miércoles, 19 de mayo de 2021

ENCYCLICAL EPISTLE ON THE DEVOTION OF THE HOLY ROSARY Leo Pope XIII

 

Note. "In critical and distressing times it has always been the main and solemn care of Catholics to take refuge under the aegis of Mary and take refuge in her maternal goodness" (SS Leo XIII) Very critical times are undoubtedly those that we spend in these moments very close to the much feared World War III, as we are already on the verge of it.

Unfortunately, the following very hot spots confirm this: Ukraine against Russia, China against Taiwan, Iran and Gaza against Israel and NATO against Russia and China, among other world conflagrations.

Although I have already edited it in another time, I do it again due to the prevailing need to turn again to Our Lady for the good of the Church that suffers a fierce harassment of the modernist heresy guilty of everything that happens worldwide, of families and of our souls, ¡Please let us pray the holy rosary more than ever!

 

THE supreme apostolate that is entrusted to us and the difficult circumstances we are going through, warn us at every moment or imperiously push us to watch over the integrity of the Church with all the greater care the greater the calamities that afflict her.

For this reason, while we make every effort to defend the rights of the Church by all means and to prevent and reject the dangers that threaten and beset her, we employ the greatest diligence in imploring the assistance of God for divine help, with whose only help Our cares and care can be successful.

And we believe that nothing can lead more effectively to this end than to make us propitious with the practice of religion and piety to the great Mother of God, the Virgin Mana, who is the one who can bring us peace and dispense grace, placed as she is. for his Divine Son on the cusp of glory and power, to help with the relief of his protection to men who amid toil and danger are heading to the Eternal City.

For this reason, and close to the solemn anniversary that recalls the innumerable and numerous benefits that the devotion of the Holy Rosary of Mary has brought to the Christian people, we want this devotion to be the object of particular attention in the Catholic world in the current year. that through the intercession of the Virgin Mother we obtain from her Divine Son fortunate relief and an end to our ills.

For the same we have thought, Venerable Brothers, to direct you

These letters, so that, once known Our purpose, you excite with your authority and with your zeal the piety of the peoples so that they comply with it carefully.

In critical and distressing times he has always been the principal

and solemn care of Catholics to take refuge under the aegis of Mary and take refuge in her maternal goodness; This shows that the Catholic Church has always and rightly placed all its trust in the Mother of God. Indeed, the Virgin, free from the original stain, chosen to be the Mother of God and associated with the work of salvation for the human race, enjoys close to her Son a favor and a power so great that they have never Neither men nor angels could obtain it the same. Thus, since it is extremely sweet and pleasant for them to grant their help and assistance to all who ask for it, it is of course to be expected that they will warmly welcome the prayers that the universal Church directs to them.

But this piety, so great and so full of confidence in the Queen of Heaven, has never shone more brilliantly than when the violence of errors, the overflow of customs, or the attacks of powerful adversaries, have seemed to endanger the Church of God.

History, ancient and modern, and the most memorable celebrations of the Church recall the public and private prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin, such as the aid granted by Her; and also in many circumstances public peace and tranquility, obtained through his intercession. Hence those excellent titles of Helper, Benefactor and Comforter of Christians; Queen of armies and Dispenser of Vitoria and peace, with which she has been greeted.

Among all titles, that of the Most Holy Rosary is very especially worth mentioning, by which the distinguished benefits that Christianity owes it have been perpetually consecrated.

None of you are unaware, Venerable Brethren, how much trouble and bitterness the Albigensian heretics caused the Holy Church of God at the end of the twelfth century, who, born of the sect of the last Manichaeans, filled the South of France with their pernicious errors, and all the other countries of the Latin world, and carrying everywhere the terror of their weapons, spread their dominion everywhere with extermination and death.

Against such terrible enemies, God raised up in his mercy the famous Father and founder of the Dominican Order.

This hero, great for the integrity of his doctrine, for the example of his virtues and for his apostolic labors, strove to fight against the enemies of the Catholic Church, not with force or arms, but with the deepest faith. in the devotion of the Holy Rosary, which he was the first to propagate, and which his children have taken to the four corners of the world. He foresaw, in effect, by divine inspiration, that such devotion would put enemies to flight, like a mighty war machine, and confuse their audacity and mad impiety. This was justified by the facts. Thanks to this way of praying, accepted, regularized and put into practice by the Order of Santo Domingo, piety, faith and harmony began to take root, and the projects and devices of heretics were destroyed; many lost ones returned to the right path and the fury of the wicked was restrained by the Catholic weapons wielded to resist them.

The efficacy and power of this prayer were experienced in the 16th century, when the innumerable armies of the Turks were on the eve of imposing the yoke of superstition and barbarism on almost all of Europe. For this reason, the Sovereign Pontiff Pius V, after reviving in all the Christian Princes the feeling of common defense, tried to the extent possible to make Christians propitious to the Almighty Mother of God and to attract her help upon them. invoking her through the Holy Rosary. This noble example, which in those days was offered to earth and heaven, united all minds and persuaded all hearts; so that the Christian faithful decide to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives to save their religion and their country,They marched regardless of their number to meet the enemy forces gathered not far from the Gulf of Corinth: while those who were not fit to take up arms, like a pious example of supplicants, implored and saluted Mary, repeating the formulas of the Rosary and they demanded the triumph of the combatants.

The Sovereign Lady thus begged, very soon heard their prayers, then, engaged in naval combat in the Echinada Islands, the squadron of the Christians, reported, without experiencing great casualties, an illustrious victory and annihilated the enemy forces.

For this reason, the same Holy Pontiff, in gratitude for such an important benefit, wanted it to be consecrated with a feast in honor of María de las Victorias in memory of that memorable combat, and then Gregory XIII sanctioned said festivity with the name of the Holy Rosary. .

Likewise, in the last century important victories were achieved over the Turks in Tenesvar, Hungary and Corfu, which were obtained on days consecrated to the Blessed Virgin, and after the public prayers of the Holy Rosary were completed. This inclined Our predecessor Clement XI to decree for the universal Church the feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

Thus, once it has been demonstrated that this formula of praying is agreeable to the Blessed Virgin and so appropriate for the defense of the Church and the Christian people, as to attract all kinds of public and private benefits, it is not surprising that several of Our predecessors have dedicated themselves to promoting it and recommending it with special praise.

Urban IV assured that the Rosary provided advantages to the Christian people every day; Sixtus V said that this way of praying yields to the greater honor and glory of God, and that it is very convenient to ward off the dangers that threaten the world; Leo X declared that he had been instituted against heresiarchs and pernicious heresies, and Julius III called him praise of the Church. Saint Pius V also said of the Rosary that with the propagation of these prayers the faithful began to become aroused in prayer and that they became different men from what they used to be; that the darkness of heresy was dispelled, and that the light of faith shone in its splendor. Finally, Gregory XIII declared that Saint Dominic had instituted the Rosaryto appease the anger of God and implore the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary.

Inspired by this thought and by the examples of Our predecessors, we have seen fit to establish solemn prayers, raising them to the Blessed Virgin in her Holy Rosary, to obtain from Jesus Christ equal help against the dangers that threaten us. You see, Venerable Brothers, the difficult trials to which the Church is exposed every day; Christian piety, public morality, faith itself, which is the highest good and the principle of all virtues, all are threatened every day with the greatest dangers.

Not only do you know how difficult this situation is and how much we suffer from the pot, but also your piety makes you experience Our bitterness; for it is very painful and regrettable to see so many souls rescued by Jesus Christ, torn to salvation by the whirlwind of a lost century and plunged into the abyss and into eternal death.

In our times we are in so much need of divine help as in the time when the great Sunday raised the banner of the Rosary of Mary, in order to cure the ills of its time. That great Saint, illuminated by the heavenly light, clearly glimpsed that, to heal his century, no remedy could be as effective as attracting men to Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, prompting them to go to the Virgin, to whom is granted the power to destroy all heresies.

The formula of the Holy Rosary was composed in such a way by Saint Dominic, that in it the mysteries of our salvation are remembered by their successive order, and in this matter of meditation an ejaculation prayer to God the Father is mixed and as intertwined with the Angelic Salutation. of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We, who seek a remedy for similar ills, have the right to believe that, using the same prayer that served Santo Domingo to do so much good, we will also be able to see the calamities that afflict our time disappear.

For this reason, we not only strongly encourage all Christians to dedicate themselves publicly or privately and within their families to reciting the Holy Rosary and to persevere in this holy exercise, but we also want the month of October of this year to be entirely consecrated to the Queen of the Rosary. We hereby decree and order that throughout the Catholic world the Rosary festivity be celebrated solemnly in the current year with splendor and pomp, and that from the first day of the month of October next until the second day of the month of November in all the curial Churches and if the ordinary ones deem it appropriate, in other churches and chapels to the Blessed Virgin, at least five mysteries of the Rosary, adding the Lauretan litanies. I also wish that the people attend these pious exercises, and that either the holy sacrifice of the Mass be celebrated in them, or the Blessed Sacrament is exposed to the adoration of the faithful, and then the blessing is given with it. . It will also be to Our pleasure that the brotherhoods of the Holy Rosary of Mary sing it in procession through the streets according to the ancient custom.

And where, due to circumstances, this is not possible, try to replace temples with the greatest frequency and with the increase of Christian virtues.

In the grace of those who practice what is arranged, and to encourage everyone, we open the treasures of the Church, and all who attend the public recitation of the Rosary and the Litanies at the time designated above, and pray according to our intention, we grant seven highs and seven quarantines of indulgences for each time. And we want those who, legitimately prevented from making such prayers in public, to do them privately, enjoy the same grace.

And to those who, at the prescribed time, practice at least ten times in public, or in secret if publicly for a just cause, cannot, the indicated prayers, and duly purified their soul, approach Holy Communion, they

we leave free from all expiation and fodapena in the form of plenary indulgence.

We also grant a full remission of their sins to those who, whether on the day of the feast of the Most Holy Rosary, or in the next eight days, purified their souls through confession, approach the Sacred Table and pray in a temple, according to our intention, to God and the Blessed Virgin, for the needs of the Church.

Act then, Venerable Brothers! The more you are interested in honoring Mary and saving human society, the more you must dedicate yourself to encouraging the piety of the faithful towards the Blessed Virgin, increasing their trust in her.

We consider ourselves to be part of the providential plans that in these times of trial for the Church the cult of the Blessed Virgin should flourish more than ever in the vast majority of the Christian people.

May God please that, excited by our exhortations and inflamed by your appeals, the Christian nations seek, with increasing ardor, the protection of Mary: that they become more and more accustomed to praying the Rosary, to this cult that our ancestors had the habit of. practice, not only as an ever-present remedy for your needs, but as a noble adornment of Christian piety. The celestial Patroness of the human race will listen to bold prayers and will easily grant the good the favor of seeing their virtues increase, and the wayward the favor of returning to the good and re-entering the path of salvation. She will obtain that the avenging God of crimes, inclining to clemency and mercy, restores the Christian world and society, afterwards. diverted from now on all danger, the so desirable calm.

Encouraged by this hope, we beseech God for the intercession of the One in whom he has placed the fullness of all good, and we beg her with all our might, that she abundantly bestow upon you, Venerable Brothers, her heavenly favors. And as a pledge of our benevolence, we wholeheartedly give you, your clergy and the peoples entrusted to your care the Apostolic Blessing.

 

Given at Saint Peter's in Rome, on September 1, 1883,

sixth year of Our Pontificate.

 

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