Rosary Pope

Rosary Pope is a title given to Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) because he issued a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary, instituted the Catholic custom of daily rosary prayer during he month of October, created in 1883 the Feast of "Queen of the Holy Rosary". [in Lauretanische Litanei, Marienlexikon, Eos, St. Ottilien, 1988, p.41]

Mary and Christ

Leo XIII explained the importance of the rosary as the one road to God, from the father to the Son, to his Mother, and from her to the human race. No human creature can change this. Therefore there exists only one road for the faithful, to the mother and from her to Christ and through Christ to the father. The rosary is a vital means to participate in the life of Mary and to find the way to Christ. [Encyclical Jucunda Semper 8.9.1894 quoted in Marienlexikon,Eos St. Ottilien, 1988 42] This emphasis on the path "through Mary to Christ" has been a key direction in Roman Catholic Mariology, with Mariology being viewed as inherent in Christology, and the rosary paving that path. [At the center of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer, she was the first to experience it: "To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator"! Pope John Paul II, in Redemptoris Mater, 51] [See Pius XII "Mystici corporis Christi"; John Henry Newman: "Mariology is always christocentric", in Michael Testa, Mary: The Virgin Mary in the Life and Writings of John Henry Newman 2001; "Mariology Is Christology" in Vittorio Messori, "The Mary Hypothesis" Rome, 2005]

Mary Mediatrix

Leo XIII is the first Pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix. In his rosary encyclicals, he described the Virgin Mary as mediating all graces. In 1883 he wrote that nothing is as salvific and powerful as asking for the support of the Virgin, the mediator of peace with God and of heavenly graces. [Suprimi apostolatus Rudolf Graber, Die marianischen Weltrundschreiben der Päpste der letzten 100 Jahre, Würzburg; 1954, p 30.] In his rosary encyclical "Octobri Mense", he stated that Mary is administrator of graces on earth, part of a new salvation order. [Encyclical Octobri Mense Graber 48] In "Dei Matris" he noted that Mary is mediator because Christ the Lord is also our brother [Graber 62] And, in "Jucunda Semper", he stated that the deepest reason why we look for the protection of Mary through prayer is most certainly her office as mediator of divine grace. [Graber, 83] In "Augustissimae Virginis", he wrote that calling on Mary is the best way to be heard by God, and to find his grace [Graber 115]

Rosary encyclicals

References