Excerpt for the Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on
Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary
51. By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so
that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more
devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of
God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve,
strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which
daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a
rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of
a covenant of peace? [62] “Look upon the rainbow, and
bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its
brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the
circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have
displayed it.” [63] Whoever therefore, reverences the
Queen of heaven and earth – and let no one consider
himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving
soul – let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the
Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace,
which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without
restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the
will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle
urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.
52. Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of
Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her
peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after
this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal
peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your
flocks, as a promise of God’s divine help and a pledge of
Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic
Benediction.
Given at Rome from St. Peter’s on the feast of the
Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the eleventh day
of October, 1954, in the sixteenth year of Our
Pontificate.
Pius XII