ON THE ROSARY IN HONOUR OF MARY

To our Vénérable Brethren, ait Patriarchs, Primates,

Archbishops, and Bishops of the Cathotic World, in

Grâce and Communion with the Apostolic See.

POPE LEO XIIT.

Vénérable Biethren

Health and Apostolic Bénédiction.

Whenever the occasion has risen for stimulating amongst the Christian people an increasing love and dévotion towards the great Mother of God, ¥e hâve availed Ourselves of it with extraordinary pleasure and joy. feeling that We were dealing with a subject which is not only most excellent in itself, and in many ways most productive of good, but which also harmonises most happily with the deepest feelings of Our heart. For this sacred dévotion to Mary, which We drank in almost with Our mother's milk, increased with increasing years and became more lively and more firmly planted in Our soûl ; since it appeared more évident to Our mind how worthy of love and honor she was whom God first loved and

prized and so prized that, raised higher than others as she was, and adorned with the most glorious endowments, He chose her irom ail the world to be His mother. The various and manifest proofs ofher goodness and kindness to Us, which We recall with the most profound gratitude, and not without tears, hâve greatly fostered our dévotion, and ardently inflame it. For on m an y and différent dangerous occasions which hâve risen We hâve always had reconrse to her, hâve always looked up to her with eager and wistful eyes ; and having laid in her heart ail Our hopes and fears, Our joys and troubles, hâve assiduously besought her to favor us as a tender mother at ail times, and hâve begged the boon ol being to her a most devoted son. Whenaccordingly, by the secret counsel of G-od's Providence it happened that We were placed in this chair of Blessed Peter, that is to say, chosen as the représentative of Christ to govern His Church, then disquieted by the mighty burden of the office, and distrusting Our own strength, We endeavored to pray for Divine aid with increased fervour, relying on the maternai care of the Blessed Yirgin. And We are pleased to confess that, as results hâve proved, not only throughout ail Our life, but especially in discharging the Apostolic office, Our hope has never been without the gratification of fruit and comfort. Therefore, the same hope impels Us now more powTerfully to beg, under the auspices and through her intercession, for more and greater favors which may serve to fur the r the salvation of the Christian people and the glory of the Church It is, then, right and opportune, vénérable brethren, that We should address to ail the children of the Church certain exhortations which wrill be renewed through your words, so that they may strive to observe the coming October, dedicated by the Rosary to Our Lady and august Queen, with the

more lively piety which Our growing necessities demand.

The many and various methods of depravity by which the wickedness of the âge treacherousiy endeavors to weaken and destroy in human soûls the Christian faith, and the observance of the Divine Law, which nourishes that faith and renders it fruitfuJ, is already too well known ; and now the field of the Lord is almost cvery where a wilderness as if through the breath ahorrid pestilence, through ignorance of the faith and through error and vice. The thought of this is made more bitter by the fact that those who can and ought to do so, place no limits and impose no penalties on such arrogant wickedness and evil ; nay rather the spirit by which this state of things is created very often appears to be promoted by their indolence or patronage. Hence it is when such is the case, that We hâve to déplore the establishment of schools for the training of the ?nind and the study of the arts, in which the name ofG-od is not mentioned or is vituperated ; We hâve to déplore the license — daily growing bolder — of laying everything whatsoever before the populace by means of publication, of raising every sort of cry offensive to Grod and the Church ; nor is it less to be deplored that amongst many Catholics there is a remission oi duty and an apathy, which if not équivalent to any open abandonment of the faith, tend to terminate in it since the practices of life are nowise consonant with the faith. To him who considers this confusion and destruction of the hi^hest interests it will not certainly be a source of wonder that nations are groaning beneath the weight of Divine punishment and are kept in a state of alarm through the fear of greater calamities.

Now, to appease the offended majesty of G-od and to bring about the cure which is needed by those who are so sadly suffering, nothing could be more effec-

tive than pious and persevering prayer, provided it be combined with Christian zeal and attention to duty ; in both respects Oui desires can be realized in the fullest measure through dévotion to the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin. From the date of its origin, which is ' sufficiently known, its powerf'ul efficacy has been praised and We, Ourselves, hâve more than once commemorated the remarkable results attributable to it. At the time when the sect of the Albigenses, which pretended to be in lavor of the integrity of faith and moraîs but which was in reality a most mischievous disturber and corruptor, brought ruin to many people, the Church fought against it and against wicked factions, not with worldly resourses and arms, but principally by having recourse to the power of the Most Holy Rosary, which the Mother of G-od entrusted to St. Dominic for the purpose of defence, and so splendidly victorious over ail, she provided for the safety of her children by a glorious issue, both on that .occasion and on others which occurred afterwards Whereof in the condition of afFairs of which We complain, which is lamentable ior religion and most pernicious for the State, ail should, with equal dévotion, together implore the Mother of G-od, so that, experiencing the same power of the Rosary, We may rejoiee in the fulfîlment of Our desires For when We hâve recourse in prayer to Mary, We appeal to the Mother of Mercy, so well disposed towards Us that whatever be Our need, especially if We are earnestly désirons of eternal salvation she is ever ready, even of her own accord to render Us the necessary succour and more, and she gives liberally from the treasury of that grâce which was so copiously bestowed upon her by God from the beginning, since she was worthy to be the Mother of G-od. By that abundance of grâce which is made most renowned by many who hâve voiced her

praises, she far excels ail orders of men and angels, being above ail others nearest to Christ. " For ît is a great thing in any saint when he has as much grâce as sufiices for the savation of many ; but if he had as mch grâce as would snffice for the salvation of ail men m the world, this would he the greatest ; and this is in Christ and in the Blessed Virgin. " (St. Th. op. VIII. super salut angelica). When, thereiore, We address her in the wordsof the angelic salutation as full of grâce, and rightly weave that repeated praise into décades, we do "that which is acceptable and désirable almost beyond expression, for so often do We, as it were, recall her exalted dignity and the rédemption of the human race accomplished by Grod through her; and hère, also, is commemorated the Divine and perpétuai tie by which she is united with the joys and sorrows of Christ, His opprobriums and His triumphs in ruling men and aiding them to attain eternal life. But if it graciously pleased Christ to bear in His own person such a likeness to us and to call and prove Himself the Son of Man, and thereiore Our brother, in order that His mercy towards us might be more évident, "it behoved Him in ail things to be made like unto His brethren that He might become rnerciful" (Heb. ii., 17); so i'rom the fact of Mary being chosen as the Mother of this our Brother, the sins: lar privilège wTas conferred upon her above "ail mothers of pouriug ibrth her mercy to us. Moreover, if We are indebted to Christ for communicating to us in some measure the right which belongs be Him of calling and having G-ocl as our Father, in like manner we owe to Him~the right most lovingly communicated, of caliing and having Mary as our Mother. And since nature itself has made the name of mother most sweet, and has as il were established it as the exemplar of tender and thoughtful love, tongue cannot fully tell, but the minds of pions

hristians truly conceive how great is the flame of bene volent and active charity that burns in the breast of Mary — of her who is to us a mother not humanly speaking, but by Christ. She knows well, and keeps in view ail our afïairs — the safeguards we need in life, the dangers which are impending publicly and privately : the difliculties by which we are beset, especially how hard is the struggle with most bitter ennemies for the salvation of the soûl ; in thèse and other trials of life she can do far more for us, and she ardently desires to afrbrd solace, strength and aid of every kind to her beloved children. Therefore, let us approach Mary, beseeching her by those maternai ties by which she is united to Jésus and also to us : let us most religiously invoke her présent aid by that mode of prayer which she herself has pointed out ar.d regards as specially acceptable : then we can justly rest under the protection of our most propitious mother with secure and joyful minds.

Besides the commendation of the Rosary from the nature of the prayer itself, it is also an easy means of iaculcating upon soûls the ckief points of Christian Faith, and this is a much nobler commendation. For it is chiefly through faith that man makes straight and sure progress to Grod, and learns to révérence in his mind and soûl the great majesty of Grod, His dominion over ail things, His suprême power, wisdom and prudence : " He who approaches to G-od must, believe that He exists and is the rewarder of those who seek Him." ("Hebrews. — XI. 6.) And because the eternal Son of Grod assumed human nature, and shone before us, and is présent as the way, the truth and the life, therefore is it necessary that our faith should embrace the sublime mysteries and highest Trinity of Divine persons and of the only begotten Son of the Father made man. " This is eternal life, that they should knowT Thee, the only

true God, and Him whom Thou has sent Jesus- Christ." (John XXII. 3.)

For Grod granted us a great gift when He gave us this holy faith, through which not only we are lifted above human things, since we are made the beholders and participators of the Diyine nature, but we hâve this in addition, the cause of exceeding merit of heavenly rewards. Whereupon our hope is nourished and strengthened that one day, not through the shadowy images oi" things, but in the full light we shall see Grod Himself and enjoy Him, our highest good, forever.

But the Christian man is so torn assunder by the various cares of life, and so easily wanders aside after trilles, that unless aided by fréquent remindings, he allows to slip into graduai oblivion those things that are of the highest importance and necessity, and for that reason his faith languishes and even wholly perishes.

The Church, that she may préserve her children from such great dangers of ignorance, omits no counsels of vigilance and diligence, and among the aids of faith the Rosary of the Blessed Yirgin is not the last to which she resorts. For in it, with amost beautiful and fervent prayer continued in a fixed order, the principal mysteries of our religion are brought to mind lor remembrance and méditation: — those first in which the Word was made flesh, and Mary, a pure Yirgin ond Mother perforais for Him with holy joy her maternai duties ; — then the sorrows of Christ, His suffering, His tortures and His death, the price by which the salvation of our race was gained : — then follow the mysteries full of glory, and the triurnph over death, — His ascension into heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the splendor of the glory of Mary received into the Heavens, and finally the everlasting glory of ail the

heavenly beings joined with the glory of the Mother and the Son.

This interwoven séries of admirable events is earnestly and» frequently recalled to rnind, and almost unfolded to view, so that those who devoutly recite the Rosary, hâve their minds fîlled with an ever new sweetness of piety, touching and soothing them as if they heard the voice of their most loving Mother, unfolding to them those mysteries and speaking of many things helpful to their salvation. This seems to be not less confirmed by the fact, that in the places, famiiies and nations where the custom of reciting the Rosary exists no loss of Faith is to be feared from ignorance or deadly errors.

Bnt there is another évident advantage to be derived from the Rosary which the Church eagerly seeks for her children, and it is that they should regulate their lives and their morals more perfectly according to the rule and precepts of holy faith. For if, according to the Divine saying. " Faith without work is dead " (James 11, 20.) because faith draws its life from charity, and charity is manifested in the iruitfulness of holy actions, certainiy the Christian man will dérive no profit ior eternity from his faith, unless he orovern his life according to it. " What will it profit my brethren, if a man says he has faith if he bave not the works? Will faith save him ?" (James II, 14)

That class of raen wonld incur a more grave rebuke from Christ the Judge, than those wholly ignorant of Christian faith and teaching. x The latter act not as perverse men living differently from what they believe, for not having the light of G-ospel, theyvhave some excuse, or certainiy are to be deémed less guilty.

The faith We possess will produce more fruit, by méditation on the mysteries, for by it the soûl becomes fired by the virtues set before it. The salu-

tary example of Christ Our Lord shines before us prominently in everything.

The great ail powerful G-od, through His exceeding great charity for us, lessens himself to the condition of the lowliest of men. He cornes among us as an ordinary person, talks to us as a friend, teaches the individuai as well as the multitude aJl justice, excelling as a master He excels in His teaching, in authority He is Grod. Heis a benelactor to ail, he heais the sick of disease of the body, and to the greater diseases of the soûl he ministers wi<h a paternal compassion. Those who are tortured by bitterness or overwhelmed by the weight of care, thèse above ail, He secretly addresses and invites by the words " corne to me ail you who labor and are heavy burthened and f will refresh you." (Maih. XI. 28.) Then while .we are reposing in his embrace He whispers of that mystical fire which He had brought to men, and sweetly suggests His meekness of soûl and. submission, by the practice of which virtues He wishes us to be sharers of the true and solid peace of which he is the author. " Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you will fiud rest to vour soûl." (Mat. H, 29.)

Nevertheless in return for the light of heavenly wisdom, and the wondrous abundance of benefits by which men should merit, He suffers hatred and the most cruel injuries from men, and pours forth His blood and life upon the Cross, desiring nothing more eagerly than to gain life for them by His death. No one who considers attentively and ponders over thèse dear pledges of Our Most Loving Redeemer could iail to hâve his will roused to grateful love The strength of tried faith will produce such an effect more truly when with mind illuminated and soûl deeply moved, it will wholly learn to follow the footsteps of Christ through every

trial, according to the protest of Paul. " What will separate us from the charity of Christ? Tribulation or need, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or persécution, or the sword?" (Rom. VIII, 35.) " 1 live, now not I but Chris*- liveth in me." (Gai. II.)

But lest the high example which Christ, man and G-od, gives should terrify oui* weakness together with the mysteries or His lil'e we contemplate those of the lil'e of His mother. She was descended from the Royal Une of David, it is true, but to her naught is left of the wealth and splendor of her ancestors. She lived in obscurity in an humble town, in a still more lowly dwelling, in solitude and destitution the more contented, as she could the more freely raise her heart Jto G-od and cling unreservedly to the highest and most longed-for good. And the Lord is with her, and blesses her and fills her with His grâce ; and she at the invitation of the heavenly messenger is announced as the one from whom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the expected Saviour of nations is to corne forth clothed in our humanity And the more she wonders at the exalted degree of dignity and attributes it to the gift of the power and mercy of G-od, by so much the more does she humble herself and conscious to herself of no virtue, and with ready soûl calls herself, and dévotes herself as the handmaid of the Lord while she is made His mother.

What in holiness she promised, in holiness she exécutes, while in joy and in tears she begins that life of perpétuai communion with her Son Jésus. Thus at a pinnacle of glory to which no other, either man or angel will reach, because with her no other will be compared in point of virtue, thus she remains the crown of heaven and ol earth, as she is to be the triumphant queen of martyrs, and so in the heavenly city of G-od, she will be crowned through ail eternity, seated by that Son, because constantly through

life, most constantly on Calvary, in sadness she was to drain the chalice with Him.

But behold, in Mary, a truly good and provident Grod has furnished us a most suitable example of every virtue. Looking upon her with the eyes of the body and of the mind, let us not lose courage, as if stricken with the splendor of the divinity, but drawn by the very nearness of the same nature, let us strive more faithfully to imitate her. If we give ourselves up tintirely to this study, especially with her help, we shall be able to express at least the outlines of her great virtue and holiness, andremembering how she referred ail the counsels of Grod to eveness of life we shall follow her to heaven.

Let us go forward on the pilgrimage thither, already begun, although the journey be hard and strewn with many difficulties, and press onward bravely and with spirit, and in trials and labor cease not to stretch ont our hands to Mary with those words of the Church. "To thee do we cry mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Tum unto us thine eyes of mercy : grant us a pure life, prépare for us a saie journey, that seeing Jésus, we may rejoice forever."

But this best and most loving of Mothers, well acquainted with the weakness and corruption of our nature, although she w7as free from it herself, how timely and complète will be her help, with what charity she will refresh us and with what power strengthen us ! To us going on our journey, consecrated by the divine blood of Christ and the tears of Mary, the end will be sure and easy too, and we shall enter into their society enjoying them forever in the blessedness of glory.

Thereiore in the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary are suitably and usefully combined an excellent form of prayer, a suitable means of preserving faith, and an illustrious example of perfect virtue.

Therefore it is indeed worthy ot true Christian» to hâve the Rosary frequently in their minds, to devoutly recite it and piously méditât e upon it.

But We reeommend it particularly to the Confraternity of the Holy Family which We hâve lately praised and legitimately approved called. That mystery of the life of Christ Our Lord, His living a silent and hidden lite so long within the walls of the house of Nazareth, was the origin of the association so that Christian families should strive to eonibrm themselves to the model ot that divinely constituted Hoiy Family, and hence its connection with the holy Rosary is évident. What relates especially to the joyful mysteries is included in the fact that Jésus, after manifesting his wisdom in the temple, went to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary and was suhject to theni, as it were teaching the others mysteries which more directly concerned teaching and the rédemption of man. Hence the associâtes may see how properly it behooves them to be diligent in dévotions of the Rosary.

And in propagating the same. So far as in us lies, We ratify the grants of indulgence made in former years in favor of those who pass the month ot Ocrober according to the prescribed conditions. To your authority and solicitude, Vénérable Brethren, We entrust it, that the dévotion towards the Blessed Virgin may glow with a fervour, equal to the dévotion of former days among Catholic nations toward her who is the help of Christians and who is to be honored by the prayer of the Rosary.

But that where our exhortation began there it may also end, We, again and openly, testify Our great love towards the Mother of G-od, Our remembrance of her kindness and a heart full of most joyful hope. The prayers of the Christian people piously praying at her altars We beg alike for the Church tossed about in adverse and turbulent times, and for

Ourselves, while advanced in years, worn out with labors, hemmed in by the distressing state of affairs, supported by no help from men, We guide the helm of the Church, Our hope namely is in Mary Our powerful and kind Mother, Our hope daily increases, and grows more encouraging. To her prayers if We refer the many benefits received from Grod, We give thanks with greater fervour now because ît has been granted to Us to reach the fiftieth anniversary of Our Episcopal Consécration.

This is truly a long spaee of time devoted to Pastoral duty, and one especially replète with daily care, which We consecrate to the ruling of the whole Christian flock. During this space of time for Us, as it is the life of men, as it was in the mysteries of the life of Christ and His Mother, there wTere not wanting cause of joy, and many and bitter causes of sorrow, and causes of glorying in Christ for the rewTards gained. And ail thèse things, We with mind and heart equally humble and grateful to Grod, hâve endeavored to turn to the good and honor of the Church.

And, henceforth, not uniike this, will be the rest of Our life, for whether new joys shall corne to Us or sorrows threaten, if any splendor of glory is to be added thereunto, with the same mind and heart, constantly desiring only heavenly glory from Grod thèse words of David will help us : " Blessed be the name of the Lord : Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory." (Fs CXTI, 2, CXIII,

Indeed from Our clildren, whose good will We

behold so kindly manifested towTards Us, rather than congratulation and praise We expect most eagerly the most earnest and fervent prayers and supplications to the Almighty. We shall rejoice greatly if We obtain this grâce, that whatever of strength or life may be left to Us, whatever authority or influ-

ence We hâve, it may be for the welfare of the Chùrch, and first of ail to reconcile and bring back, those who are hostile and the wanderers whom for so long1 a time Our voice has been calling. But to .ail Our most beloved sons may Grod grant, through Our coming festivity of the gifts of justice, peace, prosperity, holiuess and every good. We beg this ol the paternal charity of Grod, We remind Him of this in thèse words. " Hear me — bud forth as the rose planted by the brink of waters ; give ye a sweet odor as irankincense ; send forth flowers as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring iorth leaves in grâce, and praise with caniicles and bless the Lord in His works. Magnify His name, and give glory to Him with the voice of your lips, and with the canticles of your mouths and with harps. with the whole heait and mouth praise ve Him, and bless the name of the Lord/'

(Eccli. XXXIX 17, 20, 41.)

Should thèse counsels and wishes be scofied at by invligious men who lk blasphème whatsoever they know not . " may Grod mercifully pardon them. That He may be propitious though the prayers oi' the Queen,of the Most Holy Eosary,receive as a guerdon, Vénérable brethren, and as a pledge ol our good will, the Apostolic Bénédiction which to each of you, and to the clergv and your people we lovingly impart in the Lord.

Griven at Rome at St. Peter's the VIII day of September, MDOCCXCII, in the fifteenth yeaV oï Our Pontilicate.

LEO XIII. Pope.

4ième Série — No. 63.

Archevêché d'Ottawa, le 4 novembre 1892.