une façon très éminente -quoique non infinie puisqu'elle est une
créature- à la connaissance divine.
En Lui, elle voit les
personnes humaines avec leurs besoins et leurs prières, et elle
discerne aussi la volonté du Seigneur de les exaucer par son intercession
C'est en Dieu que Marie voit tout cela, et sa béatitude n'en est ainsi ni
interrompue ni gênée. Bien au contraire, son intercession fait partie
intégrante de sa béatifiante gloire. Elle éprouve un immense bonheur à vouloir
ce que Dieu veut, à aimer ce que Dieu aime, et donc à intercéder pour tous
ceux à qui Dieu veut faire le don de ses grâces. Sa contemplation se fait
alors amoureusement suppliante et, à ce regard, le Seigneur répond par un
tendre regard d'exaucement.
"Toute" grâce :
sans exception
Voilà donc comment
l'Immaculée entend nos prières, toutes et chacune, et les présente
très éloquemment à la Très-Sainte-Trinité. La Sainte-Vierge est ainsi
Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, sans exception : grâces actuelles et
grâces sacramentelles, grâces à elle demandées, mais aussi grâces sollicitées
du Seigneur sans avoir eu recours à la maternelle intervention ; grâces
implorées ou bien grâces octroyées sans demande, en vertu de la seule
bonté divine. C'est sans exception que Marie est Médiatrice de toutes les
grâces.
Par tout ce qui précède,
nous comprenons mieux combien la Vierge-Immaculée fait partie intégrante
de ce que saint Paul nomme "le Mysterium Christi", le
Mystère du Christ. La "vraie dévotion à Marie" n'est
donc pas un élément contingent de la spiritualité catholique, pas plus que
la Mariologie n'est une annexe de la doctrine sacrée.
Confions-nous à Elle
La Mère de Dieu est
située au coeur de toute l'économie du Salut. La connaissance de
sa médiation universelle nous enseigne que rien ne se fait sans elle dans
l'ordre de la grâce. "Nul ne vient à Moi si mon Père ne
l'attire" nous dit le Seigneur-Jésus. Aller à Jésus ne
se réalise pas sans le secours de Dieu qu'est la grâce. Or il n'est aucune
grâce qui ne nous vienne sans la médiation de la Sainte-Vierge. Ainsi, se
vérifie donc la justesse de cette assertion "Ad Jesum per
Mariam".
Mais cette vérité n'est
que la douce et belle conséquence de ce décret divin ayant
disposé éternellement que le Seigneur Jésus viendrait à nous par sa Sainte
Mère et continuerait de nous communiquer sa grâce par la Médiation de
cette Femme Immaculée, qu'en toute rigueur de termes II fait nôtre à
jamais au Calvaire : "Voici votre Mère".
OPUS MARIAE
Pour aller plus loin
Abrégé des vertus de la Vierge Marie
SOURCE : https://www.theotokos.fr/guide-rencontre-chretienne/prier/marie-mediatrice-de-toute-grace.html
Bienheureuse Vierge
Marie,
Médiatrice de Toutes
Grâces
8 Mai, Mémoire
Avec
un cœur ouvert » 8 mai 2025
Élevée au ciel, elle n’a
pas déposé cette fonction salvifique, mais elle continue, par son instante
intercession, à nous obtenir des grâces. Dans sa charité maternelle, elle
s’occupe jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient parvenus à la félicité de la patrie, des
frères de son Fils qui sont encore des pèlerins et qui sont en butte aux
dangers et aux épreuves. Aussi la bienheureuse Vierge est invoquée dans
l’Église sous les titres d’avocate, d’auxiliatrice, d’aide et de médiatrice.
Dans cette mémoire, la
dévotion du Père Dehon à Marie Très Sainte, telle qu’elle est exprimée dans le
Directoire Spirituel, se poursuit : « Par sa vie de victime, ses sacrifices,
ses douleurs, elle est devenue réparatrice et médiatrice entre Dieu et les
hommes. Au milieu de ses souffrances indicibles, elle a adopté comme ses
enfants toutes les âmes rachetées par la mort de son Fils, et ainsi elle a
acquis un droit à leur amour, à leur reconnaissance, à leur fidélité, à leur
attachement. Elle voudrait les remplir toutes de cet amour dont son très saint
Cœur était embrasé. Elle voudrait les conduire toutes au Cœur de son Fils, le
roi, l’amant et l’époux des cœurs purs… Elle cherche des cœurs compatissants,
des cœurs qui consolent Notre-Seigneur par leur amour et leur fidélité. » (DSP
1919, 88)
télécharger : Bienheureuse
Vierge Marie, Médiatrice (PDF)
SOURCE : https://www.dehoniani.org/fr/bienheureuse-vierge-marie-mediatrice-de-toutes-graces/
Marie Médiatrice
31 août
2024 P.
Jean-Daniel Planchot
Le 31 août, c’est la fête
de Marie Médiatrice de toutes grâces, que nous célébrons aujourd’hui.
Prière à Marie Médiatrice
Marie médiatrice de
toutes grâces – Béatitudes
Refuge Maternel, Ô
Reine de l’Univers et Médiatrice entre les hommes et Dieu, Mère d’Amour, de
Douleur et de Miséricorde, Consolation et Refuge de tous nos espoirs, qui, bien
qu’ayant le cœur brisé par tant de mépris et d’outrages, daignez encore nous
être propice.
Obtenez pour nous, filles
et fils indignes et ingrats, nous vous en prions, avec une grande foi et une
filiale confiance, la Grâce d’être délivrés du péché qui tue les âmes et
conduit le monde à la ruine.
Ô clémente et
miséricordieuse Mère, nous reconnaissons avoir couronné d’épines votre Divin
Fils, Jésus, notre Rédempteur, et avoir déchiré par d’innombrables blessures
votre tendre cœur. De ce fait, nous méritions l’épreuve de la Justice
Divine ; mais, maintenant repentants, nous invoquons votre protection et votre
aide en nous réfugiant dans votre cœur maternel, si bon abri dans le tourbillon
qui ravage le monde.
A la prière pour notre
salut, acceptez d’ajouter notre fervente supplique de réparation pour les
nombreuses offenses que commettent à toutes les heures du jour et de la nuit
tant de filles et de fils ingrats afin que, éclairé(e)s et attiré(e)s par votre
maternel amour, ils (elles) puissent trouver, eux (elles) aussi, refuge et
salut.
Ô Marie, Reine du
Ciel et de la Terre, Mère de Dieu, notre Mère et notre Médiatrice, vous qui
êtes toute-puissante auprès de Dieu et qui voulez notre salut, en cette heure
triste et sombre qui submerge notre humanité tourmentée, parmi les forces
croissantes et menaçantes du mal, faites descendre, nous vous en prions avec
toute notre foi, la lumière de votre amour maternel sur le monde entier, et en
particulier, dans les cœurs infidèles et endurcis par le péché, afin que tous
unis comme en un seul cœur dans la foi et dans l’amour du Divin Cœur de Jésus,
nous puissions chanter sur toute la terre le triomphe de votre Miséricorde
maternelle. Ainsi soit-il.
« Reine de
l’Univers, Médiatrice des hommes, refuge de tous nos espoirs, faites-nous
miséricorde ! »
Pour notre méditation, le
sermon des 12 étoiles de Saint Bernard et dans Lumen
Gentium ce qui suit page 2 :
SOURCE : https://www.medaille-miraculeuse.fr/priere/marie-mediatrice.html
Marie Médiatrice
31 août
2024 P.
Jean-Daniel Planchot
Marie, Mère de la grâce
« À partir du
consentement qu’elle apporta par sa foi au jour de l’Annonciation et qu’elle
maintint sous la croix dans sa fermeté, cette maternité de Marie dans
l’économie de la grâce se continue sans interruption jusqu’à la consommation
définitive de tous les élus.
En effet, après
l’Assomption au ciel, son rôle dans le salut ne s’interrompt pas : par son
intercession multiple, elle continue à nous obtenir les dons qui assurent notre
salut éternel. Son amour maternel la rend attentive aux frères de son Fils dont
le pèlerinage n’est pas achevé, et qui se trouvent engagés dans les périls et
les épreuves, jusqu’à ce qu’ils parviennent à la patrie bienheureuse.
C’est pourquoi la
bienheureuse Vierge est invoquée dans l’Église sous les titres d’avocate,
auxiliatrice, secourable, médiatrice, tout cela cependant entendu de telle
sorte que nulle dérogation, nulle addition n’en résulte quant à la dignité et à
l’efficacité de l’unique Médiateur, le Christ.
Aucune créature en effet
ne peut jamais être mise sur le même pied que le Verbe incarné et rédempteur.
Mais tout comme le sacerdoce du Christ est participé sous des formes diverses,
tant par les ministres que par le peuple fidèle, et tout comme l’unique bonté
de Dieu se répand réellement sous des formes diverses dans les créatures, ainsi
l’unique médiation du Rédempteur n’exclut pas, mais suscite au contraire une
coopération variée de la part des créatures, en dépendance de l’unique source.
Ce rôle subordonné de
Marie, l’Église le professe sans hésitation ; elle ne cesse d’en faire
l’expérience ; elle le recommande au cœur des fidèles pour que cet appui et ce
secours maternels les aident à s’attacher plus intimement au Médiateur et
Sauveur. »
CONSTITUTION DOGMATIQUE
SUR L’ÉGLISE« LUMEN GENTIUM », chapitre 62 « Marie, Mère de la
grâce ».
SOURCE : https://www.medaille-miraculeuse.fr/priere/marie-mediatrice.html/2
Statue
de Notre-Dame de Lipa dans le sanctuaire de Lipa, Philippines. Photographie de Ramon FVelasquez
Chapelle
du couvent des carmélites de Lipa, près du lieu des apparitions. Photographie
de Ramon FVelasquez
Le
jardin du Carmel de Lupa, lieu des apparitions. Photographie de Ramon FVelasquez
Lipa et Marie médiatrice
de toutes grâces
Le sanctuaire de Lipa a pour origine une manifestation de la Vierge Marie en
1948, accompagnée par une pluie de pétale de roses.
La manifestation de Marie et la pluie de pétales de roses (1)
Le 12 septembre 1948, vers dix-sept heures, Teresita Castillo, novice au carmel
de Lipa, se promène dans le jardin de son couvent. Soudain, elle aperçoit un
arbuste dont les feuilles remuent puis elle entend une voix douce : « N’aie pas
peur, ma fille. Embrasse le sol. Ce que je vais te dire, tu devras le faire
pendant quinze jours consécutifs. Tu viendras me rendre visite ici. Mange un
peu d’herbe. »
Le lundi 13 septembre 1948, à dix-sept heures, Teresita revient sur les lieux.
Elle s’agenouille et récite un Ave Maria. Elle voit remuer les feuilles de
l’arbuste. Soudain, elle voit une « belle dame », souriante, les mains jointes,
portant un chapelet doré dans la main droite, une robe blanche, une ceinture
étroite ; ses pieds nus sont posés sur un petit nuage à 50 cm du sol. « Sois
fidèle et viens ici, qu’il pleuve ou que le soleil brille, entend Teresita. –
Qui êtes-vous, belle dame ? – Je suis ta Mère, ma petite. »
Le 14 septembre 1948, la Vierge l’attend au même endroit, les bras ouverts. «
Je désire que ce lieu soit béni demain. – A quelle heure ? – A l’heure à laquelle
ta mère supérieure décidera. N’oublie pas les événements des prochains jours. »
La Vierge bénit la religieuse puis disparaît.
Le lendemain, vers quinze heures, l’évêque auxiliaire de Lipa et l’aumônier du
carmel bénissent les lieux. Teresita voit la Vierge les bras ouverts. «
Embrasse la terre et mange un peu d’herbe. Prends un papier et un crayon, et
écris ce que je vais te dire, dit l’apparition. Mes filles, je vous demande de
croire en moi, et de garder ce message comme un secret entre vous. Aimez-vous
les unes les autres comme de vraies sœurs. Venez souvent me rendre visite.
Faites de ce lieu un endroit sacré et respecté. Cueillez les pétales. Je vous
bénis toutes. » Après cette apparition, une pluie de pétales de roses est
constatée par toutes les personnes présentes. […]
Le 16 septembre 1948, Teresita a une nouvelle apparition. La Vierge lui précise
l’endroit exact où Elle désire qu’on place sa statue et lui demande de préciser
à l’aumônier que cette statue sera ressemblante à celle de Notre-Dame de
Lourdes. Elle demande aussi de dire à la mère supérieure de réciter le chapelet
sur le lieu des apparitions les jours suivants. La Vierge bénit Teresita et
disparaît.
Teresita voit encore la Vierge dans les jours suivants, qui lui conseille
l’humilité et l’obéissance. Elle recommande à la communauté de pratiquer la
simplicité et l’humilité car ce sont les vertus qu’Elle préfère. La Vierge
demande que chaque sœur soit consacrée à Elle selon saint Louis-Marie Grignion
de Montfort. Le dimanche 26 septembre 1948, la Vierge répète ces conseils à la
voyante. « Dis aux sœurs de s’aimer les unes les autres, lui dit-Elle. Je ne
vous demande de faire de grandes choses comme vous souhaiteriez, car vous êtes
mes petites filles. N’oubliez pas de vous consacrer à moi le 7 octobre. Soyez
sages. Je suis Marie, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces. »
Le 3 octobre suivant, une « pluie de pétales » se produit.
Le vendredi 12 novembre 1948, Teresita voit la Vierge après la messe. « Les
gens ne croient pas à mes paroles. Priez beaucoup, mes filles, à cause des
persécutions. Priez pour les prêtres. Ce que je demande ici, c’est la même
chose que j’ai demandée à Fatima. Faites pénitence pour ceux qui ne croient
pas. C’est ma dernière apparition en ce lieu. »
Des guérisons sont évoquées.
Le 6 décembre 1948, un rapport officiel a été transmis à Mgr A. Verzosa, évêque
de Lipa. Le prélat a béni le lieu des apparitions, a nommé une commission
d’enquête et a déclaré que la Vierge était la source de la « pluie de pétales
».
Le sanctuaire actuel, et sa mission (2)
La mission de ce sanctuaire est :
• De propager la dévotion droite envers Marie médiatrice de toutes grâces et
d’unir les croyants qui partagent la dévotion à Marie sous ce titre.
• De répandre la doctrine concernant l’unique médiation du Christ et l’union de
Marie avec le Christ dans le travail du salut.
• De répandre la conscience que nous tous, l’Eglise unie en Marie, nous
partageons avec elle le travail de médiation dans le Christ.
Il y a actuellement un projet de construction d’un sanctuaire spacieux.
Le pèlerinage a lieu du 9-12 septembre, on dit alors que Lipa devient la
capitale de la prière aux Philippines.
(1) J. Keithley, Lipa. With the Original Account of the Events at Lipa
Carmel in 1948 by Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus ocd, Manille, Center of
Peace, 1992 ;
Patrick SBALCHIERO article « Lipa », dans : René LAURENTIN et Patrick
SBALCHIERO, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge.
Inventaire des origines à nos jours. Méthodologie, prosopopée, approche
interdisciplinaire, Fayard, Paris 2007.
(2) Site officiel du sanctuaire : http://www.marymediatrixofallgrace.com/
Synthèse F. Breynaert
SOURCE : http://www.mariedenazareth.com/10318.0.html?&L=0
“Je suis Marie,
médiatrice de toutes grâces”
Religion en
Libertad - publié le 28/09/15
Le 12 septembre 2015,
l’Eglise a reconnu officiellement les apparitions de la Vierge Marie à Lipa
(Philippines), datant de 1948
Il s’agit de la 17e
apparition mariale reconnue dans l’Église catholique, et la première aux
Philippines.
Après soixante-huit ans
de discernement des faits et des fruits, l’évêque du lieu a donc
officiellement reconnu les apparitions de la Vierge Marie à Lipa,
sur l’île de Luzon, aux Philippines, remontant à 1948. A la tête, depuis 1993,
d’un diocèse de 2,5 millions de catholiques, Mgr Ramón Cabrera Argüelles, dans
un long décret de 4 pages rédigé en anglais, déclare ” que les « événements
et apparitions de 1948, aussi connus comme le phénomène marial de Lipa, et
leurs conséquences, même dans les temps récents présentent réellement un
caractère surnaturel” et sont “dignes de foi“. Il « encourage
la dévotion à la Très Sainte Vierge Marie sous son titre très approprié de
Médiatrice de toutes grâces ».
Les apparitions à une
novice carmélite en 1948
Du 12 septembre au
12 novembre 1948, la Vierge est apparue à une dizaine de reprises à
Teresita Castillo, une novice carmélite de 21 ans, en se présentant sous
le vocable de « Marie Médiatrice de toutes grâces ». Dès lors, la dévotion
populaire s’est développée aux Philippines, le pays d’Asie ayant le pourcentage
le plus élevé de catholiques au monde.
Le vocable de “Médiatrice
de Toutes Grâces” est source de débat théologique, et l’archevêque le
justifie en invoquant le fait que d’anciens Pères de l’Église l’avaient
enseigné, que le cardinal Mercier, archevêque de Malines-Bruxelles, l’avait
soumis à approbation comme dogme de foi, et qu’en 1942, la Chine avait déjà été
consacrée comme Marie Médiatrice de toutes grâces.
Pour l’archevêque, les
souffrances et humiliations que la voyante a vécues confèrent une crédibilité
solide à ses visions et ses déclarations. Ce n’est qu’à sa mort qu’ont été
reconnues sa soumission sincère à la volonté de Dieu et la sainteté de sa vie
quotidienne. La Vierge avait prévenu la jeune carmélite: ” Tu vas souffrir, on
te tournera en dérision, mais ne crains pas, car ta foi te mènera au Ciel”. D’autres
personnalités ecclésiastiques, tel le premier évêque auxiliaire de Lipa, ont
été en butte aussi à des critiques pour avoir déclaré croire à
l’apparition, mais ont fait preuve de douceur, de patience et
d’obéissance face aux autorités ecclésiastiques.
Un décret antérieur, qui
l’annulait, s’est avéré douteux
Dans son décret, Mgr
Argüelles rappelle que le décret antérieur qui niait le caractère surnaturel
des faits en 1951 était “dès le début” entaché d’une “ombre de
doute”, du fait que les évêques signataires du décret qui étaient contre ont
fini par déclarer, à la fin de leur vie, qu’ils croyaient en la véracité des
apparitions.
Les restrictions à la
promotion de cette dévotion ont été retirées en 1963 par l’Administrateur du
diocèse de Lipa après le décès du précédent évêque du lieu. L’archevêque de
Lipa, Mariano Gaviola, le 16 juillet 1992 avait, en effet, levé les interdictions.
La dévotion populaire à
cette apparition, et à son titre, s’est maintenue et s’est toujours développée.
Et même, en dépit du soi-disant “veto”, d’autres diocèses
philippins se sont placés sous la protection de Marie, médiatrice de toutes
grâces, ainsi que plusieurs paroisses dans d’autres régions du pays.
Les Journées de prière et
de pèlerinage se multiplient
En 2004, Mgr Argüelles a
institué les Journées mariales de prière et de pèlerinage …reprises dans de
nombreux pays, toujours avec les autorisations requises. Aux
Philippines s’est propagé aussi un pèlerinage fluvial, sous ce vocable.
Mgr Argüelles attribue à
la “Très Sainte Vierge Mère sous le titre de “Médiatrice de toutes grâces” le
leadership des “Philippines, pays catholique et marial dans son combat résolu
pour la défense de la vie, le caractère sacré du mariage, l’intégrité de la
famille, et l’importance de l’union naturelle et surnaturelle entre mari
et femme ”. Pour le prélat, l’aide de la Sainte Vierge est “essentielle” dans la
mesure où les Philippines ont une grande importance dans la défense de la
création, “le refus du matérialisme, du sécularisme et de l’athéisme”, et la
promotion d’une “culture de bonté, d’amour et de générosité…”.
Lipa est-elle à la Chine,
ce qu’est Fatima pour la Russie?
“Notre conscience peut
être en paix, car vraiment la Vierge est venue nous visiter en 1948. Le décret
officialise ce que le peuple avait perçu par intuition et instinct” déclare le
mariologue philippin Marwil N. Llasos. Celui-ci indique que, dans une locution
intérieure à la voyante, la Médiatrice lui a dit que le Chine est liée à Lipa.
“Le décret, d’une certaine manière, nous révèle que Fatima est à la Russie ce
que Lipa est à la Chine…”
Selon la presse
philippine, c’est après avoir obtenu l’aval de la Congrégation pour le culte
divin et la discipline des sacrements, que Mgr Ramon Cabrera
Argüelles a procédé à la reconnaissance officielle des apparitions de Lipa.
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/2015/09/28/je-suis-marie-mediatrice-de-toutes-graces
Neuvaine Marie Médiatrice
de toutes Graces
Premier jour
"Et le Verbe s'est
fait chair et il a habité parmi nous."
Ô Vierge Marie, par votre
bienheureuse maternité divine, vous avez donné au monde un Sauveur. Vous futes
intimement unie à l'enfant Divin. Lui et Vous nous invitez ànous approcher de
Vous, pour nous approcher de Lui, Jésus, la lumière dans la grande ténèbre de
ce monde. Lumière que beaucoup d'âmes attendent car "ils" ont peur de
cette nuit, et ne savent plus où aller.... !!
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Deuxième jour
"Marie, à Cana : par
votre délicate et généreuse intervention, vous dites à votre Fils : Ils n'ont
plus de vin." Jn.2,3
Comme à Cana, nous
déposons tout avec confiance dans votre coeur de Mère, Mère du Christ, Mère de
l'Eglise et notre Mère. Nous vous prions, nous vous offrons nos journées, nos
joies, nos peines, nos fatigues, nos souffrances.... pour la gloire de la
Trinité Sainte et le Salut des âmes. Marie, vous avez por mission de veiller
surnous, de prendre soins de tous vos enfants.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Troisième jour
"Femme, voici ton
fils." Puis, il dit au disciple : "Voici ta Mère." jn19,26-27
Marie, vous êtes venue
réconforter votre Fils sur le chemin du calvaire. Vous êtes restée debout au
pied de la Croix. Et là, en ce moment où votre Fils parvenait au sommet de sa
passion, où la souffrance culminait dans le don de sa vie, vous Marie, devenait
notre Mère par les paroles de votre Fils : "Voici ta Mère."
Désormais, tous les âges vous diront bienheureuse. Qui de mieux que vous,
Vierge Marie pouvez nous indiquer le chemin vers votre Fils.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Quatrième jour
Marie, vous êtes toute
puissante sur le "Coeur de Dieu."
Ô Marie, priez pour tous
vos enfants de la terre. Voyez ces coeurs malheureux qui cherchent la lumière.
Votre prière est toujours écoutée avec bienveillance et exaucée, car elle monte
vers le Père avec tant de pureté, d'ardeur et toujours pour le bien de l'âme.
Marie, Médiatrice, toute puissante sur le "Coeur de Dieu," priez pour
nous pauvres pécheurs.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Cinquième jour
Ô Vierge Marie, quand une
âme vous a rencontrée....
Vous, Marie, qui avez
partagé ses peines, ses souffrances, ses difficultés, ses combats, Vous, Marie,
qui avez participé avec Lui le plus intimement à l'oeuvre de la
Rédemption, Vous, Marie, l'espérance des désespérés, Lumière des égarés, refuge
dans tous les dangers, dans toutes les détresses. Vous êtes le chemin qui mène
à Jésus. Vous êtes "la Porte du Ciel." Nous voulons vous faire
connaître et vous faire aimer.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Sixième jour
Marie, Mère de Jésus et
notre Mère, ne nous abandonnez pas.
Ô Vierge Marie, jetez
sans cesse un regard bienveillant sur vos enfants en difficultés. Venez
réchauffer nos coeurs de votre amour. Mettez en nous le calme et la paix. Soyez
notre avocate auprès de notre Père des Cieux. Faite nous ressentir les effets
de votre maternelle protection et de votre intercession auprès du Dieu Tout
Puissant.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Septième jour
Reine de la Paix,
Médiatrice de toutes grâces, obtenez-nous de votre Fils l'infinie miséricorde.
Ô Marie, notre Mère,
pitié pour vos enfants. Vous,si puissante sur le Coeur de Dieu, intercèdez pour
nous, pour le monde en folie, dans lequel l'orgueil, la violence et la haine
sèment la désolation et la ruine. Marie nous levons les yeux vers Vous,
conduisez-nous à Jésus, source de miséricorde. Puisse le pécheur croire en la
Miséricorde de votre Fils. Puiss tous les hommes répondre à son Amour, venir
vers Lui, désirer vivre avec Lui dans son Royaume.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Huitième jour
Marie, Mère de l'Eglise
Marie, aidez-nous à vivre
intimement unis à l'Esprit-Saint, afin d'être comme les apôtres de
courageux témoins du Christ, vivant de sa Parole, de sa Vie, répondant oui aux
décisions du chef de la sainte Eglise, successeur de Pierre, fondée par votre
Fils Jésus, notre Rédempteur. Marie, Médiatricede toutes les grâces, demandez
au Seigneur que grandisse en nous un désir toujours plus ardent d'être tout à
Lui.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre Mère,
Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Neuvième jour
Avec Marie redisant :
"Magnificat"
"Oui, désormais
toutes les générations me diront bienheureuse." Marie, Vierge immaculée,
Dieu vous a choisi entre toutes les femmes. Puissent les hommes mieux
comprendre votre rôle, votre mission, votre pouvoir sur le Coeur du
Tout-Puissant. Pardonnez-nous nos manques de confiance, de respect, d'amour.
Pardonnez notre tiédeur et notre indifférence. Vierge Marie, Médiatrice de
toutes les grâces, nous nous consacrons à Vous, notre Patrie, notre Eglise et
le monde entier.
Ô Vierge Marie, notre
Mère, Médiatrice de toutes les grâces, intercèdez pour nous auprès de votre
Fils et obtenez-nous la grâce demandée....
Mère de Jésus et notre
Mère, Mère de l'Eglise priez pournous.
Notre Père.... x1
Je vous salue.... x3
Gloire au Père.... x1
Prière de la communauté
Que rien ne te trouble
(sainte Thérèse d'Avila)
« Que rien ne te trouble,
que rien ne t’effraie. Tout passe, Dieu ne change pas. La patience obtient
tout. A qui possède Dieu, rien ne manque. Dieu seul suffit. »
SOURCE : https://hozana.org/publication/15909-neuvaine-marie-mediatrice-de-toutes-graces
.jpg)
L’église de Marie-Médiatrice-de-Toutes-les-Grâces, ou église de Marie-Médiatrice ou église Notre-Dame-de-Fatima, 48 bis Boulevard Sérurier, 75019, 19e arrondissement de Paris. Située au carrefour du boulevard Sérurier et de l'avenue de la Porte-du-Pré-Saint-Gervais, elle a été construite entre 1950 et 1954 par l'architecte Henri Vidal.
.jpg)
L’église
de Marie-Médiatrice-de-Toutes-les-Grâces, ou église de Marie-Médiatrice ou église
Notre-Dame-de-Fatima, 48 bis Boulevard Sérurier, 75019, 19e arrondissement de Paris. Située au
carrefour du boulevard Sérurier et de l'avenue de la
Porte-du-Pré-Saint-Gervais, elle a été construite entre 1950 et 1954 par
l'architecte Henri Vidal.
31 May on
some calendars
31
August on some calendars
Article
A title of our blessed
Lady, expressive of the doctrine that all graces come to us from Christ
through the hands of Mary.
A feast of
this title was granted to the dioceses of Belgium,
at the request of Cardinal Mercier, by Benedict
XV, 12
January 1921.
The feast is
also celebrated in Spain.
The doctrine of Mary Mediatrix, now the common teaching of theologians,
is being favorably considered for definition as a dogma of faith.
Additional
Information
other
sites in english
images
MLA
Citation
“Mary, Mediatrix of all
Graces“. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 May 2023. Web. 27 April 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/mary-mediatrix-of-all-graces/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/mary-mediatrix-of-all-graces/
To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops,
and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren,
Greeting and Apostolic Benediction.
It is always with joyful
expectation and inspired hope that We look forward to the return of the month
of October. At Our exhortation and by Our express order this month has been
consecrated to the Blessed Virgin, during which for some years now the devotion
of her Rosary has been practised by Catholic nations throughout the world with
sedulous earnestness. Our reasons for making this exhortation We have made
known more than once. For as the disastrous condition of the Church and of
Society proved to Us the extreme necessity for signal aid from God, it was
manifest to Us that aid should be sought through the intercession of His
Mother, and by the express means of the Rosary, which Christians have ever
found to be of marvellous avail. This indeed has been well proved since the
very institution of the devotion, both in the vindication of Holy Faith against
the furious attacks of heresy, and in restoring to honour the virtues, which by
reason of the Age's corruption, required to be rekindled and sustained. And
this same proof was continued in all succeeding ages, by a never failing
series of private and public benefits, whereof the illustrious remembrance is
everywhere perpetuated and immortalized by monuments and existing institutions.
Likewise in Our age, afflicted with that tempest of various evils, it is a joy
to Our soul to relate the beneficent influence of the Rosary. Notwithstanding
all this, you yourselves, Venerable Brethren, behold with your own eyes the
persistence - nay, the increase - of the reasons for renewing again this year
Our summons to the Faithful to turn with increased ardour in prayer to Mary,
the Queen of Heaven. Besides, the more We fix Our thoughts upon the character
of the Rosary, the clearer its excellence and power appear to Us. Hence, while
Our wish increases that it may flourish, Our hope grows also that through Our
recommendation it may come to be more greatly prized, its holy use become more
extended and flourish abundantly. But We shall not now return to the various
instructions which in past years We have given upon this subject. We shall take
instead the opportunity of pointing out the particular ruling and designs of
Providence which ordains that the Rosary should have new power to instil
confidence into the hearts of those who pray, and new influence to move the
compassionate heart of Our Mother to comfort and succour Us with the
utmost bounty.
2. The recourse we have
to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of
the throne of God as Mediatrix of Divine grace; being by worthiness and by
merit most acceptable to Him, and, therefore, surpassing in power all the
angels and saints in Heaven. Now, this merciful office of hers, perhaps,
appears in no other form of prayer so manifestly as it does in the Rosary. For
in the Rosary all the part that Mary took as our co-Redemptress comes to us, as
it were, set forth, and in such wise as though the facts were even then taking
place; and this with much profit to our piety, whether in the contemplation of
the succeeding sacred mysteries, or in the prayers which we speak and repeat
with the lips. First come the Joyful Mysteries. The Eternal Son of God stoops
to mankind, putting on its nature; but with the assent of Mary, who conceives
Him by the Holy Ghost. Then St. John the Baptist, by a singular privilege, is
sanctified in his mother's womb and favoured with special graces that he might
prepare the way of the Lord; and this comes to pass by the greeting of Mary who
had been inspired to visit her cousin. At last the expected of nations comes to
light, Christ the Saviour. The Virgin bears Him. And when the Shepherds and the
wise men, first-fruits of the Christian faith, come with longing to His cradle,
they find there the young Child, with Mary, His Mother. Then, that He might
before men offer Himself as a victim to His Heavenly Father, He desires to be
taken to the Temple; and by the hands of Mary He is there presented to the
Lord. It is Mary who, in the mysterious losing of her Son, seeks Him sorrowing,
and finds Him again with joy. And the same truth is told again in the sorrowful
mysteries.
3. In the Garden of
Gethsemane, where Jesus is in an agony; in the judgment-hall, where He is
scourged, crowned with thorns, condemned to death, not there do we find Mary.
But she knew beforehand all these agonies; she knew and saw them. When she
professed herself the handmaid of the Lord for the mother's office, and when,
at the foot of the altar, she offered up her whole self with her Child
Jesus-then and thereafter she took her part in the laborious expiation made by
her Son for the sins of the world. It is certain, therefore, that she suffered
in the very depths of her soul with His most bitter sufferings and with His
torments. Moreover, it was before the eyes of Mary that was to be finished the
Divine Sacrifice for which she had borne and brought up the Victim. As we
contemplate Him in the last and most piteous of those Mysteries, there stood by
the Cross of Jesus His Mother, who, in a miracle of charity, so that she might
receive us as her sons, offered generously to Divine Justice her own Son, and
died in her heart with Him, stabbed with the sword of sorrow.
4. Thence the Rosary
takes us on to the Glorious Mysteries, wherein likewise is revealed the
mediation of the great Virgin, still more abundant in fruitfulness. She
rejoices in heart over the glory of her Son triumphant over death, and follows
Him with a mother's love in His Ascension to His eternal kingdom; but, though
worthy of Heaven, she abides a while on earth, so that the infant Church may be
directed and comforted by her "who penetrated, beyond all belief, into the
deep secrets of Divine wisdom" (St. Bernard). Nevertheless, for the
fulfilment of the task of human redemption there remains still the coming of
the Holy Ghost, promised by Christ. And behold, Mary is in the room, and there,
praying with the Apostles and entreating for them with sobs and tears, she
hastens for the Church the coming of the Spirit, the Comforter, the supreme
gift of Christ, the treasure that will never fail. And later, without measure
and without end will she be able to plead our cause, passing upon a day to the
life immortal. Therefore we behold her taken up from this valley of tears into
the heavenly Jerusalem, amid choirs of Angels. And we honour her, glorified
above all the Saints, crowned with stars by her Divine Son and seated at His
side the sovereign Queen of the universe.
5. If in all this series
of Mysteries, Venerable Brethren, are developed the counsels of God in regard
to us - "counsels of wisdom and of tenderness" (St. Bernard) -
not less apparent is the greatness of the benefits for which we are debtors to
the Virgin Mother. No man can meditate upon these without feeling a new
awakening in his heart of confidence that he will certainly obtain through Mary
the fulness of the mercies of God. And to this end vocal prayer chimes well
with the Mysteries. First, as is meet and right, comes the Lord's Prayer,
addressed to Our Father in Heaven: and having, with the elect petitions
dictated by Our Divine Master, called upon the Father, from the throne of His
Majesty we turn our prayerful voices to Mary. Thus is confirmed that law
of merciful meditation of which We have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of
Siena thus expresses: "Every grace granted to man has three degrees in
order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the
Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us." And we, by the very form
of the Rosary, do linger longest, and, as it were, by preference upon the last
and lowest of these steps, repeating by decades the Angelic Salutation, so that
with greater confidence we may thence attain to the higher degrees-that is, may
rise, by means of Christ, to the Divine Father. For if thus we again and again
greet Mary, it is precisely that our failing and defective prayers may be
strengthened with the necessary confidence; as though we pledged her to pray
for us, and as it were in our name, to God.
6. Nor can our prayers
fail to ascend to Him as a sweet savour, commended by the prayers of the
Virgin. And He it is who, all-benign, invites her: "Let thy voice sound in
My ears, for thy voice is sweet." For this cause do we repeatedly
celebrate those glorious titles of her ministry as Mediatrix. Her do we greet
who found favour with God, and who was in a signal manner filled with grace by
Him so that the superabundance thereof might overflow upon all men; her, united
with the Lord by the most intimate of all conjunction; her who was blessed
among women, and who "alone took away the curse and bore the
blessing" (St. Thomas)-that fruit of her womb, that happy fruit, in which
all the nations of the earth are blessed. Her do we invoke, finally, as Mother
of God; and in virtue of a dignity so sublime what graces from her may we not
promise to ourselves, sinners, in life and in the agonies of the end?
7. A soul that shall
devoutly repeat these prayers, that shall ponder with faith these mysteries,
will, without doubt, be filled with wonder at the Divine purposes in this great
Virgin and in the work of the restoration of mankind. Doubtless, this soul,
moved by the warmth of love for her and of confidence, will desire to take
refuge upon her breast, as was the sweet feeling of St. Bernard:
"Remember, O most pious Virgin Mary, that never was it heard that any who
fled to thy protection, called upon thy help, and sought thy intercession, was
left forsaken." But the fruits of the Rosary appear likewise, and with
equal greatness, in the turning with mercy of the heart of the Mother of
God towards us. How sweet a happiness must it be for her to see us all intent
upon the task of weaving crowns for her of righteous prayers and lovely
praises! And if, indeed, by those prayers we desire to render to God the glory
which is His due; if we protest that we seek nothing whatsoever except the
fulfilment in us of His holy will; if we magnify His goodness and graciousness;
if we call Him Our Father; if we, being most unworthy, yet entreat of Him His
best blessings - Oh, how shall Mary in all these things rejoice! How shall she
magnify the Lord! There is no language so fit to lead us to the majesty of God
as the language of the Lord's Prayer. Furthermore, to each of these things for
which we pray, things that are righteous and are ordered, and are in harmony
with Christian faith, hope, and charity, is added a special joy for the Blessed
Virgin. With our voices she seems to hear also the voice of her Divine Son, Who
with His own mouth taught us this prayer, and by His own authority commanded
it, saying: "You shall pray thus." And seeing how we observe that
command, saying our Rosary, she will bend towards us with the more loving
solicitude; and the mystical crowns we offer her will be to her welcome, and to
us fruitful of graces. And of this generosity of Mary to our supplications we
have no slight pledge in the very nature of a practice that has the power to
help us in praying well. In many ways, indeed, is man apt, by his frailty, to
allow his thoughts to wander from God and to let his purpose go astray. But the
Rosary, if rightly considered, will be found to have in itself special virtues,
whether for producing and continuing a state of recollection, or for touching
the conscience for its healing, or for lifting up the soul. As all men know, it
is composed of two parts, distinct but inseparable-the meditation of the
Mysteries and the recitation of the prayers. It is thus a kind of prayer that
requires not only some raising of the soul to God, but also a particular and
explicit attention, so that by reflection upon the things to be contemplated,
impulses and resolutions may follow for the reformation and sanctification of
life.
8. Those same things are,
in fact, the most important and the most admirable of Christianity, the things
through which the world was renewed and filled with the fruits of truth,
justice, and peace. And it is remarkable how well adapted to every kind of
mind, however unskilled, is the manner in which these things are proposed
to us in the Rosary. They are proposed less as truths or doctrines to be
speculated upon than as present facts to be seen and perceived. Thus presented,
with the circumstances of place, time, and persons, these Mysteries produce the
most living effect; and this without the slightest effort of imagination; for
they are treated as things learnt and engraven in the heart from infancy. Thus,
hardly is a Mystery named but the pious soul goes through it with ease of
thought and quickness of feeling, and gathers therefrom, by the gift of Mary,
abundance of the food of Heaven. And yet another title of joy and of
acceptation in her eyes do our crowns of prayer acquire. For every time that we
look once more with devotional remembrance upon these Mysteries we give her a
sign of the gratitude of our hearts; we prove to her that we cannot often
enough call to mind the blessings of her unwearied charity in the work of our
salvation. At such recollections, practised by us with the frequency of love in
her presence, who may express, who may even conceive, what ever-new joys
overflow her ever-blessed soul, and what tender affections arise therein, of
mercy and of a mother's love! Besides these recollections, moreover, as the
sacred Mysteries pass by they cause our prayers to be transformed into impulses
of entreaty that have an indescribable power over the heart of Mary. Yes, we
fly to thee, we miserable children of Eve, O holy Mother of God. To thee we
lift our prayers, for thou art the Mediatrix, powerful at once and pitiful, of
our salvation. Oh, by the sweetness of the joys that came to thee from thy Son
Jesus, by thy participation in His ineffable sorrows, by the splendours of His
glory shining in thee, we instantly beseech thee, listen, be pitiful, hear us,
unworthy though we be!
9. Thus the excellence of
the Rosary; considered under the double aspect We have here set forth, will
convince you, Venerable Brethren, of the reasons We have for an incessant
eagerness to commend and to promote it. At the present day - and on this We
have already touched there is a signal necessity of special help from Heaven,
particularly manifest in the many tribulations suffered by the Church as to her
liberties and her rights, as also in the perils whereby the prosperity and
peace of Christian society are fundamentally threatened. So it is that it
belongs to Our office to assert once again that We place the best of Our
hopes in the holy Rosary, inasmuch as more than any other means it can
impetrate from God the succour which We need. It is Our ardent wish that this
devotion shall be restored to the place of honour; in the city and in the
village, in the family and in the workshop, in the noble's house and in the
peasant's; that it should be to all a dear devotion and a noble sign of their
faith; that it may be a sure way to the gaining of the favour of pardon. To
this end it is indispensable that zeal should be redoubled, while impiety daily
redoubles its efforts and labours to move the justice of God and to provoke,
for the general ruin, His terrible vengeance. Amongst so many causes of grief
to all good men, and to Ourself, not the least is this, that in the very midst
of Catholic nations there exist persons who are ever ready to rejoice in that
which insults and outrages our august religion; and that they themselves, with
incredible effrontery and with all publicity, seize every opportunity of
teaching the multitude to hold reverend things in contempt and of persuading
them from their old confidence in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
During the last months the very person of Our Divine Redeemer has not been
spared. Such a depth of shameless indignity has been reached that Jesus Christ
Himself has been dragged upon the stage of a theatre often contaminated with
corruptions, and has been represented there discrowned of that Divinity upon
which rests the whole work of human salvation. And the last touch of shame was
added in an attempt to rescue from the execration of ages the guilty name of
him who was the very sign of perfidy, the betrayer of Christ. At the
consummation of such excesses in the cities of Italy there arose a general cry
of indignation, and energetic protest against the violation and trampling under
foot of the inviolable rights of religion, and this in a nation that has for
its greatest and most righteous boast that it is Catholic. The Bishops rose at
once, on fire with holy zeal. And first they made their vigorous appeal to
those whose sacred duty it is to safeguard the decorum of the religion of the
country. Next, they informed their people of the gravity of the scandal, and
exhorted them to special acts of reparation towards our most loving Saviour
exposed to such slanders.
10. We have pleasure,
however, in rendering praise to the free and fruitful faith manifested by men
of good will; and this has brought Us comfort in the bitterness inflicted upon
the very quick of Our heart. And having regard to the duties of Our supreme
ministry, We take this occasion to lift up Our voice and to unite Our
complaints and protests to those of the Bishops and of their people,
authenticated by Our Apostolic authority. And with a like ardour to that
wherewith we condemned this sacrilegious offence, do We preach faith to all
Catholics, and particularly to the Italians. Let them with jealous care guard
this inestimable inheritance received from their fathers, let them defend it
with courage, let them not cease from magnifying it with good actions of which
their faith is the inspiring motive. This is a motive the more for the
enkindling, in private and in common prayer, throughout the coming month of
October, of a holy emulation in celebrating and honouring the Mother of God,
the mighty succourer of the Christian people, the most glorious Queen of
Heaven. For Our own part, We confirm with all Our heart the favours and
indulgences We have already awarded upon this point.
11. Now may God,
"Who in His most merciful Providence gave us this Mediatrix," and "decreed
that all good should come to us by the hands of Mary" (St. Bernard),
receive propitiously our common prayers and fulfil our common hopes. May you
receive a pledge thereof in the Apostolic Benediction which We give to you, to
your clergy, and to your people, with all affection in Our Lord.
Given in Rome at St.
Peter's, on September 8, 1894, in the seventeenth year of our Pontificate.
LEO XIII
Copyright © Libreria
Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Ark of the
Covenant – Mary, Our Mediatrix
“Hail glory of Virgins,
mediatrix of men, bearer of our salvation!” – Adam of Saint Victor
God, in governing the
world, makes use of superior creatures to lead back those of an inferior order
to Himself. In like manner, as regards the dispensation of divine grace, He has
disposed that men, whom the sin of Adam had made His enemies, should be
reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ, the most beautiful and most perfect of
all the children of men.
Our blessed Lord is of a
truth infinitely superior to all other men in his sacred manhood, on account of
the hypostatic union and of the super-eminent sanctity He possesses. He is,
then, the perfect Mediator between God and the human race, according to the
words of Saint Paul: “For there is one God and one Mediator of God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus.” Consequently, it is through Jesus Christ that our
reconciliation with the Father was accomplished: “For God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to Himself.”
But the Lord, in His
infinite bounty, chose to give us, besides this principal Mediator, other
secondary mediators, whose office is to dispose us to receive the effects of
the mediation of Jesus Christ. Thus are angels and saints, in some manner,
secondary mediators for us with God: priests also, by cooperating with Our Saviour
in perfecting our reconciliation with the Divine Majesty, become mediators for
us, according to the words of Saint Paul: “For Christ, therefore, we are
ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us.”
* * *
The mediation of the
Blessed Virgin is more excellent than that of any other creature whom God may
have destined to cooperate with Jesus Christ in the work of our redemption.
Mary is the rainbow, which Saint John saw about the throne of God, like unto a
most brilliant emerald. If, then, the saints fulfill in our behalf the office
of mediators with Jesus Christ, it is in some manner through Mary that they do
so; and therefore Mary can be called truly our Mediatrix with the divine
Redeemer.
Mary owes this dignity in
the first place to the fact of her having been conceived without stain of
original sin. By virtue of this stupendous miracle of the Most High, the human
race could be presented to God, in the person of the peerless Virgin, in that
state of innocence and integrity which Adam possessed before his fall. We may
therefore say that Mary’s Immaculate Conception was as the dayspring of our
reconciliation with God, a work which Jesus Christ was afterward to bring about
by His death on the cross.
Furthermore, the answer
which Mary gave to the heavenly messenger who asked for her consent with regard
to the fulfillment of the Incarnation, marked the beginning of our redemption,
in as much as it forestalled the near rise of the Son of Justice.
Finally, as the first
condition to be fulfilled as preliminary to the accomplishment of our
reconciliation with the Divine Majesty, is a firm and sincere faith in the
truths of revelation, we may say that Mary is also our Mediatrix in this
respect; for not only did she bring forth, through faith, the Author of our salvation,
but furthermore she herself practiced this virtue with a constancy and
perfection, which won for her the words of encomium: “Blessed art thou, that
hast believed.”
* * *
It is through Mary that
we find access to Our Saviour’s grace. It is therefore a duty, on our part, to
manifest our gratitude to the Heavenly Father for having given us, in the
mediation of the divine Mother, so efficacious a means of coming to Jesus. Ah,
how truly may we say with Saint Paul, that God wills the salvation of all men!
A lesson follows upon the
truth we are considering. We, too, in imitation of Mary, should seek to
fulfill, each according to his power, the office of mediator between God and
our fellowmen. We may do this, in the first place, by the holiness of our own lives,
that our good example may encourage others to turn back to God. Secondly, we
should avail ourselves of the means we have of implanting in the soul of our
neighbor the seeds of eternal truth, and withdrawing sinners from the path of
perdition.
Example – Saint Benedict
Joseph Labré
Saint Benedict Joseph
Labré was born at Amettes, in France, on the twenty-sixth of March, 1748. At an
early age he was moved by a heavenly inspiration to dedicate himself to God,
and leaving his father’s home he visited the more famous shrines of France and
Italy. In following this kind of life, he would spare neither hardship nor
austerity, his purpose being to obtain from God, through penance, the
conversion of sinners, and the help of divine assistance for the Church in her
needs.
The goal of his
wanderings was Borne, whither he went on foot, begging his bread by the way.
When in the Eternal City, he embraced a life so humble and mortified, as
entirely to astonish the world. He was content with one garment and his food
was very scanty; he did not trouble about seeking shelter for the night, but
usually slept in the open or on the steps of some church.
His great devotion to the
glorious Mother of God was his principal support in this extraordinary manner
of life. It was his custom to visit the most renowned shrines dedicated to
this. Holy Virgin which are venerated in the many churches of the Eternal City.
He was wont to pass many hours in contemplation before the image of the Madonna
dei Monti, which was especially dear to him. In his great devotion to Our Lady
of Sorrows he went every morning to the Servite Church of San Marcello to
assist at the recitation of the Rosary of Our Lady of Dolors and to assist at
the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He hoped in this way to obtain
through the intercession of Our Lady a greater abundance of graces from her
Son.
He never left Rome except
to visit the most famous sanctuaries of Our Lady, especially that of Loreto,
whither he often went as a poor and simple pilgrim. When he got there, it was
his custom to spend whole days within the Holy House, absorbed in profound
prayer. He was so enraptured, as to feel no desire for food.
Many were the heavenly
favors he received there from the Blessed Virgin. Having returned to Rome, he
was one morning praying before his favorite shrine of the Madonna dei Monti,
when he had a presentiment of his approaching death. He was then carried from
the church into a neighboring house where, after a few days, he died the death
of the just. This was on the sixteenth of April, 1783. He was canonized by Leo
Xlll, on the eighth of December, 1881.
Prayer
O Mary, Ark of the New
Testament, and our Mediatrix with Jesus Christ thy Son, we cast ourselves this
day into thy maternal arms. Lead us back to Jesus and reconcile us with Him;
and may the fruit of thy mediation be that we may treasure always with jealous
care the gift of divine grace, so that we may never more be so unfortunate as
to lose Jesus, our sole good and our last end. Amen.
– text taken from
the book The
Fairest Flower of Paradise: Considerations on the Litany
of the Blessed Virgin, Enriched with Examples Drawn from the Lives of
the Saints,
by Cardinal Alexis-Henri-Marie
Lépicier, O.S.M., 1922
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/ark-of-the-covenant-mary-our-mediatrix/
A Question of Faith -
What does Mary, the ‘Mediatrix of All Graces' mean?
Posted on June 04,
2024 in: A
Question of Faith
“Father Breton, I
recently heard someone refer to the Blessed Mother as the ‘Mediatrix of All
Graces.’ What is meant by this title and what is the Catholic understanding of
Mary’s role in salvation history?”
Known by her many titles,
such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Peace and Our
Lady of Lourdes, the Blessed Mother holds another special title: Mediatrix of
All Graces. This title occupies a central place in the hearts and minds of millions
around the world, embodying the eternal qualities of love, compassion, and
divine grace.
At the core of Mary’s
identity as the Mediatrix of Grace lies the belief that she serves as a conduit
through which Divine grace flows from God to humanity. And so she should,
considering she was created free from original sin in order to be the holy
dwelling through which “Grace would grow” and be born in Bethlehem. Mary’s
unique relationship with her Son, Jesus Christ, plays a special role in the
distribution of grace, acting as a mediator between humanity and the
Father.
The doctrine of Mary as
the Mediatrix of All Graces finds its roots in sacred Scripture, particularly
in the Gospel accounts of Mary’s pivotal role in the life and ministry of
Jesus. From the Annunciation, where Mary humbly accepts her divine calling to
bear the Son of God, to the foot of the Cross, where she stands as a witness of
her Son’s sacrificial love for humanity, Mary’s role as the Mediatrix of Grace
extends far beyond the pages of sacred Scripture as it permeates the lived
experiences of believers throughout the ages.
Across cultures and
traditions, Mary is revered as a source of comfort and consolation, a beacon of
hope in times of trial and adversity. At Calvary, the Blessed Mother held so
tenderly the lifeless body of Jesus close to her bosom. This example of
strength and courage has been a much-needed consolation for mothers who have
lost a child. As Mary felt the sword pierce her Immaculate Heart, so too
numerous mothers have also felt the sword of grief pierce their hearts as well.
The image of the “Pieta” can be seen as Mary’s ability to hold frail humanity
close to her Immaculate Heart, through whom she would assist in the path of
Divine grace.
As we reflect on Mary’s
role as the Mediatrix of Grace, we are invited to contemplate the profound
mystery of divine love made manifest in human form. In Mary, we find a model of
humility, obedience and unwavering faith — a testament to the transformative
power of grace in our lives. Through her intercession, Mary invites us to open
our hearts to the infinite possibilities of God’s love and mercy, embracing the
fullness of life’s joys and sorrows with a spirit of trust and surrender.
Ultimately, the Catholic
understanding of Mary’s role as the Mediatrix of All Graces emphasizes her
close relationship with Jesus, her maternal care for believers and her pivotal
role in God’s plan of salvation. She reminds us that we are never alone in our
journey through life — that we are always held in the loving embrace of a
mother who intercedes for us with tenderness and compassion.
By Fr. Richard D. Breton
Jr.
Sanctuaire
Marie Médiatrice de Lipa. Photographie de Ramon FVelasquez
Mary, Mediatrix of All
Graces
by Father William G. Most
Closely related to the Catholic teaching on Mary's cooperation in the
redemption is the teaching that, with through and under her Son, she is
Mediatrix of all graces. What exactly does this mean?
The term Mediatrix in itself could refer to either the objective redemption
(the once-for-all earning a title to grace for all men), to the subjective
redemption (the distribution of this grace to individual men), or to both. It
is most usual to use it to refer only to subjective redemption, i.e. , the
process of giving out the fruits of the objective redemption, throughout all
centuries. We must consider whether or not the term Mediatrix applies to all
graces or only to some. We will ask also about the nature of the mediation: is
it only by way of intercession, that is, does Mary simply pray to her Son that
he may give us grace, or does God also use her as an instrument in distributing
grace.
To begin, we can say without doubt that the title "Mediatrix" is
justified, and applies to all graces for certain, by her cooperation in
acquiring all graces on Calvary.
The Second Vatican Council (Lumen gentium ## 61-62), said:
... in suffering with Him as He died on the cross, she cooperated in the work
of the Savior, in an altogether singular way, by obedience, faith, hope, and
burning love, to restore supernatural life to souls. As a result she is our
Mother in the order of grace.
This motherhood of Mary in the economy of grace lasts without interruption,
from the consent which she gave in faith at the annunciation, and which she
unhesitatingly bore with under the cross, even to the perpetual consummation of
all the elect. For after being assumed into heaven, she has not put aside this
saving function, but by her manifold intercession, she continues to win the
gifts of eternal salvation for us. By her motherly love, she takes care of the
brothers of her Son who are still in pilgrimage and in dangers and
difficulties, until they be led through to the happy fatherland. For this
reason, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of
Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adiutrix, and Mediatrix. This however it to be so
understood that it takes nothing away, or adds nothing to the dignity and
efficacy of Christ the one Mediator. For no creature can ever be put on the
same level with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer...."
We notice that Vatican II did not add the words "of all graces."
However, as many papal texts point out, Mary's role in dispensation flows
logically from her role in acquiring all graces. Further, the Council itself
added a note on the above passage, in which it refers us to the texts of Leo
XIII, Adiutricem populi, St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Pius XI, Miserentissimus
Redemptor, and Pius XII, Radiomessage to Fatima.
Leo XIII, in the text referred to, spoke of her, as we saw above, as having
"practically limitless power." St. Pius X said she was the
"dispensatrix of all the gifts, and is the "neck" connecting the
Head of the Mystical Body to the Members. But all power flows through the neck.
Pius XII said "Her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since
nothing is excluded from her dominion." These and many other texts speak
in varied ways of Mary as Mediatrix of all graces, so often that the teaching
has become infallible.
Objection
Protestants object to this , saying that there is only one mediator: 1 Tim 2:5.
We agree that there are many ways in which Christ is the only mediator between
God and man. 1) There is only one mediator who is such by very nature, being
both true God and true man. 2) There is only one mediator whose whose work is
necessary, without whom, in God's plan, there could be no salvation. 3) There
is only one mediator who depends on no one else for power.
Mary differs on all three counts. 1) Mary only a creature, but it was
appropriate that God be freely choose her as Mediatrix because he had made her
Mother of the God-man, the Redeemer--it was she who on behalf of the whole
human race consented to God's plan of salvation by proclaiming herself the
handmaid of the Lord. 2) Her role was not necessary, since Christ was and is
the perfect Redeemer and the perfect Mediator. Rather, Mary was associated with
her Son by the free decision of the Father, a decision which we cannot ignore.
3) Her whole ability to do anything comes entirely from her Son, and hence we
are not contradicting Lumen gentium # 62 which says no creature can be ever
counted together with Him.
Really, the Father did not need her at all, except that if He decreed the
incarnation, He necessarily decreed a Mother: she was and is that Mother. But
everything else in which He has employed her is not needed.
Yet, if we recall the economy of redemption, it is clear that the Father wants
everything to be as rich as possible, so that He will not stop with something
lesser if there is more than can be done. Really, the incarnation in a palace,
without death, would have been infinite in merit and satisfaction, as we have
seen in the section on her cooperation in the redemption.
Further, the principle of St. Thomas helps here. In Summa Theologiae I. 19. 5.
c., Thomas says that it pleases God to have one thing in place to serve as a
title or reason for granting something further, even though that title does not
move Him. It is His love of all goodness and good order that leads Him to act
this way. Hence too, even though Calvary earned infinite forgiveness and
graces, the Father wills to provide titles for giving out these, in the Mass.
Even though He did not need even our Lady, yet He willed to employ her. Even
though there is no need of any other saints, in objective or subjective
redemption, yet He wills to add them--all to make everything, every title, as
rich as possible.
Lumen gentium speaks of her as taking care of all her children. We are
extremely numerous, but yet not infinite in number. Therefore, we are not too
numerous for her to see and care for. For her capacity for that infinite vision
of God is in proportion to her love on earth, so great that Pius IX, as we saw,
said it was so great that "none greater under God can be thought of, and
no one but God can comprehend it."
Is her mediation merely by intercession, prayer for us to her Son and to God
the Father? Or does she also play a role in the distribution of graces from the
Father through her Son to us? Many today, influenced by Protestant theology,
tend to speak of grace merely as favor, and so say grace is not a thing given.
But that would imply Pelagianism, the heresy that says that we can be saved by
our own power. For if God merely sits there and smiles at me, and gives me
nothing, that would mean that I had to do it by my own power.
So we answer, since Mary was associated with her Son in acquiring grace for us,
she will also share with him in distributing that grace to us. This fits well
with the words of the Popes, who call her the administra of grace, meaning that
she administers or dispenses it. So Pope Leo XIII, Iucunda semper, said:
"... when He [the Father] has been invoked with excellent prayers, our
humble voice turns to Mary; in accordance with no other law than that law of
conciliation and petition which was expressed as follows by St. Bernardine of
Siena : 'Every grace that is communicated to this world has a threefold course.
For by excellent order, it is dispensed from God to Christ, from Christ to the
Virgin, from the Virgin to us.'"
(…)
Excerpted and adapted from Theology 523: Our Lady in Doctrine and Devotion, by
Father William G. Most.
Copyright (c) 1994 William G. Most
Electronic text (c) Copyright EWTN 1996. All rights reserved.
SOURCE : http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya4.htm
Church Teaching on Mary
as Mediatrix of (All) Graces
Compiled by Fr. William G. Most
1) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Supremi Apostolatus officio. Sept 1, 1883. ASS 16,
1883. 1113.
We judge nothing more powerful and better for this purpose than by religion and
devotion to deserve well of the great Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, who is
the treasurer [sequestra] of our peace with God, and the mediatrix [administra]
of graces....
2) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Superiore anno, August 30, 1884. ASS 17, 1884. 49.
... may He hear the prayers of those who beseech through her, whom He Himself
willed to be the mediatrix [administram] of graces.
3) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Octobri mense adventante, Sept 22, 1891, ASS 24, 1891,
196.
... it is right to say, that nothing at all of that very great treasury of all
grace which the Lord brought us--for 'grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ' [Jn 1.17]--nothing is imparted to us except through Mary, since God so
wills, so that just as no one can come to the Father except through the Son, so
in general, no one can come to Christ except through His Mother.
4) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Iucunda semper, Sept 8, 1984. ASS 27, 1894. 179.
... when He [the Father] has been invoked with excellent prayers, our humble
voice turns to Mary; in accordance with no other law than that law of
conciliation and petition which was expressed as follows by St. Bernardine of
Siena : 'Every grace that is communicated to this world has a threefold course.
For by excellent order, it is dispensed from God to Christ, from Christ to the
Virgin, from the Virgin to us.' [Internal quote from S. Bernardine, Sermon on
Nativity of B. V. M. n. 6.]
5) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Adiutricem populi, Sept 5, 1895, ASS 28, 1895, 130.
For thereupon, by divine plan, she so began to watch over the Church, so to be
near and to favor us as a Mother, that she who had been the minister
[administra] of the mystery of human redemption, was equally the minister
[administra] of the grace to be given from it for all time, practically
immeasurable power being given to her.
6) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Diuturni temporis spatium, Sept 5, 1898, ASS 31, 1898,
146.
For from her, as in a must abundant conduit, the drafts of heavenly graces are
given: '... in her hands are the treasures of the mercies of the Lord'; for
'God wills that she be the principle of all good things.' [Internal quotes are
from St. John Damascene, Series I De Nativitate Virginis and St. Irenaeus,
Against Valentinus III. 33.].
7) Leo XIII, Encyclical, Diuturni temporis spatium, Sept 5, 1898, ASS 31, 1898,
147.
'God wills her to be the principle of all good things.' [Citing St. John
Damascene, Series I De nativitate Virginis.]
8) Leo XIII, Parta humano generi, Apostolic Letter, Sept 8, 1901, ASS 34, 1901,
195.
So may the most powerful Virgin Mother, who once 'cooperated in love that the
faithful might be born in the Church', be even now the means and mediatrix of
our salvation. [Citing St. Augustine, De sancta Virginitate 6.]
9) St. Pius X, Encyclical, Ad diem illum, Feb. 2, 1904, AAS 36, 1904. 453-54.
Hence that never dissociated manner of life and labors of the Mother and the
Son... . there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, not merely occupied in
looking at the dreadful sight, but even rejoicing that 'her only Son was being
offered for the salvation of the human race; and so did she suffer, with Him,
that if it had been possible, she would have much more gladly suffered herself
all the torments that her Son underwent' [St. Bonaventure I. Sent. d, 48, ad
Litt. dub. 4]. Now from this common sharing of will and suffering between
Christ and Mary, she 'merited to become most worthily the Reparatrix of the
lost world' [Eadmer, De Excellentia Virginis Mariae, 9] and therefore
Dispensatrix of all the gifts which Jesus gained for us by His Death and by His
Blood.... But Mary as St. Bernard fittingly remarks [De Aquaeductu 4] is the
'channel' or, even, the neck, through which the body is joined to the head, and
likewise through which the head exerts its power and strength on the body. 'For
she is the neck of our Head, by which all spiritual gifts are communicated to
His Mystical Body.' [St. Bernardine of Siena, Quadrag. De Evangelio aeterno,
Sermo X, a. 3. c. 3.]
10) St. Pius X, Litterae Apostolicae, August 27, 1910, AAS 2, 1910, 901.
We, to whom nothing is dearer than that the devotion of the faithful towards
the Virgin of Lourdes, the treasurer [sequestra] of all graces, be more and
more increased, think we should gladly assent to these wishes.
11) Benedict XV, Litterae Apostolicae, Inter Sodalicia, March 22, 1918, AAS 10,
1918, 182.
... the fact that she was with Him crucified and dying, was in accord with the
divine plan. For with her suffering and dying Son, Mary endured suffering and
almost death. She gave up her Mother's rights over her Son to procure the
salvation of mankind, and to appease the divine justice, she, as much as she
could, immolated her Son, so that one can truly affirm that together with Christ
she has redeemed the human race. But if for this reason, every kind of grace we
receive from the treasury of the redemption is ministered as it were through
the hands of the same Sorrowful Virgin, everyone can see that a holy death
should be expected from her, since it is precisely by this gift that the work
of the Redemption is effectively and permanently completed in each one ...
further, there is a most constant belief among the faithful, proved by long
experience, that as many as employ the same Virgin as Patron, will not at all
perish forever.
12) Benedict XV, Encyclical, Fausto appetente die, June 29, 1921, AAS 13, 1921,
334.
For he [St. Dominic] knew well that Mary ... has such influence with her divine
Son, that He confers whatever of graces He confers on humans, does so always
with her as minister and decision-maker [administra et arbitra].
13) Pius XI, Apostolic Letter, Galliam, Ecclesiae filiam, March 2, 1922, AAS
14, 1922 186.
She, the Virgin Mother, [is] the treasurer [sequestra] of all graces with God.
14) Pius XI, Apostolic Letter, Exstat in civitate, Feb. 1, 1924, AAS 16 1924,
152.
It is clear that many Roman Pontiffs ... have stirred up devotion among the
nations to the most clement Mother, the Virgin Mary, the Consoler of the
afflicted, and the treasurer [sequestra] of all graces with God.
15) Pius XI, Apostolic Letter, Cognitum sane, Jan 14, 1926, AAS 18, 1926, 213.
We, to whom nothing is dearer than that the devotion of the Christian people be
aroused more and more towards the Virgin who is the treasurer [sequestra] of
all graces with God, think we should grant these wishes.
16) Pius XI, Encyclical, Ingravescentibus malis, Sept 29, 1937, AAS 29, 1927,
380.
... we know also that all things are imparted to us from God the Greatest and
Best, through the hands of the Mother of God.
17) Pius XII, Encyclical, Mystici Corporis, June 29, 1943, AAS 35, 1943, 248.
May she, then, the most holy Mother of all the members of Christ, to whose
Immaculate Heart we have confidently consecrated all people ... ask earnestly
that most abundant streams of graces from the lofty Head may flow down on all
the members of the Mystical body without interruption.
18) Pius XII, Radiomessage to Fatima, Bendito seia, May 13, 1946, AAS 38,
19465, 266.
... having been associated, as Mother and Minister, with the King of martyrs in
the ineffable work of human Redemption, she is always associated, with a
practically measureless power, in the distribution of the graces that derive
from the Redemption.... And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God,
since nothing is excluded from her dominion.
19) John XXIII, Epistle to Cardinal Agaganian, Legate to Marian Congress in
Saigon, Jan 31, 1959, AAS 51, 1959, 88.
For the faithful can do nothing more fruitful and salutary than to win for
themselves the most powerful patronage of the Immaculate Virgin, so that by
this most sweet Mother, there may be opened to them, all the treasures of the
divine Redemption, and so they may have life, and have it more abundantly. Did
not the Lord will that we have everything through Mary?"
Discorsi II, 66.
"From her hands hope for all graces.
20) Vatican II, Lumen gentium ## 61-62.
... in suffering with Him as He died on the cross, she cooperated in the work
of the Savior, in an altogether singular way, by obedience, faith, hope, and
burning love, to restore supernatural life to souls. As a result she is our
Mother in the order of grace. This motherhood of Mary in the economy of grace
lasts without interruption, from the consent which she gave in faith at the
annunciation, and which she unhesitatingly bore with under the cross, even to
the perpetual consummation of all the elect. For after being assumed into
heaven, she has not put aside this saving function, but by her manifold intercession,
she continues to win the gifts of eternal salvation for us. By her motherly
love, she takes care of the brothers of her Son who are still in pilgrimage and
in dangers and difficulties, until they be led through to the happy fatherland.
For this reason, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles
of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adiutrix, and Mediatrix. This however it to be so
understood that it takes nothing away, or adds nothing to the dignity and
efficacy of Christ the one Mediator. For no creature can ever be put on the
same level with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer....
COMMENT: Although Vatican II did not add the words "of all graces,"
it added a note on the above passage, in which it refers us to the texts of Leo
XIII, Adiutricem populi, St. Pius X, Ad diem illum, Pius XI, Miserentissimus
Redemptor, and Pius XII, Radiomessage to Fatima. Leo XIII in that text spoke of
her, as we saw above, as having "practically limitless power." St.
Pius X said she was the "dispensatrix of all the gifts, and is the
"neck" connecting the Head of the Mystical Body to the Members. But
all power flows through the neck. Pius XII said "Her kingdom is as vast as
that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.
Compiled by Father William G. Most
Electronic text (c) Copyright EWTN 1996. All rights reserved.
SOURCE : http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya4a.htm
IUCUNDA SEMPER
EXPECTATIONE
Ai Patriarchi, Primati, Arcivescovi, Vescovi e agli altri Ordinari locali che hanno pace e comunione con la Sede Apostolica.
Il Papa Leone XIII. Venerabili Fratelli, salute e Apostolica Benedizione.
Con attesa sempre gioiosa
e con accesa speranza vediamo approssimarsi il mese di ottobre. Consacrato con
una Nostra esortazione e con un Nostro provvedimento alla Beatissima Vergine,
già da molti anni esso rifulge fra le genti cattoliche per l’unanime e viva
devozione del Rosario. A più riprese avevamo palesato il motivo che Ci
aveva spinti ad una simile esortazione. I tristi tempi per la Chiesa e per le
Nazioni richiedevano un aiuto di Dio del tutto particolare, e Ci sembrò
necessario implorarlo con l’intercessione della sua Madre, ricorrendo a quella
pia pratica il cui potere fu sempre sentito dal popolo cristiano come
straordinariamente efficace. Lo sentì fin dal sorgere del Rosario mariano, sia
per difendere la fede dai nefasti assalti degli eretici, sia per dar risalto,
nel modo più opportuno, alle virtù che, a causa dei comportamenti immorali del
momento, necessitavano di essere esaltate e rinvigorite. Lo sentì pure
nell’incessante flusso di favori, sia privati che pubblici, il cui ricordo è
immortalato in ogni luogo, con insigni monumenti ed istituzioni. Anche nelle
avverse circostanze del presente, Ci rallegriamo nel ricordare i frutti
salutari che ne sono derivati. Tuttavia, Venerabili Fratelli, guardandovi
intorno, voi stessi potete vedere che persistono ancora i motivi, in parte più
pressanti, perché facendo seguito alla Nostra esortazione, anche quest’anno sia
resa la fervida supplica alla celeste Regina nei vostri greggi.
Quando poi fissiamo il
pensiero sull’intima natura del Rosario, quanto più diventano evidenti la sua
grandezza e i suoi benefìci, tanto più crescono l’auspicio e la speranza che la
Nostra raccomandazione in favore di tale santissima preghiera ne aumenti negli
animi la conoscenza e la pratica, e la faccia maggiormente apprezzare. Non è
Nostra intenzione riproporre quanto negli anni passati abbiamo avuto la gioia
di esporre al riguardo, ma piuttosto torna opportuno riflettere e rendere
evidente con quale sublime disposizione della divina sapienza avvenga che,
grazie al Rosario, si determini negli animi di chi prega una dolcissima
fiducia, e la materna bontà della Vergine benedetta risponda soccorritrice con
somma benevolenza agli uomini.
Il fatto di implorare
l’aiuto di Maria con la preghiera, trova il suo sicuro fondamento nel compito
che esercita incessantemente, presso Dio, di procurarci la divina grazia. Ella,
infatti, per dignità e per meriti è a lui sommamente accetta, e ha un potere
notevolmente superiore a tutti gli Angeli e Santi. Questo ufficio non si
manifesta, in modo tanto evidente, in nessun’altra preghiera come nel Rosario,
nel quale s’incontrano le parti sostenute dalla Vergine per procurare la
salvezza degli uomini, come se prendessero forma nel presente: e ciò comporta
un rilevante profitto di pietà, sia per la successione dei sacri misteri
offerti alla contemplazione, sia per la devota ripetizione delle preci.
Per primi si contemplano
i misteri gaudiosi. Infatti, il Figlio eterno di Dio, incarnandosi, si
abbassa fino all’uomo, ma con l’assenso di Maria “che lo concepisce di Spirito
Santo”. Ed ecco che Giovanni “viene santificato”, con uno speciale carisma,
nell’utero materno, e dotato di doni particolari “per preparare la via del
Signore”. Tutto ciò avviene dopo il saluto di Maria che, per divina
ispirazione, si reca a visitare la parente. Finalmente dalla Vergine viene alla
luce Cristo, “l’atteso delle genti”, e quando i pastori e i magi, primizie
della fede, si affrettano con animo pio alla sua culla, “trovano il Bambino con
Maria, sua Madre”. Quando poi Egli vuole essere portato al tempio per offrirsi
vittima a Dio Padre, con pubblico rito, è per le mani della Madre che in quel
luogo “viene presentato al Signore”. È sempre lei che, nel misterioso
smarrimento del Bambino, lo cerca con trepida sollecitudine e lo trova con
grande gioia.
Né diversamente recitano
i misteri dolorosi. Nell’orto di Getsemani, dove Gesù prova paura e
angoscia mortale, e nel pretorio, dove è flagellato, ferito da una corona di
spine e condannato a morte, non è presente Maria, ma già da tempo tutto era a
lei noto e da lei accettato. Quando, infatti, si offrì a Dio, come ancella al
compito di madre, o si offerse insieme con il Figlio nel tempio, fin da allora,
come si evince dai due episodi, prese parte con lui al travagliato riscatto del
genere umano. Se ne può anche dedurre che Ella, senz’ombra di dubbio, partecipò
con intimo dolore agli acerbissimi tormenti e alle angoscie del Figlio. Del
resto quel sacrificio divino, la cui vittima era stata da lei nutrita con
amore, doveva compiersi alla sua presenza e sotto i suoi occhi. Lo si contempla
nell’ultimo e più lacrimevole dei misteri: “presso la croce di Gesù stava
Maria, sua Madre”, che, mossa da un sentimento di infinita carità verso di
noi, allo scopo di accettarci come figli, offrì addirittura il Figlio suo alla
giustizia divina, morendo nel cuore con lui, trafitta dalla spada del dolore.
Da ultimo, nei
misteri gloriosi che troviamo successivamente, viene confermato
l’amorevolissimo ufficio della gran Vergine, addirittura più ricco di frutti.
Assapora in intima letizia la gloria del Figlio che trionfa sulla morte; lo
accompagna, con materno affetto, quando ascende al regno eterno, ma, pur degna
del cielo, è trattenuta in terra quale ottima maestra e consolatrice della
Chiesa nascente, perché “penetrò, ben oltre ogni possibile congettura, nella
profondità dell’abisso della sapienza divina”[1]. Poiché però il mistero dell’umana
redenzione non avrebbe potuto essere compiuto prima della venuta dello Spirito
Santo, promesso da Cristo, la contempliamo nel memorabile Cenacolo dove,
elevando suppliche con gemiti ineffabili, unitamente agli Apostoli e a loro
favore, affretta per la Chiesa la pienezza dello stesso Paraclito, dono supremo
di Cristo, tesoro che non le verrà mai meno. Passata a vita immortale, in forza
del suo pieno e perpetuo ufficio, potrà perorare la nostra causa.
La ammiriamo quindi
trasportata dalla valle di lacrime alla città santa Gerusalemme, tra le feste
dei cori angelici: la veneriamo, eccelsa nella gloria dei Santi, resa gloriosa
dal Figlio divino con un diadema di stelle; siede accanto a lui, regina e
signora dell’universo.
Tutte queste cose,
Venerabili Fratelli, nelle quali si ravvisa “il consiglio di Dio, consiglio di
sapienza e di pietà”[2] e, nello stesso tempo, risplendono
le grandissime benemerenze della Vergine Madre verso di noi, non possono che
influenzare beneficamente chiunque, ingenerandovi la fondata speranza di
ottenere, con l’intercessione di Maria, la clemenza e la misericordia di Dio.
Allo stesso scopo tende
la preghiera vocale in piena sintonia con i misteri. Prende il via, com’è
giusto, con la preghiera del Signore al Padre celeste: dopo averlo invocato con
sublimi richieste, la voce supplichevole si rivolge a Maria. Tutto si mantiene
dunque nell’ambito di quella volontà divina di riconciliazione e di
intercessione che San Bernardino da Siena così esprime: “Ogni favore concesso a
questo mondo segue una triplice trafila. Viene infatti elargito da Dio a
Cristo, da Cristo alla Vergine e dalla Vergine a noi”[3]. Si tratta, per così dire, di tre gradi,
rapportati tra loro in modo diverso, e noi ci attardiamo di preferenza, e più a
lungo, sull’ultimo in forza della natura del Rosario, insistendo nelle decadi
del saluto angelico, quasi per accedere con più fiducia agli altri gradi, cioè
a Dio Padre per Cristo. Così dunque rivolgiamo ripetutamente il saluto a Maria,
perché la nostra invocazione debole e imperfetta acquisti la forza necessaria.
La supplichiamo perché preghi Dio per noi, come se lo facesse a nome nostro.
Sicuramente le nostre voci guadagneranno in forza e potere presso di lui se
saranno potenziate dalla preghiera della Vergine. È Dio stesso che la esorta
con suadente invito: “Risuoni la tua voce nei miei orecchi; la tua voce infatti
è dolce”[4]. Per questo motivo ripetiamo tante volte
i suoi gloriosi titoli di mediatrice. La salutiamo come colei che “ha trovato
grazia presso Dio”, da lui “dotata di grazia” in modo del tutto particolare,
perché la sua abbondanza rifluisca su tutte le persone; come colei che il
Signore ha unito a sé nel modo più intimo possibile e pertanto “benedetta fra
le donne”; la sola che “ha tolto la maledizione e portato la benedizione”[5]; colei che ha portato il frutto felice
del suo ventre, “per il quale tutte le genti sono benedette”. La invochiamo,
infine, “Madre di Dio” e, in virtù di questa altissima dignità, che cosa “non
potrebbe ottenere per noi peccatori”, che cosa non potremmo sperare nel corso
della vita e nel momento decisivo della morte?
Chi si sarà dedicato con
tutta la cura e tutta la fede a queste preghiere e a questi misteri, non potrà
non essere coinvolto nell’ammirazione dei disegni divini sulla grande Vergine
circa la salvezza di tutte le genti, e nutrirà l’accesa fiducia di essere
accolto sotto la sua materna protezione, proprio come afferma San Bernardino: “Ricordati,
o piissima Vergine Maria, che non si è mai sentito al mondo che qualcuno abbia
fatto ricorso alla tua protezione, abbia invocato il tuo aiuto, richiesto il
tuo favore e sia stato abbandonato”.
Se il potere del Rosario
è tale da ingenerare in chi prega la fiducia di essere esaudito, è pure capace
di suscitare nel cuore della Vergine la pietà verso di noi. È certo che le
torna gradito volgere lo sguardo su di noi e ascoltarci, mentre intrecciamo
corone di giustissime suppliche e di meravigliose preghiere! Quando noi
rendiamo a Dio la dovuta gloria, e la auspichiamo, cerchiamo unicamente di
adempiere i suoi comandi e la sua volontà; esaltiamo la sua bontà e la sua
munificenza; lo chiamiamo Padre e, sebbene indegni, gli chiediamo i beni più
grandi: di tutto questo Maria mirabilmente si rallegra e, nella nostra pietà, “magnifica
il Signore”. Infatti ci rivolgiamo a Dio con una degna preghiera allorché ci
indirizziamo a lui con l’orazione dettata dal Signore.
Ma alle richieste che in
questa preghiera sollecitiamo, già per se stesse giuste, ordinate e in piena
sintonia con le virtù cristiane della fede, della speranza e della carità,
aggiunge forza un pregio di sicuro gradimento alla Vergine. Le sembra, infatti,
di sentire, unita alla nostra, la voce stessa del Figlio Gesù, che formulò
personalmente le parole della preghiera e ce ne impose l’uso: “Così dunque voi
pregherete” (Mt 6,9). Per noi dunque che ci atteniamo, con la pratica del
Rosario, a tale comando, renderà sicuramente operativo, con ancor maggiore
benevolenza, il suo ufficio traboccante di sollecito amore e, accogliendo con
volto benigno queste mistiche corone di preghiere, le ricambierà con abbondante
elargizione di grazie. Troviamo al riguardo, nella natura stessa del Rosario,
pienamente conforme al retto pregare, un preciso riscontro che ci garantisce la
sua più larga benevolenza. Sono molte e disparate infatti le cose che
abitualmente, per la fragilità dell’uomo, distolgono il pensiero da Dio in chi
prega, e vanificano i buoni propositi. Proprio nel Rosario, se lo si esamina
con attenzione, può essere ravvisata una particolare virtù operativa, capace
sia di mantenere viva l’attenzione e di scuotere l’apatia della mente, sia di
suscitare il salutare pentimento dei peccati e di elevare lo spirito alle cose
celesti. È risaputo che il Rosario si compone di due parti, distinte tra loro
ma in stretto rapporto: la meditazione dei misteri e la preghiera vocale.
Questo genere di
preghiera postula una particolare attenzione dell’uomo. Per suo tramite,
infatti, non solo indirizza in qualche modo la mente a Dio, ma l’uomo viene a
tal punto coinvolto nella meditazione e nella contemplazione dei fatti, da
trarne motivi di miglior vita e sostanza per la propria pietà. Non può
esistere, infatti, alcunché di più grande e di più ammirabile di ciò che
racchiude in sé l’essenza della fede cristiana; dalla sua luce e dal suo
valore, procedettero la verità, la giustizia e la pace per dar vita sulla terra
ad un nuovo ordine sociale, con un’abbondante messe di frutti salutari. Il modo
stesso con cui queste importanti cose vengono opportunamente proposte ai
cultori del Rosario si rivela in piena sintonia con quanto suesposto. Si
tratta, infatti, di un modo che è alla portata anche degli incolti. Esso è
stato approntato non per proporre alla discussione i princìpi della fede e
della dottrina, ma per vedere con gli occhi e contemplare dei fatti, presentati
nel contesto dei luoghi, dei tempi e delle persone e, quindi, capaci di avvincere
gli animi e di indirizzarli al bene. Poiché tutto ciò viene inculcato nel
popolo fin dall’infanzia e vi rimane impresso, non appena vengono annunciati i
singoli misteri si verifica che, chiunque si dedica con amore alla preghiera
non ha bisogno d’impegnare l’immaginazione, ma li rivisita con naturalezza ed
affetto e ne trae, per benignità di Maria, abbondante conforto di grazia
celeste.
Vi è pure racchiuso un
ulteriore titolo di merito che rende questa corona a lei più gradita e degna di
ricompensa. Quando, infatti, ripresentiamo alla nostra mente la triplice
sequenza dei misteri, diventa evidente il nostro attestato di affettuosa
riconoscenza nei suoi confronti, perché con simili espressioni confessiamo di
non essere mai sazi del ricordo dei benefìci per mezzo dei quali ha reso
evidente di avere abbracciato, con amore inesauribile, la nostra salvezza. A
stento possiamo immaginare da quale profonda gioia sia pervasa la sua anima e
quali sentimenti di provvida benevolenza materna può suscitare in lei una così
numerosa sequenza di ricordi, presentati con assidua cura al suo cospetto.
Inoltre, da queste stesse rievocazioni la nostra implorazione trae un ardore
più vivo e acquista efficacia di preghiera: e ciò in modo assai semplice,
perché ogniqualvolta viene presentato un mistero, entrano in campo nuovi motivi
di supplica molto efficaci presso la Vergine.
Ricorriamo dunque a te,
santa Madre di Dio: non distogliere lo sguardo dai miseri figli di Eva! Ti
preghiamo, Mediatrice della nostra salvezza, potente e misericordiosa. Ti
scongiuriamo con forza: per la soave dolcezza ricevuta dal Figlio Gesù, per la
partecipazione ai suoi dolori inenarrabili, per lo splendore della sua gloria
che in te si riflette, ascoltaci e, anche se indegni, esaudiscici.
Proprio dall’aver fermato
l’attenzione sulla grandezza del Rosario mariano, che abbiamo magnificato nelle
sue due componenti, può risultarvi più chiaro, Venerabili Fratelli, perché non
cessa il Nostro impegno per inculcarlo e promuoverlo. Lo abbiamo sottolineato
in apertura di discorso. Il mondo attuale ha, ogni giorno, sempre più bisogno
dell’aiuto divino, a causa della diffusa presenza di situazioni che affliggono
la Chiesa e ne avversano il diritto e la libertà, scardinano alle fondamenta la
prosperità e la pace nelle Nazioni cristiane. Affermiamo nuovamente con forza
di avere riposto nel Rosario la più grande speranza di meritare quell’aiuto.
Voglia il cielo che, in ogni luogo, sia restituito a questa santa pratica di
pietà l’onore di un tempo: sia amata e coltivata nelle città e nei borghi,
nelle famiglie e nelle officine, dai nobili e dal popolo, come luminoso segno
di testimonianza cristiana e ottimo strumento per propiziare la divina
clemenza.
È veramente necessario
che tutti si impegnino con maggior ardore, poiché l’insana malvagità degli empi
insiste, con le sue temerarie macchinazioni, nel provocare l’ira di Dio e nel
far ricadere sull’umanità il peso di un giusto castigo. Tra gli altri motivi,
infatti, e questo affligge con Noi tutte le persone rette, vi è il fatto che,
nel seno stesso delle genti cattoliche, esiste una troppo folta schiera di
persone che si compiace delle ingiurie inferte, in qualsivoglia modo, alla
religione e, per di più, intenta, con una propaganda di un’audacia al limite
della credibilità, ad ingenerare nelle moltitudini il disprezzo e il ludibrio
dei suoi sacrosanti princìpi e della comprovata fiducia nel patrocinio della
Vergine. In questi ultimi mesi non si è avuto riguardo neppure per la
santissima persona del Salvatore Gesù Cristo. Infatti, essa è stata oggetto di
indegne rappresentazioni teatrali, contaminate appunto da continue nefandezze;
senza un minimo di pudore, è stata presentata spogliata della maestà della
natura divina, senza la quale viene necessariamente eliminata anche la
redenzione del genere umano. Non si sentì neppure la vergogna di sottrarre
all’eterna infamia quell’uomo esecrabile, perché reo del più efferato delitto
e, a memoria d’uomo, dell’estrema perfidia: il traditore di Cristo.
A causa di questi fatti,
già messi in opera o da attuare nelle città d’Italia, si è levata la corale
indignazione di tutti per riprovare energicamente che venisse violato il
sacrosanto diritto della religione, e venisse vilipeso e disprezzato proprio in
quella Nazione che giustamente si gloria soprattutto del nome cristiano. Ed
ecco che la vigile sollecitudine dei Vescovi — come doveva essere — si
infiammò. Essi inoltrarono giustissime richieste a chi doveva sentire il sacro
dovere di difendere la religione della patria; ammonirono i loro greggi non
solo sul grave pericolo, ma nel contempo li esortarono a riparare, con speciali
atti di culto, il vergognoso affronto di cui era stato fatto oggetto
l’amabilissimo Artefice della nostra salvezza. La sollecitudine dei buoni,
espressa egregiamente nei modi più diversi, merita dunque tutta la Nostra
approvazione. Essa ha contribuito a lenire l’amarezza ingenerata da questo
evento nel più profondo del cuore. Approfittando dunque dell’occasione,vogliamo
a Nostra volta,in forza del Nostro supremo ministero, far pressione e unire,
con tutta la forza, le Nostre proteste a quelle dei Vescovi e dei fedeli. Con
lo stesso zelo di spirito apostolico, con il quale condanniamo e riproviamo il
sacrilego misfatto, rivolgiamo una pressante esortazione alle genti cristiane,
e in special modo agli Italiani, perché custodiscano inviolata la religione
avita, inestimabile patrimonio ereditato, la difendano con tutte le forze e non
smettano di diffonderla con comportamenti buoni e retti.
Pertanto, anche a motivo
di ciò, è Nostro desiderio che per l’intero mese di ottobre si sviluppi
l’incessante fervore dei singoli e dei sodalizi nel rendere onore alla gran
Madre di Dio, potente aiuto del popolo cristiano, gloriosissima Regina del
cielo. Da parte Nostra confermiamo, con tutto il cuore, i tesori della sacra
indulgenza già concessi in passato a questo proposito.
Venerabili Fratelli, Dio,
che “con somma benevolenza ci donò una così grande Mediatrice”[6], e che “volle farci avere ogni bene per
mezzo di Maria”[7], con la sua intercessione e il suo favore
assecondi i nostri desideri e ci riempia di speranza. Vi sia d’augurio
l’Apostolica Benedizione che impartiamo, con tanto affetto nel Signore, a voi,
al clero e al vostro popolo.
Dato a Roma, presso San
Pietro, il giorno 8 settembre 1894, diciassettesimo anno del Nostro
Pontificato.
LEONE PP. XIII
[1] S.Bernardus, De
XII praerogativis B.M.V., n. 3.
[2] S.Bernardus, Serm.
in Nativ.B.M.V., n. 6.
[3] Serm.
VI in festis B.M.V. de Annunc., a. I, c. 2.
[4] Cant. II,
14.
[5] S.Thomas, Op.
VIII, super salut. angel., n. 8.
[6] S.Bernardus, De
XII praerogativis B.M.V., n. 2.
[7] Id., Serm.
in Nativ. B.M.V., n. 7.
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Robert Javelet, « Marie, la
femme médiatrice »,Revue
des sciences religieuses Année 1984 58-1-3 pp.
162-171. Fait partie d'un numéro thématique : En
hommage à Monsieur le Professeur Antoine Chavasse : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rscir_0035-2217_1984_num_58_1_3004
Voir aussi : http://www.mariedenazareth.com/16245.0.html?&L=0
http://marymediatrixofallgrace.blogspot.ca/
