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MAGNAE
DEI MATRIS
The Holy Father's Devotion to Mary 2. As time went on, it became more and more evident how deserving of love and honor was she whom God Himself was the first to love, and loved so much more than any other that, after elevating her high above all the rest of His creation and adorning her with His richest gifts, He made her His Mother. The many and splendid proofs of her bounty and beneficence toward us, which We remember with deep gratitude and which move Us to tears, still further encourage and strongly inflame Our filial reverence for her. Throughout the many dreadful events of every kind which the times have brought to pass, always with her have We sought refuge, always to her have We lifted up pleading and confident eyes. And in all the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, that We confided to her, the thought was constantly before Us to ask her to assist Us at all times as Our gracious Mother and to obtain this greatest of favors: that We might be able, in return, to show her the heart of a most devoted son. Filial Trust in Mary 3. When,
then, it came to pass in the secret design of God's providence that We
were chosen to fill this Chair of St. Peter and to take the place of the
Person of Christ Himself in the Church, worried by the enormous burden
of the office and finding no ground for reliance upon Our own strength,
We hastened with fervent zeal to implore the divine aid through the maternal
intercession of the ever blessed Virgin. Never has Our hope, We are happy
to acknowledge, at any time of Our life but more especially since We began
to exercise the Supreme Apostolate, failed in the course of events to
bear fruit or bring Us comfort. Thus encouraged, Our hope today mounts
more confidently than ever to beseech many more and even greater blessings
through her favor and mediation, which will profit alike the salvation
of Christ's flock and the happy increase of His Church's glory. The Remedy 7. Now,
to appease the might of an outraged God and to bring that health of soul
so needed by those who are sorely afflicted, there is nothing better than
devout and persevering prayer, provided it be joined with a love for and
practice of Christian life. And both of these, the spirit of prayer and
the practice of Christian life, are best attained through the devotion
of the Rosary of Mary. The Mother of Mercy 9. When we have recourse to Mary in prayer, we are having recourse to the Mother of mercy, who is so well disposed toward us that, whatever the necessity that presses upon us especially in attaining eternal life, she is instantly at our side of her own accord, even though she has not been invoked. She dispenses grace with a generous hand from that treasure with which from the beginning she was divinely endowed in fullest abundance that she might be worthy to be the Mother of God. By the fullness of grace which confers on her the most illustrious of her many titles, the Blessed Virgin is infinitely superior to all the hierarchies of men and angels, the one creature who is closest of all to Christ. "It is a great thing in any saint to have grace sufficient for the salvation of many souls; but to have enough to suffice for the salvation of everybody in the world, is the greatest of all; and this is found in Christ and in the Blessed Virgin."(1) Jesus and Mary 10.
It is impossible to say how pleasing and gratifying to her it is when
we greet her with the Angelic Salutation, "full of grace"; and
in repeating it, fashion these words of praise into ritual crowns for
her. For every time we say them, we recall the memory of her exalted dignity
and of the Redemption of the human race which God began through her. We
likewise bring to mind the divine and everlasting bond which links her
with the joys and sorrows, the humiliations and triumphs of Christ in
directing and helping mankind to eternal life. Our Mother in Christ 12.
While nature itself made the name of mother the sweetest of all names
and has made motherhood the very model of tender and solicitous love,
no tongue is eloquent enough to put in words what every devout soul feels,
namely how intense is the flame of affectionate and active charity which
glows in Mary, in her who is truly our mother not in a human way but through
Christ. Nobody knows and comprehends so well as she everything that concerns
us: what helps we need in life; what dangers, public or private, threaten
our welfare; what difficulties and evils surround us; above all, how fierce
is the fight we wage with ruthless enemies of our salvation. In these
and in all other troubles of life her power is most far-reaching. Her
desire to use it is most ardent to bring consolation, strength, and help
of every kind to children who are dear to her. The Rosary as Meditation 14.
To this commendation of the Rosary which follows from the very nature
of the prayer, We may add that the Rosary offers an easy way to present
the chief mysteries of the Christian religion and to impress them upon
the mind; and this commendation is one of the most beautiful of all. For
it is mainly by faith that a man sets out on the straight and sure path
to God and learns to revere in mind and heart His supreme majesty, His
sovereignty over the whole of creation, His unsounded power, wisdom, and
providence. For he who comes to God must believe that God exists and is
a rewarder to those who seek Him. Moreover, because God's eternal Son
assumed our humanity and shone before us as the Way, the Truth, and the
Life, our faith must include the lofty mysteries of the august Trinity
of divine Persons and of the Father's only-begotten Son made Man: "This
is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou bast sent."(3) Our Faith and the Mysteries of the Rosary 16.
To ward off these exceedingly great dangers of ignorance from her children,
the Church, which never relaxes her vigilant and diligent care, has been
in the habit of looking for the stanchest support of faith in the Rosary
of Mary. And indeed in the Rosary, along with the most beautiful and efficacious
prayer arranged in an orderly pattern, the chief mysteries of our religion
follow one another, as they are brought before our mind for contemplation:
first of all the mysteries in which the Word was made flesh and Mary,
the inviolate Virgin and Mother, performed her maternal duties for Him
with a holy joy; there come then the sorrows, the agony and death of the
suffering Christ, the price at which the salvation of our race was accomplished;
then follow the mysteries full of His glory; His triumph over death, the
Ascension into heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit, the resplendent
brightness of Mary received among the stars, and finally the everlasting
glory of all the saints in heaven united with the glory of the Mother
and her Son. True Christian Living 19. There is still another and not lesser advantage which the Church earnestly seeks for her children from the Rosary, and that is the faithful regulation of their lives and their conduct in keeping with the rules and precepts of their holy religion. For if, as we all know from Holy Scripture, "faith without works is dead"(4)because faith draws its life from charity and charity flowers forth in a profusion of holy actions-then the Christian will gain nothing for eternal life from his faith unless his life be ordered in accordance with what faith prescribes. "What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he bath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?"(5) A man of this sort will incur a much heavier rebuke from Christ the Judge than those who are, unfortunately, ignorant of Christian faith and its teaching: they, unlike the former, who believes one thing and practices another, have some excuse or at least are less blameworthy, because they lack the light of the Gospel. "And Dwelt Among Us" 20.
In order therefore that the faith we profess may the better bring forth
a harvest of fruits in keeping with its nature, while the mind is dwelling
on mysteries of the Rosary the heart is wonderfully enkindled by them
to make virtuous resolutions. What an example we have set before us! This
shines forth everywhere in our Lord's work of salvation. Almighty God,
in the excess of His love for us, takes upon Himself the form of lowly
man. He dwells in our midst as one of the multitude, converses with us
as a friend, instructs and teaches the way of justice to individuals and
to multitudes. In His discourse He is the teacher unexcelled; in the authority
of His teaching He is God. To all He shows Himself a doer of good; He
relieves the sick of the ills of their bodies and, with paternal compassion,
heals the most serious sickness of their souls. Those above all whom sorrow
troubles or whom the weight of worry crushes, He comforts with the gentle
invitation: "Come to me, all you that labor, and are burdened, and
I will refresh you."(6) Then into us, at rest in His embrace, He
breathes that mystic fire which He has brought to all men, and benignly
imbues us with the meekness and humility of His own heart, with the hope
that, by the practice of these virtues, we may share the true and solid
peace of which He is the Author: "Learn of me, because I am meek,
and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls."(7) For
Himself, in return for that light of heavenly wisdom and that stupendous
abundance of blessings which only He could merit for mankind, He suffers
the hatred of men and their most atrocious insults; and, nailed to the
cross, He pours out His blood and yields up His soul, holding it to be
the highest glory to beget life in men by His death. The Life of Mary 22.
But lest we be dismayed by the consciousness of our native weakness and
grow faint when confronted with the unattainable example which Christ,
who is Man and at the same time God, has given, along with mysteries which
portray Him, we have before our eyes for contemplation the mysteries of
His most holy Mother. Mary, Our Model 26.
In Mary we see how a truly good and provident God has established for
us a most suitable example of every virtue. As we look upon her and think
about her we are nor cast down as though stricken by the overpowering
splendor of God's power; but, on the contrary, attracted by the closeness
of the common nature we share with her, we strive with greater confidence
to imitate her. If we, with her powerful help, should dedicate ourselves
wholly and entirely to this undertaking, we can portray at least an outline
of such great virtue and sanctity, and reproducing that perfect conformity
of our lives to all God's designs which she possessed in so marvelous
a degree, we shall follow her into heaven. Devout and Frequent Recitation of the Rosary 29.
Therefore the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, combining in a convenient
and practical form an unexcelled form of prayer, an instrument well adapted
to preserve the faith and an illustrious example of perfect virtue, should
be often in the hands of the true Christian and be devoutly recited and
meditated upon. We address this commendation especially to the Confraternity
of the Holy Family which We recently praised and approved. Since the mystery
of the hidden life which Christ our Lord long led within the walls of
the house in Nazareth is the reason for the existence of this association,
that its members may constantly conform themselves to Christian life on
the model of the Holy Family established by God Himself, its intimate
connection with the Rosary is plain. The Holy Father's Source of Consolation 32.
And now let Us bring Our exhortation to a close in the way it began, proclaiming
once more and even more openly the devotion we cherish toward the great
Mother of God, a devotion both mindful of past blessings and full of joyous
hope. We ask the prayers of the Christian people in devout supplication
before her altars on behalf of the Church, tormented by such adverse and
turbulent times, and on behalf of Ourself as well. Advanced in age, worn
out with labors, fettered by distressingly difficult events with no human
help to rely upon, We must yet carry on the government of the Church.
Our hope in Mary, powerful and benign Mother, is daily more confirmed
and more sweetly consoling. To her intercession We attribute the many
and remarkable gifts We have obtained from God; with thanks still more
profuse do we attribute the fact that it has been given Us to reach the
fiftieth anniversary of Our episcopal consecration. The Shepherd's Plea to His Flock 34.
From Our devoted children, whose filial and affectionate concern for us
We know burns bright, We look for heartfelt thanks to God, prayers, and
holy aspirations, rather than for congratulations and honors. It will
be a special joy to Us if they ask for Us this grace, that all the strength
and life that remain to Us, all the authority and grace with which We
are invested, may profit the Church, and in the first place bring back
into her fold her enemies and those who have wandered from the right way,
to whom our voice has this long time been appealing for reconciliation. REFERENCES:
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