Supremi apostolatus officio
During his pontificate, Pope Leo XIII wrote twelve encyclicals and five apostolic letters on the Rosary. The first such encyclical was Supremi apostolatus of September 1883. Most were issued in September in anticipation of October, which Leo would have dedicated to special devotion to Mary, in particular through the Rosary.
Supremi apostolatus
| Supremi apostolatus officio Latin for 'The Supreme Apostolic Office' Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII | |
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| Date | 1 September 1883 |
| Subject | Encouraging Rosary devotion |
| Number | 12 of 88 of the pontificate |
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Supremi apostolatus officio ("The Supreme Apostolic Office") (commonly referred to "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.[1]
Leo echoed the words of the oldest known Marian prayer (known in the Latin tradition as the “Sub Tuum Praesidium”), when he wrote, “It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary.”[2] He then gives a brief history of the rosary.
The saint who instituted the Rosary was St. Dominic who was fighting the heresy of the Albigensians:
"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... 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...."[3]
The Albigensians were a “neo-Manichaean sect that flourished in southern France in the 12th and 13th centuries...The Albigenses asserted the coexistence of two mutually opposed principles one good, and one evil. The former is the creator of the spiritual, the latter of the material world.” [4]
Leo also claimed that the praying of the Rosary had resulted in Catholic victories over enemies in battles:
"... 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... the Christian fleet gained a magnificent victory, with no great loss to itself, in which the enemy were routed with great slaughter.
...Similarly, important successes were in the last century gained over the Turks at Temeswar, in Pannonia, and at Corfu; and in both cases these engagements coincided with feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with the conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. And this led our predecessor, Clement XI, in his gratitude, to decree that the Blessed Mother of God should every year be especially honoured in her Rosary by the whole Church. [5]
Leo saw the Rosary as "an effective spiritual weapon against the evils afflicting society".[6] "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."[7]
In furtherance of this, he recommended that from October 1 to November 2, in every parish, and where practicable in every chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin - "let five decades of the Rosary be recited with the addition of the Litany of Loreto. We desire that the people should frequent these pious exercises; and We will that either Mass shall be said at the altar, or that the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed to the adoration of the faithful, Benediction being afterwards given.[7]
Superiore anno
| Superiore anno Latin for 'Last year' Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII | |
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| Date | 30 August 1884 |
| Subject | On the Recitation of the Rosary |
| Number | 15 of 88 of the pontificate |
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Superiore anno is an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, issued on August 30, 1884, on the recitation of the Rosary.[8] It was written a year after Supremi apostolatus officio.
Pope Leo reiterated the exhortation expressed in the previous year's Supremi apostolatus officio that special rosary devotions be conducted throughout the month of October, particularly in light of the recent outbreak of cholera spreading from the ports. He further modified the previous year's decree, "As We desire also to consult the interests of those who live in country districts, and are hindered, especially in the month of October, by their agricultural labours, We permit all We have above decreed, and also the holy Indulgences gainable in the month of October, to be postponed to the following months of November or December, according to the prudent decision of the Ordinaries."[9]
Quod auctoritate
| Quod auctoritate Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII | |
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| Date | 22 September 1885 |
| Subject | The Annunciation of an Extraordinary Holy Year |
| Number | 18 of 88 of the pontificate |
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Quod auctoritate is an encyclical published by Pope Leo XIII on 22 December 1885. It has the subtitle: "The Annunciation of an Extraordinary Holy Year".
On 22 December 1885 Pope Leo proclaimed the upcoming year as an extraordinary Holy Year. He referred to his predecessors and the Jubilee Years proclaimed by them. The Holy year was intended to counter social and religious decay. It was his and the Church's duty to confront this evil. The Holy Jubilee has only the salvation of hearts as its purpose, and it serves not only the individual but all nations.
As already described in several encyclicals of the Rosary, this year the connection with the Blessed Mother Mary should be strengthened through the prayer of the Rosary, which he invites all the faithful to do. He emphatically reiterates his exhortations not to slacken in faith and to ask for the help of the Blessed Virgin.
Among the rules established in order to obtain the Holy Year indulgence were: the usual conditions of confession and communion with a visit to a designated church. Inhabitants of Rome were to make two visits, either to the Vatican or the Lateran, those living outside Rome, two visits to any of three churches designated by their regional bishop, otherwise the above rules shall apply mutatis mutandis, Seafarers and travellers fulfil their duties if they visit their main or parish church six times and comply with the aforementioned rules.
Vi è ben noto
| Vi è ben noto Latin for 'You are well aware' Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII | |
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| Date | 20 September 1887 |
| Subject | On the Rosary and Public Life |
| Number | 22 of 88 of the pontificate |
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Vi è ben noto is an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, dated 20 September 1887, written to the Italian Episcopate for the dedication of the entire month of October to the prayer of the Holy Rosary in order to improve the situation of the Church in Italy and the freedom of the Pontiff. "It cannot be concealed that, although thanks to the mercy of God religious feeling is strong and widely spread among Italians, nevertheless by the evil influence of men and the times religious indifference is on the increase, and hence there is a lessening of that respect and filial love for the Church which was the glory of our ancestors and in which they placed their highest ambition."[10] He urged the bishops to encourage among their parishioners an open and sincere profession of the faith and teaching of Jesus Christ, casting aside all human respect, and considering before all things the interest of religion and the salvation of souls."[10] Leo invokes Mary under the title "Queen of the Rosary", and raised the classification of Feast of the Rosary (October 7) to a double of the second class.
The Rosary Brings Hope
Leo's annual encyclicals on the devotion to the rosary were more hopeful in 1895 through 1898.
Adiutricem, On Devotion of the Rosary (September 5 1895)
In 1895, in his encyclical “Adiutricem,” Leo sounded notes of hope with the return of devotion to the Rosary. He saw that hope in the return to the devotion to Mary in
• sodalities which had everywhere been restored and multiplied under her patronage;
• in the magnificent temples erected to her august name;
• in the pilgrimages undertaken by throngs of devout souls to her most venerated shrines;
• in the congresses whose deliberations are devoted to the increase of her glory;
• in other things of a like nature which are praiseworthy in themselves and augur well for the future.”[11]
Of particular hope that Leo prayed for was unity between the Churches in the East and West. Mary was a common devotion to both and he praised the plans to build a shrine in Achaia in honor of “the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary.”[12] Achaia, a land north of Greece, was evangelized by St. Paul and mentioned in several books of the New Testament.
Fidentum Piumque, On the Rosary (September 20, 1896)
In 1896, Leo hoped for reconciliation of the Eastern and Western Churches through devotion to the Rosary in his encyclical “Fidentum Piumque”:
...fostering the work of reconciliation among those who are separated from Us daily urges Us more pressingly to action; and we are convinced that this most excellent Re-union cannot be better prepared and strengthened than by the power of prayer. [13]
Notes
- Pope Leo XIII. Supremi apostolatus officio, Vatican, September 1, 1883
- "St. John the Apostle Students Form a Living Rosary", Archdiocese of Newark Catholic Schools
- "Supremi Apostolatus, para. 3".
- "Albigenses".
- "Supremi Apostolatus, para. 4".
- Pope John Paul II, On the Most Holy Rosary, USCCB Publishing, 2002, p. 1 ISBN 9781574555387
- Pope Leo XIII, Supremi apostolatus officio, §8
- Pope Leo XIII, Superiore anno, Vatican, August 30, 1884
- Pope Leo XIII, Superiore anno, §5
- Pope Leo XIII. Vi è ben noto, §3, 20 September 1887, Libreria Editrice Vaticana
- "Adiutricem, para. 2, bullet points added".
- "Adiutricem, para 29".
- "Fidentum Piumque, para. 6".