Paul VI – Mense Maio, Christi Matri Rosarii and Recurrens Mensis October: the Rosary for peace

Paul VI (1963-1978) is the pope of the Second Vatican Council and of its pastoral challenges. Before the great Marian exhortation Marialis Cultus (1974), he published three briefer Marian encyclicals that show how his pontificate summoned Marian devotion to the great problems of the world: peace in Vietnam (1965-1966) and universal peace.

Mense maio (April 29, 1965)

The encyclical Mense Maio, published on the eve of the month of May 1965, was the first Marian encyclical of Paul VI. The context was twofold: the Vietnam War was intensifying (Operation Rolling Thunder had begun in February 1965) and the Council was entering its last and decisive period (the 1965 session, which would approve Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Gaudium et Spes).

“Mensis Maius, qui Beatae Mariae Virgini sacer est, hoc anno toto orbe Christiano, fervidiore quam alias studio in Eius cultum vertendus est, ut pacis a Deo Patre per intercessionem Mariae Matris obtineamus”

The month of May, consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, must this year be devoted to her cult throughout the Christian world with a fervor more intense than in other years, so that we may obtain peace from God the Father through the intercession of Mary the Mother.

Paul VI asks for two objectives for the month of May: to pray for the successful outcome of the last conciliar session (which would open on September 14), and to implore peace in Vietnam and in all the conflicts of the world.

Christi matri rosarii (September 15, 1966)

This encyclical, published one year after the close of the Council (December 8, 1965), is explicitly dedicated to the Rosary for peace in Vietnam. Paul VI summons the whole Church to pray the Rosary during the month of October for peace in Vietnam:

“Aeris turbines undique nos circumstant, atque pacis et concordiae spes nondum redditur. Hoc graviore in periculo, ad Christi Matrem confugimus, ad eam quam totus orbis Christianus appellat ‘Reginam pacis’”…

Storms surround us on every side, and the hope of peace and concord has not yet returned. In this graver danger, we have recourse to the Mother of Christ, to her whom the whole Christian world calls “Queen of Peace”…

The document is famous for its context: it was written in parallel with Signum Magnum (May 13, 1967, which already has its own post at /signum-magnum/), forming a Marian triad on Mary Queen of Peace and model of the virtues.

Recurrens mensis october (October 7, 1969)

Published on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, this encyclical takes up the themes of Christi Matri Rosarii three years later. Paul VI again asks for the Rosary for peace, now extending the request to all the conflicts of the world (the Vietnam War was continuing, and the Cold War was at its height):

“Quotidie Rosarium recitate; numquam deflectatis ab ea consuetudine, quam plurimi Sancti, plurimi Romani Pontifices, vobis exemplo et institutionibus suis tradiderunt”

Recite the Rosary daily. Never turn aside from that custom which so many Saints, so many Roman Pontiffs have handed on to you by their example and by their teachings.

From mense maio to marialis cultus

These three encyclicals (1965, 1966, 1969) directly prepare the great apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus of 1974, which is the definitive synthesis of the Mariology of Paul VI. They show how Marian devotion, far from declining after the Council, was proposed anew by the Council’s own pope for the great existential and political problems of the time.

Further reading

Mariology | Marialis Cultus | Signum Magnum | Evangelii Nuntiandi | Rosarium Virginis Mariae

Learn to pray the Rosary in our guide: How to Pray the Rosary, Step by Step.