Gregory XIII and the universal Rosary – Monet Apostolus (Doctrina Pontificia IV, nn. 171-175)
Gregory XIII (1572-1585) is the pope immediately after Saint Pius V and the Battle of Lepanto. His Marian documents (nn. 171-175) consolidate the legislation on the Rosary and its universal diffusion. Gregory XIII transformed “Our Lady of Victory” into a permanent devotion of the universal Church, today Our Lady of the Rosary.
| Collection | Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Documents, nn. 171-175 |
| Pope | Gregory XIII (1572-1585) |
| Documents | Monet Apostolus (1573) | Pastoris aeterni (1576) | Provisionis Nostrae (1579) |
| Topic | Rosary, Confraternity of the Rosary, universal diffusion |
nn. 171-173, bull “Monet apostolus” (April 1, 1573)
The Bull Monet Apostolus is the great charter canonically instituting the Confraternity of the Rosary as a universal confraternity with its seat at Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. Gregory XIII grants immense spiritual privileges to the members of the confraternity and exhorts all Christendom to pray the Rosary daily. The three numbers (171-173) cover the original bull and two complementary decrees on the affiliation of local confraternities to the mother confraternity in Rome.
«Cum ipse, ad exorandum Deum pro Victoria christianorum in Lepantina pugna, Rosarium recitandum iussit, et illam victoriam acceptam ferendam esse Virginis Matris intercessioni credimus…».
Since he himself ordered the Rosary to be recited to implore God for the victory of the Christians in the Battle of Lepanto, and we believe that that victory must be attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mother…
n. 174, brief “Pastoris aeterni” (October 12, 1576)
It grants a plenary indulgence to all the members of the Confraternity of the Rosary who, on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (the first Sunday of October), pray the complete Rosary and go to confession and receive Communion. It is the first plenary indulgence specifically linked to the Rosary as a complete devotion.
n. 175, “Provisionis nostrae” (January 29, 1579)
Gregory XIII broadens the provisions on the confraternities of the Rosary, regulating their canonical and juridical organization. The Confraternity of the Rosary becomes one of the most organized and widespread apostolic movements of the Counter-Reformation, an antecedent of modern Marian associations.
Historical significance
With Gregory XIII, the Rosary passes definitively from a popular Franciscan-Dominican devotion to a devotion universally promoted by the papacy. His legislation would be the foundation on which Leo XIII would build his thirteen encyclicals on the Rosary three centuries later.
Further reading
Explore Mariology, the Rosarium Virginis Mariae (John Paul II, 2002), the Marialis Cultus (Paul VI), and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.
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