(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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Ingravescentibus
Malis (Pius XI) On the Rosary
Encyclical of Pope Pius XI
promulgated on September 29, 1937.
To the Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other
Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Holy See.
More than once have We asserted--and We recently repeated this in the Encyclical
Letter Divini Redemptoris (Acta Ap. Sedis, 1937, Vol. XXIX, p. 65)--that there
is no remedy for the ever-growing evils of our times except a return to Our Lord
Jesus Christ and to His most holy precepts. Truly, only He "hath the words of
eternal life" (Cf. John, vi, 69), and individuals and society can only fall into
immediate and miserable ruin if they ignore the majesty of God and repudiate His
Law.
2. However, anyone who studies with diligence the records of the Catholic Church
will easily recognize that the true patronage of the Virgin Mother of God is
linked with all the annals of the Christian name. When, in fact, errors
everywhere diffused were bent upon rending the seamless robe of the Church and
upon throwing the Catholic world into confusion, our fathers turned with
confident soul to her "alone who destroys all heresies in the world" (Roman
Breviary), and the victory won through her brought the return of tranquility.
3. When the impious Mohammedan power, trusting in its powerful fleet and
war-hardened armies, threatened the peoples of Europe with ruin and slavery,
then--upon the suggestion of the Sovereign Pontiff--the protection of the
heavenly Mother was fervently implored and the enemy was defeated and his ships
sunk. Thus the Faithful of every age, both in public misfortune and in private
need, turn in supplication to Mary, the benignant, so that she may come to their
aid and grant help and remedy against sorrows of body and soul. And never was
her most powerful aid hoped for in vain by those who besought it with pious and
trustful prayer.
4. But also in our day, dangers no less grave than in the past beset civil and
religious society. In fact, because the supreme and eternal authority of God,
which commands and forbids, is despised and completely repudiated by men, the
result is that the consciousness of Christian duty is weakened, and that faith
becomes tepid in souls or entirely lost, and his afterward affects and ruins the
very basis of human society.
5. Thus on the one hand are seen citizens intent on an atrocious struggle among
themselves because some are provided with abundant riches and others must gain
bread for themselves and their dear ones by the sweat of their brows. Indeed, as
we all know, in some regions the evil had reached such a pitch that it seeks to
destroy all private right of property, so that everything might be shared in
common.
6. On the other hand, there are not lacking men who declare that they honor and
exalt, above all, the power of the State. They say they must use every means to
assure civil order and enforce authority, and pretend that only thus are they
able totally to repulse the execrable theories of the Communists. However, they
despise the light of evangelic wisdom and endeavor to revive the errors of the
pagans and their way of life.
7. To this is added the clever and lamentable sect of those who, denying and
hating God, declare themselves the enemies of the Eternal, and who insinuate
themselves everywhere. They discredit and uproot all religious belief from
souls. Finally, they trample on every human and Divine right. And while they
cast scorn on the hope of heavenly reward, they incite men to seek, even by
illicit means, false earthly happiness, and therefore drive them with brazen
temerity to the dissolution of the social order, causing disorder, cruel
rebellions and even the conflagration of civil war.
8. Nevertheless, Venerable Brethren, though such great and numerous evils hang
over us, and others still greater are to be feared for the future, we must not
lose heart nor let the confident hope that rests solely on God become fainter.
He who "made the nations of the earth for health" (Cf. Wisdom i, 14) without
doubt will not let those perish whom He has redeemed with His Precious Blood,
nor will He abandon His Church. But rather, as We said in the beginning, shall
We beseech God through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin, so acceptable to
Him, since, to use the words of St. Bernard: "Such is the will of God, who has
wished that we should have all things through Mary." (Sermon on the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary.)
9. Among the various supplications with which we successfully appeal to the
Virgin Mother of God, the Holy Rosary without doubt occupies a special and
distinct place. This prayer, which some call the Psalter of the Virgin or
Breviary of the Gospel and of Christian life, was described and recommended by
Our Predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII, with these vigorous passages: "Very
admirable is this crown interwoven with the angelic salutation which is
interposed in the Sunday prayer, and unites with it the obligation of interior
meditation. It is an excellent manner of prayer . . . and very useful for the
attainment of immortal life" (Acta Leonis, 1898, Vol. XVIII, pp. 154, 155).
10. And this can well be deduced from the very flowers that form this mystic
garland. What prayers in fact can be found more adaptable and holy? This first
is that which our Divine Redeemer Himself pronounced when His disciples asked
Him: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke xi, 1); a very holy supplication which both
offers us the way--as far as it is possible for us--to render glory to God, and
also takes into account all the necessities of our body and soul. How can the
Eternal Father, when prayed to with the very words of His Son, refuse to come to
our aid?
11. The other prayer is the Angelic Salutation, which begins with the eulogies
of the Archangel Gabriel and of St. Elizabeth, and ends with that very pious
supplication by which we beg the help of the Blessed Virgin now and at the hour
of our death. To these invocations, said aloud, is added the contemplation of
the sacred mysteries, through which they place, as it were, under our eyes the
joys, sorrows and triumphs of Jesus Christ and of His Mother, so that we receive
relief and comfort in our sorrows. Following those most holy examples, we ascend
to the happiness of the heavenly country by steps of ever higher virtue.
12. This practice of piety, Venerable Brethren, admirably diffused by St.
Dominic, not without the heavenly suggestion and inspiration of the Virgin
Mother of God, is without doubt easy for all, even for the ignorant and the
simple. But those wander from the path of truth who consider this devotion
merely an annoying formula repeated with monotonous singsong intonation, and
refuse it as good only for children and silly women!
13. In this regard, it is to be noted that both piety and love, though always
renewing the same words, do not always repeat the same thing but always express
something new issuing from the intimate sentiment of devotion. And besides, this
mode of prayer has the perfume of evangelic simplicity and requires humility of
spirit; and, if we disdain humility, as the Divine Redeemer teaches, it will be
impossible for us to enter the heavenly kingdom: "Amen, I say to you, unless you
become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.
xviii, 3).
14. Nevertheless, if men in our century, with its derisive pride, refuse the
Holy Rosary, there is an innumerable multitude of holy men of every age and
every condition who have always held it dear. They have recited it with great
devotion, and in every moment they have used it as a powerful weapon to put the
demons to flight, to preserve the integrity of life, to acquire virtue more
easily, and in a word to attain real peace among men.
15. Nor are there lacking men famous as to doctrine and wisdom who, although
intensely occupied in scientific study and researches, never even for a day fail
to pray fervently on bended knee, before the image of the Virgin, in this most
pious form. Thus kings and princes, however burdened with most urgent
occupations and affairs, made it their duty to recite the Rosary.
16. This mystic crown, then, not only is found in and glides through the hands
of the poor, but it also is honored by citizens of every social rank. And We do
not wish here to pass over in silence the fact that the Blessed Virgin herself,
even in our times, has solicitously recommended this manner of prayer, when she
appeared and taught it to the innocent girl in the Grotto of Lourdes.
17. Therefore why should We not hope for every grace if We supplicate Our
Heavenly Mother in this manner with due disposition and holiness? We desire very
earnestly, Venerable Brethren, that the Holy Rosary should be recited in a
special manner in the month of October and with increased devotion both in the
churches and in homes.
18. And so much the more must it be done since the enemies of the Divine
Name--that is, those who have rebelled against and denied and scorned the
Eternal God--spread snares for the Catholic Faith and the liberty due to the
Church, and finally rebel with insane efforts against divine and human rights,
to send mankind to ruin and perdition. Through efficacious recourse to the
Virgin Mother of God, they may be finally bent and led to penance and return to
the straight path, trusting to the care and protection of Mary.
19. The Holy Virgin who once victoriously drove the terrible sect of the
Albigenses from Christian countries, now suppliantly invoked by us, will turn
aside the new errors, especially those of Communism, which reminds us in many
ways, in its motives and misdeeds, of the ancient ones.
20. And as in the times of the Crusades, in all Europe there was raised one
voice of the people, one supplication; so today, in all the world, the cities,
and even the smallest villages, united with courage and strength, with filial
and constant insistence, the people seek to obtain from the great Mother of God
the defeat of the enemies of Christian and human civilization, to the end that
true peace may shine again over tired and erring men.
21. If, then, all will do this with due disposition, with great faith and with
fervent piety, it is right to hope that as in the past, so in our day, the
Blessed Virgin will obtain from her divine Son that the waves of the present
tempests be calmed and that a brilliant victory crown this rivalry of Christians
in prayer.
22. The Holy Rosary, besides, not only serves admirably to overcome the enemies
of God and Religion, but is also a stimulus and spur to the practice of
evangelic virtues which it injects and cultivates in our souls. Above all, it
nourishes the Catholic Faith, which flourishes again by due meditation on the
sacred mysteries, and raises minds to the truth revealed to us by God.
23. Every one can understand how salutary it is, especially in our times wherein
sometimes a certain annoyance of the things of the spirit is felt even among the
Faithful, and a dislike, as it were, for the Christian doctrine. Therefore,
revive the hope of immortal welfare, while the triumph of Jesus Christ and of
His Mother, meditated on by us in the last part of the Rosary, shows us Heaven
open and invites us to the conquest of the Eternal Country.
24. Thus while an unbridled longing for the things of this earth has penetrated
into the hearts of mortals and each one more ardently longs for the short-lived
riches and ephemeral pleasures, all feel a fruitful call back to the heavenly
treasures "where thieves do not break in and neither rust nor moth doth consume"
(Matt. xii, 33), and to the wealth that will never perish.
25. And the charity which has been weakened and cooled in many, how can it fail
to be rekindled into love in the souls of those who recall with a full heart the
tortures and death of our Redeemer and the afflictions of His Sorrowful Mother?
From this charity towards God, then, there cannot but rise a more intense love
of one's neighbor if one dwells on the labors and sorrows that Our Lord suffered
for all, reinstating the lost inheritance of the children of God.
26. Therefore see to it, Venerable Brethren, that such a fruitful practice shall
be more diffused, more highly esteemed by all, and that common piety be
increased. Through your work and that of the priests who help you in the care of
souls, its praises and advantages shall be preached and repeated to the Faithful
of every social class.
27. From it, the young will draw fresh energy with which to control the
rebellious tendencies to evil and to preserve intact
the stainless purity of the soul; also in it, the old will again find repose,
relief and peace from their anxious cares. To those who devote themselves to
Catholic Action may it be a spur to impel them to a more fervent and active work
of apostolate; and to all those who suffer in any way, especially the dying, may
it bring comfort and increase the hope of eternal happiness.
28. The fathers and mothers of families particularly must give an example to
their children, especially when, at sunset, they gather together after the day's
work, within the domestic walls, and recite the Holy Rosary on bended knees
before the image of the Virgin, together fusing voice, faith and sentiment. This
is a beautiful and salutary custom, from which certainly there cannot but be
derived tranquility and abundance of heavenly gifts for the household.
29. When very frequently We receive newly married couples in audience and
address paternal words to them, We give them rosaries, We recommend these to
them earnestly, and We exhort them, citing Our own example, not to let even one
day pass without saying the Rosary, no matter how burdened they may be with many
cares and labors.
30. For these reasons, Venerable Brethren, We have thought fit earnestly to
exhort you, and through you, all the Faithful, to carry out this pious practice.
Nor do We doubt that you, listening, with your usual response to Our paternal
invitation will bring about abundant fruits once more.
31. And in addressing this Encyclical to you, another motive impels Us. We wish
that, together with Us, Our many children in Jesus shall unite and render thanks
to the Mother of God for the better health We have happily regained.
32. This grace, as We have had occasion to write (Cf. Letter to Cardinal E.
Pacelli, Osservatore Romano, September 5, 1937), We attribute to the special
intercession of the virgin of Lisieux, St. Therese of the Child Jesus. But We
know, though, that everything comes to us from Almighty God through the hands of
Our Lady.
33. And lastly, as there has been launched in the public press with rash
insolence, a very grave injury to the Blessed Virgin, We cannot do less than
profit by this occasion to offer, together with the Episcopate and the people of
that nation which venerates Mary as "Queen of the Kingdom of Poland," and with
the homage of our piety, due reparation to the august Queen, and denounce to the
whole world this sacrilege committed with impunity, as a painful and unworthy
thing.
34. Meanwhile, with a full heart We impart to you, Venerable Brethren, and to
the flock entrusted to the care of each of you, the Apostolic Blessing as an
augury of heavenly graces and in token to Our Paternal benevolence.
Given at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, on the 29th day of the month of September,
on the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, in the year 1937,
the sixteenth of Our Pontificate.