Twelve
Mediatrix of
Divine Grace
In the 1894 encyclical Iucunda
Semper Expectatione, Pope
Leo XIII named Mary as Mediatrix
of Divine Grace. 35 Further on in the encyclical, the pontiff
stated that; “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." 36
Pope
Leo XIII affirmed Mary’s
title of Mediatrix, “we
repeatedly celebrate those glorious titles of her ministry as Mediatrix.” 37
In the 1895 encyclical Adiutricem,
Pope Leo XIII wrote
regarding Mary, “From her heavenly abode she began, by God's decree, to watch
over the Church, to assist and befriend us as our Mother; so that she who was
so intimately associated with the mystery of human salvation is just as closely
associated with the distribution of the graces which for all time will flow
from the Redemption.” 38
Pope
Leo XIII further affirmed Mary’s titles as Mediatrix, Reparatrix and
Dispenser of all heavenly gifts, “Among her many other titles we find
her hailed as "our Lady, our Mediatrix," "the Reparatrix of the
whole world," "the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts." 39
In his 1918 letter, Inter Sodalicia, Pope Benedict XV wrote on
the unity of sacrifice of Mother Mary and her Son; “Because the Doctors of the
Church by common consent profess that, if the Most Blessed Virgin did not
apparently have any participation in the public life of Jesus Christ, and then
suddenly reappeared on the path to Calvary and under the Cross, she could not
have been present without Divine design.
For, as she suffered and almost
died together with her suffering and dying Son, she gave up her rights as
mother over this Son for the salvation of men and, to appease Divine justice,
she, as much as it pertained to her [quantum ad se pertinebat],
immolated Him, so that it can be said appropriately that she has, together with
Christ, redeemed the human race [Ipsam cum Christo humanum genus
redemisse].
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. (. . .)” 40
In his plea for peace in 1917, Pope Benedict XV wrote; “Since all graces which the Author
of all good deigns to grant to the poor children of Adam, by a loving design of
His Divine Providence are dispensed through the hands of the most holy Virgin, we
wish that the petition of Her most afflicted children, more than ever in this
terrible hour, may turn with lively confidence to the august Mother of God.” 41
The Radio
Message of Venerable Pope Pius XII on the occasion of the solemn
celebration of the Coronation of Our Lady of Fatima, 13 May 1946, stated the following; “He, the Son of God, reflects upon His heavenly
Mother the glory, the majesty and the dominion of His kingship; - because,
associated as Mother and Minister, with the King of martyrs in the ineffable
work of human Redemption, she is forever associated with Him, with an almost immense power, in
the distribution of the graces which derive from Redemption.
Jesus is King of the eternal ages by nature and by conquest;
through Him, with Him, subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by Divine
kinship, by conquest, by singular election. And her kingdom is as vast as that
of her Son and God, for nothing is excluded from her dominion.
Therefore
the Church greets her as Lady and Queen of Angels and Saints, of Patriarchs and
Prophets, of Apostles and Martyrs, of Confessors and Virgins; therefore she
acclaims her Queen of heaven and earth, glorious, most worthy Queen of the
universe: Regina caelorum, glorious Queen of the world, most worthy Queen of
the world: and teaches us to invoke her day and night amidst
That
is because her royalty is essentially maternal, exclusively benevolent.
And
is it not precisely this royalty that you have experienced? Are not the endless
benefits, the innumerable affections with which the maternal Heart of the
august Queen has showered you, what you proclaim and give thanks for here
today? . . . thanks above all to Our Lady, who from her throne of mercy, as a
sublime watchtower . . .watched over you and your rulers . . .
You
crown her Queen of Peace and of the world, so that she may help it find peace
and rise from its ruins.
And
so that crown, a symbol of love and gratitude for the past, of faith and
vassalage in the present, becomes, for the future, a crown of loyalty and hope.”42
_______________________________________________________________________
35.Vatican.va. Iucunda
Semper Expectatione. Number 2. 1894. Accessed 15 August 2026 https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_08091894_iucunda-semper-expectatione.html
36. Vatican.va. Iucunda
Semper Expectatione. Number 5. Ibid
37. Vatican.va. Iucunda
Semper Expectatione. Number 6. Ibid
38.Vatican.va. Adiutricem. Number 7. 1895. Accessed 15 August 2026 https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_05091895_adiutricem.html
39. Vatican.va. Adiutricem.
Number 8. Ibid
40. New Catholic. Rarate-caeli.blogspot. 90 Years of Inter Sodalicia. Accessed 15 August 2026 https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2008/03/90-years-of-inter-sodalicia-sorrowful.html
41. Fatima.org. Rope, Henry E.G. Benedict, the Pope of Peace. London. 1941. pp 104-105 Accessed 16 August 2026
https://fatima.org/pope-benedict-xv-demands-world-peace- may-5-1917/
42.Vatican.va. Anúncio Radiofónico do Papa Pio XII aos Fiéis Portugueses por Ocasião da Solene Celebracão de Coracão de Nossa Senhora de Fátima. 1946. Accessed 18 August 2026
https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/pt/speeches/1946/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19460513_fatima.html
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