| Augustissimae Virginis Mariae Latin for 'The Most August Virgin Mary' Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII | |
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| Signature date | 12 September 1897 |
| Subject | On the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary |
| Number | 63 of 85 of the pontificate |
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Augustissimae Virginis Mariae (English: The Most August Virgin Mary) is an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII. It was issued 12 September 1897 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. [1] This is an encyclical on the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.
While recognizing the natural tendency of people to associate in groups of like-minded interests, he notes the beneficial usefulness of various Catholic associations. Among these, however, he gives prominence to the Rosary Sodality. "Everyone knows how necessary prayer is for all men; not that God's decrees can be changed, but, as St. Gregory says, "that men by asking may merit to receive what Almighty God hath decreed from eternity to grant them" [2]
"We are taught by the Catholic faith that we may pray not only to God himself, but also to the Blessed in heaven (Conc. Trid. Sess. xxv.), though in different manner; because we ask from God as from the Source of all good, but from the Saints as from intercessors. [...] Wherefore, it is said in the Apocalypse (viii., 4): 'The smoke of the incense of the prayers of the Saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel' (Summa Theol. 2a tae, q. lxxxiii. a. iv.). [...] Now, of all the blessed in heaven, who can compare with the august Mother of God in obtaining grace? ...For, so great is her dignity, so great her favour before God, that whosoever in his need will not have recourse to her is trying to fly without wings. [3]
Leo also likens concerted communal prayer to the office of the angels. "With what confidence may we not hope that those who on earth have united with the Angels in this ministry will one day enjoy their blessed company in Heaven?" [4]
In Augustissimae Virginis, Leo contrasted the growth of the society devoted to the Rosary, the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, versus the evil societies of his time, the Socialists and Freemasons:
"The natural tendency of man to association has never been stronger, or more earnestly and generally followed, than in our own age. This is not at all to be reprehended, unless when so excellent a natural tendency is perverted to evil purposes, and wicked men, banding together in various forms of societies, conspire 'against the Lord and against His Christ' (Ps ii., 2). It is, however, most gratifying to observe that pious associations are becoming more and more popular among Catholics also [...]. [5] We do not hesitate to assign a pre-eminent place among these societies to that known as the Society of the Holy Rosary. If we regard its origin, we find it distinguished by its antiquity, for St. Dominic himself is said to have been its founder." [6]
The Holy Rosary, also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used in the Catholic Church and to the string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ; when referring to the beads, it is written with a lower-case initial letter.
The following are Roman Catholic prayers to Saint Joseph.
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The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary is a Roman Catholic Archconfraternity or spiritual association, under the care and guidance of the Dominican Order. The members of the confraternity strive to pray the entire Holy Rosary weekly.
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Deiparae Virginis Mariae, is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII released in 1946 addressed to all Catholic bishops on the possibility of defining the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith.
Ad Caeli Reginam is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII, given at Rome, from St. Peter's Basilica, on the feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the eleventh day of October, 1954, in the sixteenth year of his Pontificate. The encyclical is an important element of the Mariology of Pope Pius XII. It established the feast Queenship of Mary.
Ingruentium malorum is an encyclical of Pope Pius XII on reciting the rosary, issued on September 15, 1951, the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary. "It is an appeal for an intensification of the traditional October Rosary devotions, making a particular recommendation for the family recitation of the Rosary, begging Our Lady to obtain peace for individuals, for families, for peoples, for nations, and for the Church throughout the world."
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Octobri mense is an encyclical on the Rosary by Pope Leo XIII, also known as the Rosary Pope. It was issued on 22 September 1891 in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
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There are differing views on the history of the Rosary. The exact origin of the Rosary as a prayer is less than clear and subject to debate among scholars. The use of knotted prayer ropes in Christianity goes back to the Desert Fathers in the 3rd and early 4th centuries. These counting devices were used for prayers such as the Jesus prayer in Christian monasticism. The period after the First Council of Ephesus in 431 witnessed gradual growth in the use of Marian prayers during the Middle Ages.
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Supremi apostolatus officio, commonly referred to as "On Devotion of the Rosary", is the first of a number of encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII on the Rosary. It was issued on September 1, 1883, encouraging the practice.