Pope Pius XII and Consecration to Mary
Pope Pius XII
Have you ever wondered what the Pope thinks of Consecration to Mary? You may have heard that at least four popes were dramatically impacted by the teachings of St. Louis de Montfort. To date, articles on this website highlight two saint popes (John Paul II and Pius X).
Pius XII was the Holy Father that canonized St. Louis de Montfort in 1947. What did Pius XII think of Consecration to Mary?
The article below was originally printed during the Marian Year of 1954. It was translated from a radio broadcast the Holy Father made that same year. It was held at St. Anne d’ Auray in Britany, France. Specifically, it was made to pilgrims from Britany on the Feast of St. Anne. Britany is the area near where St. Louis de Montfort grew up in France.
Consecration To Mary
Dear Sons and Daughters of Brittany,
At the very moment when the most venerable and most worthy Cardinal Archbishop of Rennes
is getting ready to read the Act of Consecration, which will renew the gift of yourselves … to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Father of all the faithful looks attentively on this great act and He comes to encourage you and to bless you. We repeat the words which Our saintly predecessor, Pius X, addressed to Cardinal Laboure in 1906. I would like to tell you on this solemn occasion that ”in the midst of the hate of which the Catholic faith is the object, ” it is particularly from you that ” … “We expect . . . the better part of Our joy.”
Brittany, We know, has always been a land of Mary and so it intends to remain. The proofs of your devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Mary are countless. Behold how many churches in your dioceses are dedicated to her! And at the shrines in your territory how many crowned statues of the Virgin receive each day the homages of your prayers! In your families, how many have received at holy Baptism the name of Mary! O, carry it in your hearts, all of you, this blessed Name of the Mother of God! Honor it by your piety, honor it even more by your life!
Whoever Has Consecrated Himself to Mary Belongs to Her in a Special Way
We pray today’s solemn Consecration be for you a rampart against temptations. May it be a motive for confidence in prayer. May it be a stimulus in the combat of everyday in the service of God. Whoever has consecrated himself to Mary belongs to her in a special way. He has become as it were a sanctuary of the Most Holy Virgin. The image of Mary helps him to thrust aside energetically all evil thoughts; the love of Mary gives him courage to undertake great things, to conquer human respect, to shake off selfishness, to serve and to obey patiently.
With gaze fixed interiorly upon her, he becomes enamored with the purity, humility and charity which radiated from Mary’s soul. He detests sin, fights it off in himself and declares war against it with all his strength. When he looks upon the Immaculate trampling beneath her foot the infernal serpent, when he beholds the Mother of God lifting up in her arms her divine Son, his will can no longer take pleasure in evil; on the contrary, he is proud to belong to Jesus and Mary, and he also knows that Mary urges him to all that Jesus commands or wishes.
Proud to Belong to Jesus and Mary
Place yourselves, therefore, under the mantle which she opens with her two motherly arms to receive all her children; may all the sons of Brittany find themselves under her patronage; may they form her court and guard of honor and may they show themselves everywhere and always worthy sons of such a Mother.
Examples of extraordinary and very fruitful devotion to Mary are not lacking in your history. We shall recall but one, without doubt the most remarkable, that of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, whom we have been privileged to raise to the supreme honors of the Church, on July 20, 1947. The following day, when we received in audience the many pilgrims, Bretons, Vendeans and Poitveans who had come to Rome on this occasion, We declared, ”All the Saints assuredly have been great servants of Mary, and all have led souls to her; he (St. Louis- Marie) is incontestably one of those who has worked most ardently and most effectively to make her loved and served.”
Pope Pius XII
The pope that canonized St. Louis de Montfort.
Today, addressing Ourselves to all those who intend to make of their Consecration to . . . Mary an important and definitive act, We say: after the example of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort and of all the Breton Saints, make Mary loved and served.
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Make Mary Loved and Served
Today, addressing Ourselves to all those who intend to make of their Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary an important and definitive act, We say: after the example of St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort and of all the Breton Saints, make Mary loved and served.
This supposes, before all else, that you yourselves practice the virtues of Mary: the tenderness of her Immaculate Heart; her spirit of prayer and meditation spoken of in the gospel when it twice mentions (Luke 2:19; 2 :51) that she pondered in her heart over God’s graces and the actions of the Child Jesus; the humble, ardent and joyful love of God that bursts forth in the Magnificat,- likewise the love of others, of all others, her relatives, her friends, all men.
It supposes you practice incomparable charity. Charity which sends her hurrying to help her cousin Elizabeth, as soon as she learns of the latter’s approaching maternity; that charity which renders her attentive to the embarrassment of the wedding couple when the wine ran out at the marriage feast of Cana; finally, that love which unites her in such a painful and profound way to the sufferings of her divine Son for the salvation of mankind.
Mary, Remains the Model for Christians
Yes, the Blessed Virgin Mary whose condition was so humble, about whom the gospel says so little, whose life is almost completely wrapped in silence, the Blessed Virgin has seen God accomplishing in her the greatest things without losing any of her astounding modesty that fills us with admiration. That is why she remains the model for all Christians. With the Savior Himself she remained hidden at Nazareth, united with Him in meekness and humility, in the accomplishment of daily duties and of domestic tasks, in patience and in prayer. We know of no miracle wrought by her, nor of any extraordinary action, but she loved God with her whole heart, with het whole soul, with her whole mind and with her whole strength. That is the first Commandment. And she loved her neighbor as herself. ”Greatest Commandment than these to there is none.” (Mark 12: 30-31).
Nevertheless, the faithful who harbor towards the Blessed Virgin Mary a special devotion, often want to put their whole life at her service and unite themselves with others to propagate her cult. There exists for many centuries in the Church certain Associations placed under Mary’s patronage. These Associations have played in the personal sanctification of numerous Christians and in the exercise of apostolic zeal a providential role oftentimes extolled by Our predecessors and Ourselves.
Place Your Life At Her Service and Unite With Others in Devotion to Mary
We refer among others to those Marian Congregations which we have termed Catholic Action in the spirit of the Blessed Virgin. And whose nature and spirit have been defined in the Apostolic Constitution “Bis Saeculari” of Sept. 27, 1948. We have learned with joy that they have fervent promoters in Brittany, and we pray that they will find in the land of the Virgin a fruitful soil from which will spring legions of fervent and apostolic souls. What they are accomplishing in the most distant and most diverse lands of Christendom why shall they not accomplish in that deer Brittany whose ancestral faith has known such brilliant eras and such fervent regenerations.
You would be astonished, dear Sons and Daughters of Brittany, if today, on this feast of St. Anne and here, at Auray, where she is venerated in such a touching gannet, We didn’t have a thought for the one you so rightly call the Good Mother. Love her well, that good St. Anne. Continue to place your [beings] under her protection. In giving Mary to the world she has given to humanity the most marvelous of creatures. She is the most holy of women and the masterpiece of God. Is this not sufficient reason for you to love and honor her in a unique way?
Imploring, therefore, the intercession of St. Anne and of the Blessed Virgin. We call down upon all of you, and upon all of Brittany, the most abundant effusion of the graces of God. And, from the bottom of Our hearts, We grant you as pledge Our paternal Apostolic Benediction.
