DIUTURNI
TEMPORIS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE ROSARY
To
Our Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates,
Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries having
Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
Looking
back over the long space of time, which by God's Will We have passed in
the Supreme Pontificate, We cannot but acknowledge that, in spite of Our
demerits, We have enjoyed the most singular protection of Divine Providence.
This We believe must be attributed principally to the united, and therefore
most efficacious, prayers, which, as of old for St. Peter, so now also
for Ourselves, are constantly being poured forth by the Universal Church.
Wherefore We first of all give profound thanks to God, the Giver of all
good things, and we shall continue as long as life lasts to cherish in
mind and heart gratitude for each and every favour. And next, there comes
to Our mind the sweet remembrance of the motherly protection of the august
Queen of Heaven; and this memory likewise We shall cherish and preserve
inviolate, ever thanking her and proclaiming her benefits. From her, as
from an abundant spring, are derived the streams of heavenly graces. "In
her hand are the treasures of
the mercies of the Lord" (St. John-Damascene, Sermon I. on the Nativity
of the blessed Virgin). "God wisheth her to be the beginning of all
good things" (St. Irenaeus, Contra Valen., J. iii., cap. 33). In
the love of this tender mother, which We have constantly striven to cherish
and to grow in day by day, We confidently hope that We may end Our life.
Summary
of Preceding Encyclicals on the Rosary
2.
We have long desired to secure the welfare of
the human race in an increase of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, as in
a powerful citadel, and We have never ceased to encourage the constant
use of the Rosary among Christians, by publishing every year since September
1, 1883, an Encyclical Letter on this subject, besides frequently issuing
Decrees, as is well known. And now, since God in His merciful Providence
has this year again allowed Us to see the approach of the month of October,
which We have already consecrated to our Heavenly Queen under the title
of the Rosary, We would not refrain from again addressing you; but summarizing
in a few words all that we have hitherto done for the promotion of his
form of prayer, We will crown our work by yet a new document, in which
Our earnest desire and zeal for this form of devotion to
Mary may appear still more clearly, and the fervour of the faithful may
be stimulated to the devout and constant use of this pious practice.
3. Impelled, therefore, by a constant desire that Christians should ever
be convinced of the efficacy and dignity of the Rosary of Our Lady, We
first of all pointed out that the origin of this form of prayer is divine
rather than human, showing it to be an admirable garland woven from the
Angelic Salutation, together with the Lord's Prayer, joined to meditation,
and that this form of prayer was most powerful and particularly efficacious
for attaining eternal life. For besides the special excellence of the
prayers, it affords a powerful protection to faith and conspicuous models
of virtue in the mysteries proposed for contemplation. We showed also
how easy the devotion is and how suited to the people, offering an absolutely
perfect model of domestic life in meditation on the Holy Family at Nazareth,
and that therefore Christendom had never failed to experience its salutary
effects.
The Popes and
the Rosary
4. For these reasons We have ever repeatedly encouraged the recitation
of the Holy Rosary, and have endeavoured to increase its dignity by a
more solemn cult, following in this the footsteps of our predecessors.
Pope Sixtus V., of happy memory, approved the ancient custom of reciting
the Rosary; Gregory XIII. dedicated a day under this title, which Clement
VIII. afterwards inscribed in the martyrology, and Clement XI. extended
to the Universal Church. Benedict XIII. inserted the feast in the Roman
Breviary, and We, ourselves, in perpetual testimony of Our affection for
this devotion commanded that the solemnity with its office should be celebrated
in the Universal Church as a double of the second class, consecrating
to this devotion the entire month of October. Finally we ordered the addition
to the Litany of Loreto of the invocation "Queen of the most Holy
Rosary," as an augury of victory in our present warfare.
The Value of
Indulgences
5. It remains to be added that great value and utility accrue to the Rosary
from the abundance of privileges and favours which adorn it, and more
particularly from the rich treasures of indulgences attached to it. It
is evident how greatly to the advantage of all who are solicitous for
their eternal
salvation is the obtaining of these benefits. For it is a question of
obtaining either totally or partially a remission of the debt of temporal
punishment which, even after guilt has been forgiven, must be paid either
in this life or in the next. Vast indeed is the treasure won by the merits
of Christ, His Mother and the Saints, to which our predecessor Clement
VI. so aptly applied those words of the Book of Wisdom: "She is an
infinite treasure to men: which they that use become the friends of God"
(Wisdom vii., 14).
6. The Roman Pontiffs, making use of that supreme power granted them by
God, have opened out the most abundant fountains of these graces to the
members of the sodality of the Holy rosary and to those who recite the
Rosary.
A Projected
"Constitution"
7. Wherefore, believing that the Crown of Mary will shine more brilliantly
with these privileges and indulgences, as with an adornment of most precious
gems, We have decided upon carrying out what We have long contemplated,
namely, the publication of a "Constitution" concerning the rights,
privileges and indulgences which are enjoyed by the members of the Rosary
Sodality. This Our "Constitution" We intend to be a testimony
of Our love to the most august Mother of God, and at the same time an
encouragement to all the faithful and a reward of their piety, so that
in the last hour of life they may be aided by her assistance and sweetly
rest in her embrace. This blessing We heartily invoke from Almighty God
through the Queen of the most Holy Rosary, and as an earnest and pledge
of Divine Blessings, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and to the people
committed to your care, We gladly impart the Apostolic Benediction.
Given
at St. Peter's, in Rome, on the 5th day of September, 1898, in the 21st
year of Our Pontificate.
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