Christ the King

Our sister website, The Life of Christ Our Lord, published today a page on the Adoration of the Magi. This seems entirely appropriate for today's magnificent feast in honour of Christ the King.


[10] Videntes autem stellam gavisi sunt gaudio magno valde.
And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

The Adoration of the Magi. J-J Tissot

[11] Et intrantes domum, invenerunt puerum cum Maria matre ejus, et procidentes adoraverunt eum : et apertis thesauris suis obtulerunt ei munera, aurum, thus, et myrrham.
And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

[12] Et responso accepto in somnis ne redirent ad Herodem, per aliam viam reversi sunt in regionem suam.
And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country. [Matt 2]

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

New Blog: The Life of Christ

Pope Leo XIII. [1810, 1878-1903]

On October 13th, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a remarkable vision. When he had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael. In 1886, Pope Leo XIII decreed that this prayer to St. Michael be said at the end of "low" Mass throughout the universal Church, along with the Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen); and the practice of the congregation praying these prayers at the end of Mass continued until about 1970, with the introduction of the new rite of the Mass.


Here is the prayer to St Michael:

SANCTE Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen.

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust into hell Satan and all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Crowds at Fatima in 1917

On October 13th 1917, 33 years later, a public miracle took place at Fatima which was witnessed by a crowd of some 70, 000 people. The sun danced in the sky before appearing to plunge earthwards. The crowd of onlookers, having waited in torrential rain, suddenly discovered that their drenched clothes were dry. Various miraculous cures were reported. The events were reported even in the anti-Catholic press.

Judah Ruah, for the news paper O Seculo, published in the news paper Illustracao Portugueza [Public domain]




The miracle had been promised earlier that year by Our Lady in her apparitions to three Portuguese children. They had been shown a vision of Hell itself and Our Lady urged them to do penance and to pray the Rosary, including the following prayer after each decade:

"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy Mercy".

Our Lady warned that, if mankind did not turn away from sin, the evils afflicting the Russian people would spread throughout the entire world. This was said in the very month that the Bolshevik Revolution was beginning its war on Christian orthodoxy in Russia, a war against Christ that would indeed spread across all continents from 1917 even to the present day.

On October 13th 1991, a family rupture occurred which had a devastating impact, with lifelong and inter-generational consequences.

On October 13th 2009, a formal, sacramental act took place: Miserere mei Domine (Ps 50).

In October 2017, as at Fatima, a small but crucial miracle occurred: what had for a long time been soaked became dry. [15] Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat : He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. [Matt 11]

Mindful of the call to pray the rosary and to place total trust in Our Lady's powerful intercession, I launched the website Rosarium Aureum in 2018 and the Little Office of Our Lady in 2019. With hindsight, these two sites flow naturally from the motto I adopted (and adapted) for my own:

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

[Totally thine am I And all I have is thine; With thee safe ever am I: To Jesus through Mary]

With the arrival of October 2019, I felt that Our Lady was pointing to her son Jesus, precisely in the way of the words: Ad Jesum per Mariam. Accordingly, I decided to begin work on a new site: The Life of Christ Our Lord. Much of the inspiration and many of the images for the new site come from ''The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ'' by James Tissot. My two volume edition of this work contains a facsimile dedication to Monsieur Gladstone, dated ''15 Octobre 1897''. In his introduction, Tissot reveals that he started his research for the book on October 15th 1886.

In view of the confluence of events around the month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, it seemed altogether propitious to launch the new site on October 13th.

I place all the work on this site confidently in the hands of Mary, our gentle Queen and Mother, entreating her to intercede on our behalf with her son Jesus, Christ Our Lord. The prayers are offered in adoration and praise of God, in thanksgiving, but especially in reparation for sins, begging Our Lord to have mercy on the soul of the author, to protect his family members[*],  and to lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of His mercy.

[*]  EEKPTEE and EA. I have disguised the names to respect their privacy on this public site.

The Feast of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Maternitatis Beatæ Mariæ Virginis

To celebrate the feast of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we include:

1. a sermon of Pope St Leo the Great (c 400-461), taken from Matins of the Divine Office
2. Church teaching
3. a 20 day offering to our Blessed Mother. 

Theotokos et Mater Nostra: ora pro nobis

1. Sermo sancti Leónis Papæ

Sermo 1 de Nativitate Domini

Virgo régia Davídicæ stirpis elígitur, quæ sacro gravidánda fetu, divínam humanámque prolem prius concíperet mente quam córpore: et ne supérni ignára consílii ad inusitátos pavéret affátus, quod in ea operándum erat a Spíritu Sancto, collóquio dídicit angélico, nec damnum crédidit pudóris Dei Génetrix mox futúra. Cur enim de conceptiónis novitáte despéret, cui efficiéntia de Altíssimi virtúte promíttitur? Confirmátur credéntis fides étiam præeúntis attestatióne miráculi. Donátur Elísabeth inopináta fecúnditas, ut qui concéptum déderat stérili, datúrus non dubitarétur et Vírgini. Verbum ígitur Dei Fílius, qui in princípio erat apud Deum, per quem facta sunt ómnia, et sine quo factum est nihil, propter liberándum hóminem ab ætérna morte, factus est homo.


V. Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis.
R. Deo grátias.

R. Gloriósæ Vírginis Maríæ Maternitátem digníssimam recolámus:
* Cuius Dóminus humilitátem respéxit, quæ Angelo nuntiánte concépit Salvatórem mundi.
V. Christo canámus glóriam in hac sacra solemnitáte mirábilis Genetrícis Dei.
R. Cuius Dóminus humilitátem respéxit, quæ Angelo nuntiánte concépit Salvatórem mundi.

English translation

A Sermon of St. Leo the Pope
Sermon 1 on the Nativity of the Lord

His Mother was chosen a Virgin of the kingly lineage of David, and when she was to grow heavy with the sacred Child, her soul had already conceived him before her body. She learned the counsel of God announced to her by the Angel, lest the unwonted events should alarm her. The future Mother of God knew what was to be wrought in her by the Holy Ghost, and that her modesty was absolutely safe. For why should she, unto whom was promised all sufficient strength through the power of the Highest, have felt hopeless merely because of the unexampled character of such a conception? She believeth, and her belief is confirmed by the attestation of a miracle which hath already been wrought. The fruitfulness of Elizabeth, before unhoped for, is brought forward that she might not doubt that he who had given conception unto her that was barren, would give the same unto her that was Virgin. And so the Word of God, the Son of God, who was in the beginning with God, by whom all things were made, and without whom was not anything made that was made, to deliver man from eternal death, was made man.
V. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
R. Thanks be to God.

R. Let us tell again of the right worthy Motherhood of the glorious Virgin Mary:
* The same is she whose lowliness the Lord regarded, she who by the message of an Angel conceived the Saviour of the world.
V. Let us sing praise to Christ on this the solemn Feastday of the wondrous Mother of God.
R. The same is she whose lowliness the Lord regarded, she who by the message of an Angel conceived the Saviour of the world.

Notes on Latin vocab

affatus: from adfor, fātus sum, 1, dep. a.: to speak to; address,
damnum ī, n. hurt, harm, damage, injury, loss
didicit: from discō, didicī, 3, a.: to learn, w. acc.
fetu: from fētus, ūs, m.: a bearing or breeding; the young; young, offspring, progeny.
gravidanda: from grăvĭdo, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. id., to burden, load.
ignārus, a, um: (adj.), not knowing; freq.; unaware, ignorant
ĭn-ŏpīnātus, a, um, not expected, unexpected
ĭn-ūsĭtātus, a, um, adj.,unusual, uncommon, extraordinary, very rare 
mente: from mēns, mentis, f.: the thinking faculty; rational soul
paveret: from paveō pāvī, —, ēre, to be struck with fear, be in terror, tremble, quake with fear, be afraid, be terrified
praeeō, īvī, or iī, itus, īre, irreg. n. and a.: to go before; p., praeiēns, euntis, going before, preceding
prolem: from prōlēs, is, f.: that which springs forth; offspring, race, progeny
pudor , ōris, m.: shame; feeling or fear of shame, 5.455; modesty; purity, virtue
regia: from rēgĭus, a, um, adj. rex, of or belonging to a king, kingly, royal, regal.
stirpis: from stirps , stirpis, f.: a shoot, sprout; stem, stock, race, family, lineage; offspring, descendant, progeny; source, origin, foundation, first beginning, cause.

2. Church teaching

Mary's Divine motherhood is based on the teaching of the Gospels, on the writings of the Fathers, and on the express definition of the Church.

[25] And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Et non cognoscebat eam donec peperit filium suum primogenitum : et vocavit nomen ejus Jesum.[Mat 1]
[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis.[15] John beareth witness of him, and crieth out, saying: This was he of whom I spoke: He that shall come after me, is preferred before me: because he was before me.
Joannes testimonium perhibet de ipso, et clamat dicens : Hic erat quem dixi : Qui post me venturus est, ante me factus est : quia prior me erat.[John 1]

 As Mary was truly the mother of Jesus, and as Jesus was truly God from the first moment of His conception,  Mary is truly the mother of God.

Even the earliest Fathers did not hesitate to draw this conclusion as may be seen in the writings of St. Ignatius [1], St. Irenaeus [2], and Tertullian [3].

The contention of Nestorius denying to Mary the title "Mother of God" was followed by the teaching of the Council of Ephesus (431 AD) proclaiming Mary to be Theotokos in the true sense of the word.

...the Word from God took flesh and became man. For we do not say that the nature of the Word was changed and became flesh, nor that He was turned into a whole man made of body and soul. Rather do we claim that the Word in an unspeakable, inconceivable manner united to Himself hypostatically flesh enlivened by a rational soul, and so became man and was called Son of Man, not by God’s will alone or good pleasure, nor by the assumption of a person alone. Rather did two different natures come together to form a unity, and from both arose one Christ, one Son. It was not as though the distinctness of the natures was destroyed by the union, but divinity and humanity together made perfect for us one Lord and one Christ, together marvellously and mysteriously combining to form a unity. So He who existed and was begotten of the Father before all ages is also said to have been begotten according to the flesh of a woman, without the divine nature either beginning to exist in the Holy Virgin, or needing of itself a second begetting after that from His Father. (For it is absurd and stupid to speak of the one who existed before every age and is coeternal with the Father, needing a second beginning so as to exist.) The Word is said to have been begotten according to the flesh, because for us and for our salvation He united what was human to himself hypostatically and came forth from a woman. For He was not first begotten of the Holy Virgin, a man like us, and then the Word descended upon Him; but from the very womb of His mother He was so united and then underwent begetting according to the flesh, making His own the begetting of his own flesh.

...So shall we find that the holy fathers believed. So have they dared to call the Holy Virgin, Mother of God, not as though the nature of the Word or his godhead received the origin of their being from the Holy Virgin, but because there was born from her His holy body rationally ensouled, with which the Word was hypostatically united and is said to have been begotten in the flesh.

[1] St. Ignatius: c. 35  – c. 108, an early Christian writer and bishop of Antioch. 
[2] St. Irenaeus: c. 130 – c. 202 , Greek bishop of Lyon, He had seen and heard the preaching of St Polycarp, the last known living connection with the Apostles, who in turn was said to have heard St John the Evangelist
[3] Tertullian: c. 155 – c. 240, was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage. 

3. An offering to our Blessed Mother

Through the mysterious actions of Providence and the subtle intercession from our gentle Queen and Mother, I completed a review of a remarkable monograph by Dr Wolfgang Smith, published earlier this year.

Dr Smith is a mathematician, accomplished in physics and related disciplines, a keen student of classical philosophy, Thomism and the sapiential writings of the east. He is, more importantly, a faithful Catholic. I offer the review as a gift in honour of the Glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God.


It was posted in 20 instalments on our sister blog-website: see here.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary

Festum Beatæ Mariæ Virginis a Rosario

Pius V 1566. Walters Art Gallery 

Today is the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary. Last year, I published a series of posts annotating Chesterton's poem ''Lepanto''.

This magnificent poem speaks of the incredible victory by a Christian fleet over a huge armada of Ottoman Turks, saving Christian Europe from the all-conquering infidels.

For those who wish to read the annotated poem, here is the link to our sister blog : Lepanto.

St Louis (1673-1716). 

Before the decisive battle of Lepanto, Pope Pius V asked for all the sailors and soldiers to pray the Rosary, confess their sins and receive Holy Communion. Meanwhile, he called on all the faithful of the Church to recite the Rosary and ordered a 40 hour devotion in Rome.

In memory of the miraculous triumph over the Turks, he declared the 7th of October the Feast of Our Lady of Victories, later renamed the Feast  of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, because of her intercession in answering the mass recitation of the Rosary and obtaining the victory.

Totus tuus ego sum 
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

St Francs of Assisi

Funeral of St Francis

1181-1226: Saint Francis of Assisi (Italian: San Francesco d'Assisi, Latin: Sanctus Franciscus Assisiensis), born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco.

1212: Through St Clare, he founded the women's Order of Saint Clare

1219: he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades. He returned to Italy to organize his Order. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew from external affairs.

1223: Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene.

1224: He received the stigmata during a religious ecstasy,
3 October 1226: He died while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 141.

1228: Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis.

One of seven panels that come from the back of a large two-sided polyptych. It was made for the high altar of San Francesco, Borgo Sansepolcro. 1437-44.

Psalm 141: Voce mea. A prayer of David in extremity of danger

[1] Intellectus David, cum esset in spelunca, oratio.
Of understanding for David. A prayer when he was in the cave. [1 Kings 24]

[2] Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi, voce mea ad Dominum deprecatus sum.
I cried to the Lord with my voice: with my voice I made supplication to the Lord.

[3] Effundo in conspectu ejus orationem meam; et tribulationem meam ante ipsum pronuntio.
In his sight I pour out my prayer, and before him I declare my trouble:

[4] In deficiendo ex me spiritum meum, et tu cognovisti semitas meas; in via hac qua ambulabam absconderunt laqueum mihi.
When my spirit failed me, then thou knewest my paths. In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me.

[5] Considerabam ad dexteram, et videbam, et non erat qui cognosceret me : periit fuga a me, et non est qui requirat animam meam.
I looked on my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one that would know me. Flight hath failed me: and there is no one that hath regard to my soul.

[6] Clamavi ad te, Domine; dixi : Tu es spes mea, portio mea in terra viventium.
I cried to thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.

[7] Intende ad deprecationem meam, quia humiliatus sum nimis. Libera me a persequentibus me, quia confortati sunt super me.
Attend to my supplication: for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

[8] Educ de custodia animam meam ad confitendum nomini tuo; me exspectant justi donec retribuas mihi.
Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the just wait for me, until thou reward me.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Today is the feast of the ''Little Flower'', Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, a very special saint for my family and for this author. What an impact she has had on the world, living in the cloisters of Carmel before dying at the age of 24...

Last year, I published an illustrated series of posts on her remarkable autobiography : see our sister website here. I used my French edition of her story published shortly after her death in 1897.

< Here is the title page and below is the translation.

THERESE

Je veux passer mon ciel à faire du bien sur la terre
I want to spend my time in Heaven doing good on earth.

of the Child Jesus
and the Holy Face

Died in the odour of sanctity in the Carmel convent at Lisieux
the 30th of September 1897 at the age of 24 years

He that is a little one, let him turn to me. [Prov IX, 16]


The STORY of a SOUL
written by herself
Letters and Poems
Fortieth thousand

Après ma mort je ferai tomber une plui de roses.
After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses.

************************************************************

Here are two excerpts from the chapter about her final days.  Her famous and soul-stirring words are capitalised.

One  of  the  Mothers,  having  come  to  visit  her,  did  her  a  trifling  service. "How  happy  I  should  be,"  thought  the  Mother,  "if  this  Angel  would  only say:  'I  will  repay  you  in  Heaven!'  At  that  instant  Soeur  Thérèse,  turning  to her, said: "Mother, I will repay you in Heaven!" 

But more surprising than all, was her consciousness of the mission for which Our  Lord  had  destined  her.  The  veil  which  hides  the  future  seemed  lifted, and more than once she revealed to us its secrets, in prophecies which have already been realised. "I  have  never  given  the  Good  God  aught  but  love;  it  is  with  Love He will repay. AFTER MY DEATH I WILL LET FALL A SHOWER OF ROSES."

"I  feel  that  my  mission  is  soon  to  begin—my  mission  to  make  others  love
God as I love Him . . . to each souls my little way.  I WILL SPEND MY HEAVEN IN DOING GOOD UPON EARTH. Nor  is this impossible, since  from the  very heart  of  the  Beatific Vision, the Angels keep watch over us. No, there can be no rest for me until the end of the  world.  But  when  the  Angel  shall  have  said:  'Time  is  no  more!'  then  I shall rest, then I shall be able to rejoice, because the number of the elect will be complete."

The picture (left) faithfully shows the facial expression and posture of St Therese immediately after her death, 30 September 1897.

It is based on a picture by her sister, Céline. The words in the picture are:

AU SOIR DE CETTE VIE VOUS SEREZ JUGÉS SUR L'AMOUR

'In the evening of this life, you will be judged on love.'


Apart from the Imitation of Christ, two books that played a very important role in Ste Thérèse's short life were:

'Le Manuel du Chrétien' and

'La Fin du monde présent et mystères de la vie future' : 'The End of the present world and the mysteries of the future life') (1881, Abbé Arminjon. English translation via Sophia Institute Press, 2008, available in Kindle edition).

Ste Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)

One of my most prized possessions is a 1921 edition of the Manuel in which I keep a relic of Ste Thérèse.


I've no idea how I came into possession of the relic and so I esteem its very presence to be something of a miracle!

I renew my prayers of thanks to Almighty God for revealing her inspirational life and writings to me and for permitting her intercession on our behalf in hac lacrimarum valle.

Angele Dei : O Angel of God

Here are two prayers posted in honour of the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. [Reproduced by courtesy of Treasury of Latin Prayers. ©copyrighted by Michael Martin].

I pray especially today for PAB, whose birthday it is.

Dopter. Paris.

The first is Angele Dei, also know as the Prayer to One's Guardian Angel appears in medieval collections of St. Anselm's works (c1033-1109). The English translation given below is from the later half of the 19th century.

Guardian Angels protect their charges against the assaults of demons to preserve them from sin. Several passages in Scripture mention them in passing. (Dn 10: 13,20-21, Tob 12:12, Mt 18:10, Acts 12:11,15).

Angele Dei,
qui custos es mei,
Me tibi commissum pietate superna;
(Hodie, Hac nocte) illumina, custodi, rege, et guberna.
Amen.

Angel of God,my guardian dear,To whom His love commits me here;Ever this (day, night) be at my side,To light and guard, to rule and guide.Amen.

''Je te le confie : conserve le pour l'éternité.'' ''I entrust him to thee : keep him safe for eternity.''

Courtesy of Holy Card Heaven. 
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported Licence. 


Here's the second, from an 11th century prayer book belonging to Abbot Aelfwine:

The Celestial Guide. Bouasse Jeune, Paris. Pl.1016

Credo quod sis angelus sanctus, a Deo omnipotente ad custodiam mei deputatus. Propterea peto, et per illum qui te ad hoc ordinavit, humiliter imploro, ut me miseram(um) fragilem atque indignam(um) semper et ubique in hac vita custodias, protegas a malis omnibus atque defendas, et cum Deus hinc animam meam migrare iusserit, nullam in eam potestatem daemonibus habere permittas, sed tu eam leniter a corpore suscipias, et in sinum Abrahae [1] suaviter usque perducas iubente ac iuvante creatore ac salvatore Deo nostro, qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

I believe that thou art the holy angel appointed by almighty God to watch over me. On this account, I beg and humbly implore thee, through Him who hast ordained thee to this task, that in this life thou wouldst always and everywhere guard me, wretched, weak, and unworthy that I am. Protect and defend me from all evil, and when God has bid my soul to leave this world, permit not the devil to have any power over it. Rather that thou wouldst gently take it from my body and lead it sweetly unto the bosom of Abraham with the biding and assistance of God our Creator and Saviour, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 
From Wilmart, Auteurs Spirituels et Textes Devotes Du Moyen Age.

''Le céleste conducteur. Voilà ta Mère, elle t'apprendra comment il faut aimer et glorifier Jésus.''  ''The Celestial Guide. There is your Mother who will teach you how you must love and glorify Jesus.''

Courtesy of Holy Card Heaven. 
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported Licence. 


[1] [22] And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell.
Factum est autem ut moreretur mendicus, et portaretur ab angelis in sinum Abrahae. Mortuus est autem et dives, et sepultus est in inferno. [Luke 16]

Reproduced by courtesy of Treasury of Latin Prayers. ©copyrighted by Michael Martin

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

September: Devotion of the Rosary (Encyclical of Leo XIII, 1883)

Devotion of the Rosary (Encyclical of Leo XIII, 1883)

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam

Portrait of Pope Leo XIII, circa 1898.[public Domain]

The month of October is customarily associated among many Catholics with the Rosary. Here are some excerpts from a Leo XIII's encyclical on this very subject.

2. It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troubling times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man's salvation, has a favour and power with her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain. And, as it is her greatest pleasure to grant her help and comfort to those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she would deign, and even be anxious, to receive the aspirations of the universal Church. 

3. ...There is none among you, venerable brethren, who will not remember how great trouble and grief God's Holy Church suffered from the Albigensian heretics, ...who filled the South of France and other portions of the Latin world with their pernicious errors, and carrying everywhere the terror of their arms... Our merciful God, as you know, raised up against these most direful enemies a most holy man, the illustrious parent and founder of the Dominican Order [St Dominic, 1170-1221]. Great in the integrity of his doctrine, in his example of virtue, and by his apostolic labours, he proceeded undauntedly to attack the enemies of the Catholic Church, not by force of arms; but trusting wholly to that devotion which he was the first to institute under the name of the Holy Rosary, which was disseminated through the length and breadth of the earth by him and his pupils...

4. The efficacy and power of this devotion was also wondrously exhibited in the sixteenth century, when the vast forces of the Turks threatened to impose on nearly the whole of Europe the yoke of superstition and barbarism. At that time the Supreme Pontiff, St. Pius V., after rousing the sentiment of a common defence among all the Christian princes, strove, above all, with the greatest zeal, to obtain for Christendom the favour of the most powerful Mother of God.... And thus Christ's faithful warriors, prepared to sacrifice their life and blood for the salvation of their faith and their country, proceeded undauntedly to meet their foe near the Gulf of Corinth, while those who were unable to take part formed a pious band of supplicants, who called on Mary, and unitedly saluted her again and again in the words of the Rosary, imploring her to grant the victory to their companions engaged in battle [the Battle of Lepanto, 7 October,1571] .... And it was to preserve the memory of this great boon thus granted, that the same Most Holy Pontiff desired that a feast in honour of Our Lady of Victories should celebrate the anniversary of so memorable a struggle, the feast which Gregory XIII. dedicated under the title of "The Holy Rosary."

5. Since, therefore, it is clearly evident that this form of prayer is particularly pleasing to the Blessed Virgin, and that it is especially suitable as a means of defence for the Church and all Christians, it is in no way wonderful that several others of Our Predecessors have made it their aim to favour and increase its spread by their high recommendations. Thus:

Urban IV [1261-1264], testified that "every day the Rosary obtained fresh boon for Christianity."

Sixtus IV [1471-1484] declared that this method of prayer "redounded to the honour of God and the Blessed Virgin, and was well suited to obviate impending dangers;"

Leo X [1531-1521]that "it was instituted to oppose pernicious heresiarchs and heresies;" while

Julius III [1550-1555] called it "the glory of the Church."

So also St. Pius V [1566-1572], that "with the spread of this devotion the meditations of the faithful have begun to be more inflamed, their prayers more fervent, and they have suddenly become different men; the darkness of heresy has been dissipated, and the light of Catholic faith has broken forth again."

Lastly Gregory XIII [1572-1585] in his turn pronounced that "the Rosary had been instituted by St. Dominic to appease the anger of God and to implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

8. ... Not only do We earnestly exhort all Christians to give themselves to the recital of the pious devotion of the Rosary publicly, or privately in their own house and family, and that unceasingly, but we also desire that the whole of the month of October in this year should be consecrated to the Holy Queen of the Rosary. We decree and order that in the whole Catholic world, during this year, the devotion of the Rosary shall be solemnly celebrated by special and splendid services.

Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, the 1st of September, 1883, in the sixth year of Our Pontificate.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum tutus semper sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam