Clement IX to Clement XI – the Rosary, the Immaculate Conception, and Marian devotion (Doctrina Pontificia IV, nn. 194-204)
The popes of the second half of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century, Clement IX, Clement X, Innocent XI, Alexander VIII, Innocent XII, and Clement XI, produce a rich body of Marian documents on the Rosary, the Immaculate Conception, and devotion to Mary, in a context of struggle against Quietism and Jansenism.
| Collection | Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Documents, nn. 194-204 |
| Popes | Clement IX (1667-1669) | Clement X (1670-1676) | Innocent XI (1676-1689) | Alexander VIII (1689-1691) | Innocent XII (1691-1700) | Clement XI (1700-1721) |
| Period | 1667-1721 |
Clement IX (1667-1669), nn. 194-196
The brief pontificate of Clement IX (only two years) produced three important Marian briefs. The Brief Augustissimae (September 17, 1667) grants new privileges to the confraternities of the Rosary. The Brief Sincera Nostra (October 21, 1667) addresses devotion to Mary in the formation of the clergy. The Brief Exigit (October 31, 1667) regulates the Marian feasts in certain dioceses.
Clement X (1670-1676), n. 197: “Ad pastorale”
The Brief Ad pastorale (August 20, 1671) of Clement X is notable for its language about Mary as “Shepherd of souls beside the Good Shepherd.” Clement X affirms that Mary cooperates with Christ in the pastoral work of the Church, anticipating the theology of co-redemption and co-shepherding that would be developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Innocent XI (1676-1689), nn. 198-200
Innocent XI, the pope who organized the Christian league against the Ottomans at the Battle of Vienna (1683), produced three Marian briefs. The Brief Apostolatus officium (March 24, 1679) protects the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception from Jansenist attacks that presented it as incompatible with the doctrine of original sin.
«Immaculatam Virginis Mariae Conceptionem… tanta a Sede Apostolica semper fuit auctoritate munita, ut eam negare aut in dubium vocare grave delictum constituat»
The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary… has always been so protected by the authority of the Holy See that to deny it or to call it into doubt constitutes a grave offense.
Alexander VIII (1689-1691), n. 201: decree of December 7, 1690
The decree of Alexander VIII of December 7, 1690, the eve of the Immaculate Conception, condemns the Jansenist proposition that denied that Christ had died for all men, which included denying the universality of the grace of Mary Mediatrix.
Innocent XII (1691-1700), nn. 202-203
The two documents of Innocent XII include the Brief In excelsa (May 15, 1693) on the Marian feasts in honor of the Visitation and the Assumption, and the Bull Sacrosancta (August 5, 1698) on devotion to the Heart of Mary.
Clement XI (1700-1721), n. 204: bull “Commissi nobis”
The Bull Commissi Nobis (December 6, 1708) of Clement XI is one of the most important Marian documents of the eighteenth century. Clement XI declares the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 obligatory for the whole universal Church; before, it was only an optional or regional feast. This is the greatest liturgical elevation of the Immaculate Conception before 1854. The text states:
«Festum Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis in universa Ecclesia ab omnibus Christi fidelibus… tanquam festum de praecepto observandum esse decernimus et declaramus»
We determine and declare that the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the whole Church, by all the faithful of Christ… must be observed as a feast of precept.
Further reading
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