Catholic Candle note: The article below pertains to one of the many scandalous errors that Pope Leo XIV has promoted, to date, during his short reign. However, a reader would be mistaken to assume that Pope Leo XIV’s grave errors somehow mean that he is not the pope.

Sedevacantism is wrong and is (material or formal) schism. Catholic Candle is not sedevacantist.

Here is what St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, teaches concerning our duty to recognize and respect the authority of a superior – such as the pope – even when he is very bad:

Even should the life of any superior be so notoriously wicked as to admit of no excuse or dissimulation, nevertheless, for God’s sake, Who is the source of all power, we are bound to honor such a one, not on account of his personal merits, which are non-existent, but because of the divine ordination and the dignity of his office.¹

However, even while recognizing the pope’s authority and our duty to obey him when we are able, we know we must resist the evil he says and does. Read more about this principle here: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/07/24/our-catholic-duty-resist-the-harm-done-by-a-bad-pope-but-of-course-recognize-his-authority/

To learn more about why sedevacantism is wrong and why it is schism, read Sedevacantism: Material or Formal Schism, which is available:

• From Catholic Candle as a free e-book here: https://catholiccandle.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/sedevacantism-material-or-formal-schism.pdf or

• Here from Amazon, at cost: https://www.amazon.com/Sedevacantism-Material-Quanta-Cura-Press/dp/B08FP5NQR6

Defending Catholic Doctrine and Our Lady’s Honor
Against Pope Leo XIV and the Conciliar Barbarians

The Catholic Church originally set the feast of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces, on May 31 of each year. In the 1962 Missal (which is inferior to the Missals preceding it), this feast of Our Lady was moved to May 8 by the liturgical barbarian, Annibale Bugnini.

The Conciliar Church Minimizes Our Lady

One of the hallmarks of the ongoing, evil, conciliar revolution is the continual efforts to minimize the honor of the Glorious Mother of God.

For example, Vatican II admonishes us to beware of being excessive in our praise for Our Lady. Here are the council’s words in one place:

[The council] exhorts theologians and preachers of the divine word to abstain zealously both from all gross exaggerations as well as from petty narrow-mindedness in considering the singular dignity of the Mother of God.²

This type of admonishment is sprinkled throughout the council’s documents. Such warnings are not strictly and literally false, because we should always avoid being “excessive” in any way, since anything “excessive” is always bad and unreasonable. However, the council’s admonishment here is a message to people to be less devoted to our Lady and to not emphasize her greatness.

This message is similar to warning people to “avoid excessive trust” in the honesty of a particular man whenever that man’s name is mentioned. That warning would clearly indicate to people that they should trust this man less. Likewise, the conciliar warnings to “zealously” (!) avoid “excessive” devotion to Our Lady tell people to be less devoted to her.

Woe to these men (and all) who insult Our Lord by dishonoring His Mother in this way! Pope St. Pius X condemned this type of false (so-called) “zeal” for Our Lord – which Vatican II promoted – and which is an excuse to minimize the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here are Pope St. Pius X’s words:

Wretched and unhappy are they who neglect Mary under pretext of the honor to be paid to Jesus Christ! As if the Child could be found elsewhere than with the Mother!³

These conciliar warnings caused true devotion to Mary to plummet and any remaining devotion to her tends to be more shallow and to have a more emotional, less doctrinal foundation. One indication that devotion to her has grown cold, is the fact that true devotion to Mary always comes with an intolerance of heresy, since our Lady crushes heresy. By contrast, intolerance of heresy is almost non-existent in the conciliar church.

Why Does the Conciliar Church Minimize Our Lady?

One reason that the conciliar church minimizes Our Lady is because the conciliar churchmen are ecumenical fanatics. They minimize the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary because that truth irritates the protestants and others who are outside the ark of salvation – which is the Catholic Church. The protestants ignore Our Lady and they vociferously object to the Catholic truth that all of the blessings of God come through the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus, Vatican II and the conciliar churchmen minimize the Glorious Mother of God in order to please the enemies of God.

The post-conciliar popes (each in his turn) minimized Our Lady – Pope Francis more than the earlier post-Vatican II popes. Following Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV continues on that evil conciliar path of minimizing Our Lady’s honor.

Pope Leo XIV Minimizes Our Lady in His Document Entitled Mater Populi Fidelis

Pope Leo XIV is a man of the conciliar revolution and a man of Vatican II. On October 7, 2025, he approved of a new document, Mater Populi Fidelis, which he issued through the Dicastery For The Doctrine of the Faith.

Like Vatican II itself, he warns us that devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary can distract us from her Son. Here are his words:

[A]ny gaze directed at her that distracts us from Christ or that places her on the same level as the Son of God would fall outside the dynamic proper to an authentically Marian faith.⁴

So, just like Vatican II itself, Pope Leo XIV warns us to beware of zeal for the honor Our Lady because it could detract from the honor of her Son. He unreasonably warns us that gazing at Our Lady can reduce her Son’s honor. Woe to Pope Leo XIV! He shows himself to fall within Pope St. Pius X’s apt description – “wretched and unhappy” – referring to those who minimize Our Lady’s honor.

Of course, the truth is that it virtually never happens that someone is “excessively” devoted to Our Lady! Instead, the opposite is true. We live in a time of gross disregard for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The remedy for the ills of our time is greater devotion to Our Lady.

Mater Populi Fidelis: a Document Which is Wordy, Ambiguous, and Heretical

Pope Leo XIV’s Mater Populi Fidelis is about 19,000 words and largely cautions the reader to be careful not to praise Our Lady too much or to exaggerate her greatness – as if what Catholics need to hear right now is “Beware of excessively praising Mary!”⁵

This lengthy document (Mater Populi) is wordy, frequently ambiguous, and contains heresy.⁶ Its thrust is to minimize the importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and devotion to her.

The evils of Mater Populi are too many to cover in a single article. The focus of the present article is the denial of Our Lady’s prerogative and her honor as being the Mediatrix of All Graces.

In this article, we will start by examining the meaning of this title of Our Lady and then review the Catholic Church’s doctrine that Our Lady is truly the Mediatrix of All Graces. After that, we will examine Pope Leo XIV’s evil teachings which are the opposite of this Catholic Dogma.

What Does It mean for Our Lady to Be the Mediatrix of All Graces?

First of all, what is a mediatrix? A mediatrix is a female mediator. Just as we use feminine pronouns for women and girls and male pronouns for men and boys, likewise we use sex-specific suffixes to indicate the gender of a person who has a certain role. For example, a man who delivers food to the tables in a restaurant is called a “waiter” and a woman who does this is called a “waitress”. This “-ress” (or “ess”) ending feminizes the word. There are countless words with such feminized endings, e.g., empress and shepherdess.

A similar Latinized feminine ending to words is “-trix” (instead of “-tress”). Thus:

• a female executor of a person’s will (and estate) is called an “executrix”.⁷
  

• likewise, Our Lady is called the “Mediatrix of all Graces”.
  

Ok. So a “Mediatrix” is a Female Mediator. But What Does It Mean for Our Lady to be the Mediatrix of All Graces?

A mediator:

• is one who helps to resolve a dispute;⁸

• occupies a middle position between two parties in disagreement;⁹ and

• is a conciliator, an intermediary, a peacemaker, an intercessor.¹⁰

So Our Lady is our peacemaker with her Son arising out of mankind’s great offenses against Him. Making peace is accomplished through Sanctifying Grace, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches:

Sanctifying Grace is given chiefly in order that man’s soul may be united to God by charity.¹¹

This charity is friendship with God and reconciles us with God.¹² So Our Lady reconciles us with her Son through Sanctifying Grace.

So Our Lady’s title “Mediatrix of all Graces” refers to her being our help reconciling us with her Son. It is her unique role (and privilege) to assist her Son in distributing to sinners all the graces of His Salvific Act of redemption. By distributing her Son’s graces to men, she is aiding her Son by reconciling mankind to Him.

Our Lady’s assistance to her Son in His work of the sanctification of souls is analogous to a nurse playing a uniquely important role in helping a physician by distributing for him the necessary medicine to his patients. Our Lady uniquely aids her Son although she is not Divine (and although she herself depends on redemption by her Son), just as the nurse is not a physician but can be a unique aid in his work.

Couldn’t God Have Distributed His Graces to Mankind Without Mary?

God could indeed have distributed His graces to mankind without Mary’s aid. This is like the physician (in the example above, who uses the nurse’s help to distribute the medicine) would be capable of distributing the medicine himself. The fact that Our Lady distributes all of the graces of God does not mean that God could not have accomplished this work differently. However, God chose this way to do His work of sanctification because it is the best way.

Reflect on this: God caused the universe to be the best possible one for His own greater honor and glory.¹³ As the Holy Ghost teaches in the Book of Proverbs: “The Lord hath made all things for Himself”. Proverbs, 16:4. No other motive (other than His own glory) would be worthy of Him.

God could have caused the universe to be different than it is. Two ways God could have caused the universe to be different are: 1) to not redeem man at all, after his fall; or, 2) after He redeemed man, to not use the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary in distributing the graces which He merited for the redemption of man. However, God did redeem man and He did use the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary in distributing the graces necessary for salvation, because this is the perfect way for God to save the elect and God does all things in the best possible way.¹⁴

So, as shown below, the Blessed Virgin Mary IS the Mediatrix of All Graces. The reason for this is because God chose the best way to sanctify man and to save the elect. This is like the fact that God chose to redeem man by dying on the cross not because there was no other way for God to accomplish salvation, but because this was the best, most perfect way.

Here is how St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort explains the perfection of God’s plan in making Mary the Mediatrix of All Graces:

God the Holy Ghost entrusted his wondrous gifts to Mary, His faithful spouse, and chose her as the dispenser of all He possesses, so that she distributes all His gifts and graces to whom she wills, as much as she wills, how she wills and when she wills. No heavenly gift is given to men which does not pass through her virginal hands. Such indeed is the will of God, who has decreed that we should have all things through Mary, so that, making herself poor and lowly, and hiding herself in the depths of nothingness during her whole life, she might be enriched, exalted and honored by almighty God. Such are the views of the Church and the early Fathers.¹⁵

St. Louis continues:

God in these times wishes his Blessed Mother to be more known, loved and honored than she has ever been. This will certainly come about if the elect, by the grace and light of the Holy Ghost, adopt the interior and perfect practice of the devotion which I shall later unfold. Then, they will clearly see that beautiful Star of the Sea, as much as Faith allows. Under her guidance they will perceive the splendors of this Queen and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience her motherly kindness and affection for her children. They will love her tenderly and will appreciate how full of compassion she is and how much they stand in need of her help. In all circumstances they will have recourse to her as their advocate and mediatrix with Jesus Christ. They will see clearly that she is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus and will surrender themselves to her, body and soul, without reserve in order to belong entirely to Jesus. …

All this is taken from St. Bernard and St. Bonaventure. According to them, we have three steps to take in order to reach God. The first, nearest to us and most suited to our capacity, is Mary; the second is Jesus Christ; the third is God the Father. To go to Jesus, we should go to Mary, our mediatrix of intercession. To go to God the Father, we must go to Jesus, our Mediator of redemption.¹⁶

Thus, we see that Mary being the Mediatrix of All Graces means that she assists her Son and is our help and our go-between with her Son, not because it was the only way that Our Lord could save souls but because it was the best way and was the way He willed to accomplish this work.

It is Infallible Catholic Doctrine that Mary Is the Mediatrix of All Graces

Mary being Mediatrix of All Graces is an excellent example of a Catholic dogma which was never defined by the Extraordinary Magisterium of the Church but which has always been infallibly taught by the consistent teaching of the Church’s Ordinary Magisterium.

But before we get to some of the principal teachings of this dogma, let us recall some important truths of the catechism concerning the difference between the Church’s infallible Ordinary Magisterium, as compared to the Church’s Extraordinary Magisterium:

• All that God has divinely revealed to man is called Divine Revelation.
  

• Divine Revelation has two founts (i.e., sources): Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
  

• Since God is its Author, all that is contained in Divine Revelation is certain, true, and is part of the Catholic Faith.
  

• The Catholic Church is the guardian and sole interpreter of Divine Revelation, and teaches the Faithful all the contents of Divine Revelation. This teaching authority is called Her Magisterium.
  

• God has given the Church the gift of infallibility – the gift of being unable to err when authoritatively teaching the whole Church anything about Faith or morals.
  

• All of these truths which she teaches infallibly are called dogmas (i.e., doctrines).
  

• She can teach dogmas to the Faithful using either Her extraordinary infallible Magisterium or Her ordinary infallible Magisterium. Both the ordinary and extraordinary magisterial methods faithfully transmit dogmas to the Faithful without error.

• The easier method to understand, and the one most Catholics are familiar with, is the extraordinary Magisterium. A declaration of the Church’s extraordinary Magisterium is a single declaration which includes the conditions which show that this single declaration itself is infallible.

• By contrast, the Church’s ordinary Magisterium is not infallible in virtue of one particular declaration. But it is the chain of teachings by Church authorities which show that the same truth was always taught and held by the Church and for this reason it is included in the body of the truths of the Faith because it was always taught and held by the Church since the time of the apostles.

Having now recalled what it means that a truth is taught by the infallible Ordinary Magisterium of the Church, let us now read a sampling of the most important (among countless other) occasions on which the Catholic Church has taught the dogma that Mary is the Mediatrix of All Graces.

We start with some of the many occasions on which the Church taught this doctrine shortly before the Vatican II revolution in the human element of the Church. Then, after these more recent occasions, we will proceed to set forth some of the countless occasions on which this doctrine was taught throughout Church history.

Pope Pius XII – (reigned 1939-1958)

In his encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII emphasizes the universality of Mary’s role as dispenser of grace, saying:

She gives us her Son and with Him all the help we need, for God ‘wished us to have everything through Mary’.¹⁷

Pope Pius XII declared that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the “the Mediatrix of peace”,¹⁸ showing not only that she is mediatrix, but also that her mediation pertains to grace, which is the source of our peace with God (as shown above).

In his Apostolic Exhortation Menti Nostrae, Pope Pius XII declared:

To the Beloved Mother of God, mediatrix of heavenly graces, We entrust the priests of the whole world in order that, through her intercession, God will vouchsafe a generous outpouring of His Spirit which will move all ministers of the altar to holiness and, through their ministry, will spiritually renew the face of the earth.¹⁹

Pope Pius XI – (reigned 1922-1939)

When urging the faithful to Eucharistic adoration, Pope Pius XI invokes Our Lady as Mediatrix of All Graces, in the following words:

Let, therefore, this year the Feast of the Sacred Heart be for the whole Church one of holy rivalry of reparation and supplication. Let the faithful hasten in large numbers to the eucharistic board, hasten to the foot of the altar to adore the Redeemer of the world, under the veils of the Sacrament, that you, Venerable Brethren, will have solemnly exposed that day in all churches, let them pour out to that Merciful Heart that has known all the griefs of the human heart, the fullness of their sorrow, the steadfastness of their faith, the trust of their hope, the ardor of their charity. Let them pray to Him, interposing likewise the powerful patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of all graces, for themselves and for their families, for their country, for the Church; let them pray to Him for the Vicar of Christ on earth and for all the other Pastors, who share with him the dread burden of the spiritual government of souls; let them pray for their brethren who believe, for their brethren who err, for unbelievers, for infidels, even for the enemies of God and the Church, that they may be converted, and let them pray for the whole of poor mankind.²⁰

When promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Pius XI closes with this edifying consideration:

Trusting in her intercession with Christ, who whereas He is the “one mediator of God and men” (1 Timothy ii, 5), chose to make His Mother the advocate of sinners, and the minister and mediatress of grace ….²¹

Pope Pius XI teaches that Our Lady is the mediatrix of all good that comes to us. Here are his words:

We know, though, that everything comes to us from Almighty God through the hands of Our Lady.²²

Pope Benedict XV – (reigned 1914-1922) – (including the authority of St. Dominic)

Pope Benedict XV not only taught that Our Lady makes the decisions and administers [the Latin is “administra et arbitra”] all graces given to mankind, but the pope also taught that St. Dominic knew this same truth too. Here are the pope’s words in an encyclical on St. Dominic:

He [St. Dominic] knew that Mary’s influence with her Divine Son was such that whatever graces He confers on men, it was for her to judge and distribute them.²³

(Catholic Candle note: When we read the truth (as here) that it was for Mary to judge what graces to give to men, it “goes without saying” that God gave her the knowledge and wisdom to decide perfectly and that her will was perfectly conformed to His Will.)

Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914) – (including the authority of St. Bernardine of Sienna)

This saintly pope declared that Our Lady merited to be “Dispensatrix of all the gifts that Our Savior purchased for us by His Death and by His Blood.”²⁴ The word “dispensatrix” here describes the same role as “mediatrix” of all graces.

Because all good comes from Our Lord through Mary, Pope St. Pius X calls her the “Neck” of the Mystical Body of Christ. Here are his words, quoting St. Bernardine of Sienna:

It cannot, of course, be denied that the dispensation of these treasures is the particular and peculiar right of Jesus Christ, for they are the exclusive fruit of His Death, who by His nature is the mediator between God and man. Nevertheless, by this companionship in sorrow and suffering already mentioned between the Mother and the Son, it has been allowed to the august Virgin to be the most powerful mediatrix and advocate of the whole world with her Divine Son (Pius IX. Ineffabilis). The source, then, is Jesus Christ “of whose fullness we have all received" (John i., 16), "from whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in charity” (Ephesians iv., 16). But Mary, as St. Bernard justly remarks, is the channel (Serm. de temp on the Nativ. B. V. De Aquaeductu n. 4); or, if you will, the connecting portion the function of which is to join the body to the head and to transmit to the body the influences and volitions of the head – We mean the neck. Yes, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, “she is the neck of Our Head, by which He communicates to His mystical body all spiritual gifts” (Quadrag. de Evangel. aetern. Serm. x., a. 3, c. iii.).²⁵

Pope St. Pius X then proceeds to explain in more detail the meaning of Mary being the conduit of all graces from her Son and why this is fitting and is the perfect way for God to accomplish the salvation of the elect:

We are then, it will be seen, very far from attributing to the Mother of God a productive power of grace – a power which belongs to God alone. Yet, since Mary surpasses [praestat] all in holiness and union with Jesus Christ, and has been associated by Jesus Christ in the work of redemption, she merits for us de congruo, in the language of theologians, what Jesus Christ merits for us de condigno,²⁶ and she is the supreme Minister of the distribution of graces. Jesus “sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high” (Hebrews i. b.). Mary sitteth at the right hand of her Son – a refuge so secure and a help so trusty against all dangers that we have nothing to fear or to despair of under her guidance, her patronage, her protection. (Pius IX. in Bull Ineffabilis).²⁷

Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903) – (including the authority of St. Bernardine of Sienna)

Pope Leo XIII taught not only that Mary is the distributor of all mercies from God but also that she is the mediatrix between mankind and her Son. Here are the pope’s words:

[B]y the will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of mercies [viz., from Our Lord’s Passion and Death] gathered by God; for mercy and truth were created by Jesus Christ. Thus, as no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother. … Mary is this glorious intermediary; she is the mighty Mother of the Almighty; but – what is still sweeter – she is gentle, extreme in tenderness, of a limitless loving-kindness.²⁸

The pope elaborates on this doctrine, teaching that she is the continual Mediatrix of All Graces because she is holier and more pleasing to God than all angels and saints. Here are his words:

The recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of the throne of God as Mediatrix of Divine grace; being by worthiness and by merit most acceptable to Him, and, therefore, surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven.²⁹

The pope explains that all good comes to us through Mary:

Now may God, “Who in His most merciful Providence gave us this Mediatrix.” and “decreed that all good should come to us by the hands of Mary” (St. Bernard), receive propitiously our common prayers and fulfill our common hopes.³⁰

Adopting the teaching of St. Bernardine of Siena as his own, Pope Leo XIII further teaches that all good comes from God to Christ as Man, and from Christ to His Mother Mary and then from her to us. Here are the pope’s words:

Thus, is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which We have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: “Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ [viz., as Man], from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.”³¹

The pope states that her power is “all but unlimited” and will last forever:

She who was so intimately associated with the mystery of human salvation is just as closely associated with the distribution of the graces which for all time will flow from the Redemption.

The power thus put into her hands is all but unlimited. … Among her many other titles we find her hailed as “our Lady, our Mediatrix,” “the Reparatrix of the whole world,” “the Dispenser of all heavenly gifts.”³²

Pope Leo XIII then turns the eyes of his soul to Our Lady and prays:

O Virgin most holy, none abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; none, O Mother of God, attains salvation except through thee; none receives a gift from the throne of mercy except through thee.”³³

Pope Pius IX (1846-1878)

In 1849, in an encyclical on the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius IX taught that:

God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will, that we obtain everything through Mary.³⁴

Pope Pius IX taught many important truths about the Glorious Mother of God and her mediation for us with her Son. For example:

The Mother of God is the seat of all divine graces and is adorned with all gifts of the Holy Ghost. To them Mary is an almost infinite treasury. … The only one who has become the dwelling place of all the graces of the most Holy Spirit. … [She] stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner. What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard. … who, is the most powerful Mediatrix and Conciliatrix of the whole world with her only-begotten Son.³⁵

St. Alphonsus de Liguori — Doctor of the Church (1696-1787)

Here is the great Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus de Liguori, singing the great glories of the Mother of God:

That Mary was more holy in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints together, is founded on the great office of mediatress of men, with which she was charged from the beginning; and which made it necessary that she should possess a greater treasure of grace from the beginning than all other men together.³⁶

St. Alphonsus explains in what way the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role is necessary, that is, in order for God’s Plan to be perfect:

That it is most useful to have recourse to the intercession of Mary can only be doubted by those who do not have the faith. … [T]he intercession of Mary is even necessary to salvation: we say necessary – not absolutely, but morally. This necessity proceeds from the Will of God Itself, that all graces that He dispenses should pass through the hands of Mary ….³⁷

St. Alphonsus explains further the role of God’s Mother:

We acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only mediator of justice, as we have stated above, who by His merits obtains for us grace and salvation; but we affirm that Mary is the mediatrix of grace, and although whatever she obtains, she obtains through the merits of Jesus Christ, and because she prays and asks for it in the name of Jesus Christ, yet whatever favors we ask are all obtained through her intercession.³⁸ …

He [God] takes great complacency [i.e., satisfaction] in seeing His mother honored, and therefore wishes, as St. Bernard says, that all the graces we receive should pass through her hands.³⁹

St. Peter Canisius – Doctor of the Church (1521-1597) – (including the teaching of St. Fulgentius)

Quoting St. Fulgentius with approval, St. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church, poetically proclaims that Mary is the ladder of heaven, by which men are saved. Here are his words:

Mary was made the window of heaven because by her, God gave true light unto the world. Mary was made the ladder of heaven because by her, God descended down to earth, that by her also men may ascend unto heaven.⁴⁰

St. Peter Canisius here poetically teaches, although in other words, that Our Lady is the Neck of the Mystical Body of Christ, through whom her Son’s blessings come to us and through her we go to her Son.

In the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (also known as the Litany of Loretto) we pray to her as the Gate of Heaven. This invocation has the same meaning, in different poetic words, as calling her our ladder to heaven and the neck of the Mystical Body of Christ. She is our way of getting to heaven and reaching her Son.

St. Thomas Aquinas – Greatest Doctor of the Church (1225-1274)

St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest Doctor of the Church, teaches that Our Lady has so much grace at her disposal that this grace suffices for the salvation of all men and that she is man’s mediatrix with her Son. Here are his words showing how fully endowed Our Lady is with the graces we need:

As much as regards it [viz., grace] overflowing unto all men. For it is a great thing in any saint, when he has so much of grace that it suffices for the salvation of many; but when one has so much that it would suffice for the salvation of all men of the world, this would be the greatest; and this is in Christ, and in the Blessed Virgin. For in every danger, you can obtain salvation from the glorious Virgin Herself.⁴¹

Second, here St. Thomas explains that Our Lady fulfills the role of superintending⁴² the good things we receive from her Son:

At this physical marriage [viz., at Cana, recounted in St. John’s Gospel, Ch.2] some role in the miracle belongs to the mother of Christ, some to Christ, and some to the disciples. When he [viz., St. John the Evangelist] says, When the wine ran out, he indicates the part of each. The role of Christ’s mother was to superintend the miracle; the role of Christ to perform it; and the disciples were to bear witness to it. As to the first, Christ’s mother assumed the role of a mediatrix. Hence she does two things. First, she intercedes with her Son. In the second place, she instructs the servants. As to the first, two things are mentioned. First, his mother’s intercession; secondly, the answer of her Son.⁴³

St. Bonaventure — Doctor of the Church (1221-1274)

St. Bonaventure urges all mankind to praise the Blessed Virgin Mary in these words:

Exalt her and praise her, all the human race: because the Lord my God has given to thee [viz., the human race] such a mediatrix.⁴⁴

Speaking directly to Our Lady, St. Bonaventure stated:

Thou art the Mediatrix of God, and the lover of men: the heavenly Illuminatrix of mortal men.⁴⁵

Lastly, St. Bonaventure declares:

Mary is the most faithful mediatrix of our salvation.⁴⁶

St. Albert the Great – Doctor of the Church (1200-1280)

St. Albert the Great calls Mary the universal dispenser of all of the goods coming from her Son. Here are his words:

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Queen of all those things of which God is the Lord. In her is known the singular excellence of the true Sun – without corruption, without diminution, or weakening; in which is expressed the special character [viz., Immaculate] of her conception; who is the universal distributor of all goodness.⁴⁷

St. Anthony of Padua – Doctor of the Church (1195-1231)

St. Anthony of Padua emphasizes Our Lady’s role as mediatrix making peace between God and man:

The Blessed Virgin Mary, our mediatrix, re-established peace between God and the sinner.⁴⁸

As shown above, Our Lady makes peace between us and her Son by distributing the graces of her Son in order to make us friends of God and no longer His enemies.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Doctor of the Church (1090-1153)

Praying to Our Lady, St. Bernard of Clairvaux implores her help as mediatrix, to reconcile us to her Son:

Let thy boundless charity cover the multitude of our sins, and thy glorious fruitfulness bring us an abundance of mercies. Our Lady, Our Mediatrix, present us to Thy Son. Speak for us to Thy Son.⁴⁹

St. Bernard teaches that Our Lady has this role in the salvation of the elect because that is the way God wants it – the best way:

It was given to Mary that thou mightest receive through her hands whatever good was destined for thee – through her hands … because it is the will of God that we should have nothing which has not passed through the hands of Mary.⁵⁰

Further, in his hymn Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary (which St. Bernard composed and which emphasizes the truth that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces), he teaches that “All our graces flow through Mary … Advocate … Mediatrix of All Grace … Heaven’s blessings she dispenses … Gate of Heaven …”

St. Germanus of Constantinople – Father of the Church (634-740)

St. Germanus teaches:

For in thee also we have been given a pledge of eternal life, and, through thy going [viz., assumed into heaven], in thee we gain a Mediatrix with God.⁵¹

St. Ephrem the Syrian – Doctor of the Church (c. 306-373 A.D.)

St. Ephrem says, addressing the Blessed Virgin Mary : “After the Mediator thou art the mediatrix of the whole world ”.⁵²

St. Ephrem also addresses the Mother of God in these words: “In thee, patroness and mediatrix with God”⁵³

St. Irenaeus – Father of the Church (circa 125-202 A.D.)

St. Irenaeus compares the New Eve, (viz., Our Lady), to the First Eve, the wife of Adam, declaring that Our Lady was a cause of the salvation of all of the elect. Here are his words:

As she [viz., Eve] who had Adam as her husband, but was nevertheless a virgin, was disobedient, and thereby became the cause of death to herself and to the whole of mankind, so also Mary, who had a pre-ordained husband, and was still a virgin, by her obedience became a cause of her own salvation and the salvation of the whole human race.⁵⁴

Our Lord Taught Us by His Own Example That Mary His Mother is the Mediatrix of the Good Coming from Him

St. John the Evangelist recounts how, at the wedding feast at Cana, Our Lord performed His first miracle at the behest of His mother (who interceded for a bridal couple).

And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to Me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.⁵⁵

Our Lord does all things perfectly. Here He gives us the perfect example of bestowing His blessings upon people through the intercession (mediation) of His mother. This is how He Wills to bestow His blessings upon us.

As quoted above, commenting on this first of Our Lord’s miracles, St. Thomas teaches that:

The role of Christ’s mother was to superintend the miracle; the role of Christ to perform it; … Christ’s mother assumed the role of a mediatrix. Hence … she intercedes with her Son.⁵⁶

The Holy Ghost Teaches Us That All Grace Comes Through Mary

In the Book of Ecclesiasticus, it states:

I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.⁵⁷

The Catholic Church teaches us that these words are prophetically spoken by Our Lady and the Church uses them – putting these words in her mouth – in the Mass for the Feast of Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Holy Ghost, Who is the Chief author of these words, teaches us that all grace comes through Our Lady, His Spouse. She is “the mother” and in her “is all grace of [her Son Who is] the Way and the Truth” and the Life (as Our Lord describes Himself).⁵⁸

So We See the Catholic Dogma is that Our Lady is Mediatrix of All Graces. What Does Pope Leo XIV Teach in Mater Populi Fidelis?

Pope Leo is largely proving himself to be “cut out of the same cloth” as Pope Francis, minus some of Pope Francis’s attention-grabbing stunts.

Pope Leo XIV falsely teaches that Our Lady cannot be the “universal dispenser of grace”. Here are his words:

No human person — not even the Apostles or the Blessed Virgin — can act as a universal dispenser of grace. Only God can bestow grace, and he [sic] does so through the humanity of Christ. … any expression about her “mediation” in grace must be understood as a distant analogy to Christ and his [sic] unique mediation.⁵⁹

Notice that this quote – approved by Pope Leo XIV, who is supposedly so “zealous” for the honor of Christ even to the point that he is supposedly concerned that Our Lady will detract from her Son’s honor – nonetheless fails to accord to Our Lord even the customary honor of capitalizing the pronouns which refer to Him.

Here is another of Pope Leo XIV’s insulting denials of Our Lady’s prerogatives:

In the perfect immediacy between a human being and God in the communication of grace, not even Mary can intervene.⁶⁰

Pope Leo XIV makes it worse by saying not only is Our Lady not the Mediatrix of All Graces, but she is not the mediatrix of any graces:

Neither friendship with Jesus Christ nor the Trinitarian indwelling can be conceived of as something that comes to us through Mary ….⁶¹

Pope Leo XIV says that Mary’s role is reduced to desiring good for us, praying for us. He says:

[W]hat we can say is that Mary desires this good for us and she asks for it, together with us.⁶²

Pope Leo XIV says she accompanies us (using the fad conciliar jargon):

[Mary’s role is that] “she has accompanied [her children] on their way to the
Lord.⁶³

Pope Leo XIV says that Our Lady encourages us, and helps us to prepare ourselves. Also, Pope Leo says – blasphemously – that Mary even helps us to see that she is not a mediatrix with her Son! Here are the pope’s words:

Mary’s motherhood in the order of grace must be understood as a help in preparing us to receive God’s sanctifying grace. This can be seen in how, on the one hand, her maternal intercession is the expression of that “maternal help” which allows us to recognize Christ as the sole Mediator between God and humanity. On the other hand, her maternal presence in our lives does not preclude various actions from Mary aimed at encouraging us to open our hearts to Christ’s activity in the Holy Spirit. In this way, she helps us — in various ways — to prepare ourselves to receive the life of grace that only the Lord can pour into us. ⁶⁴

Pope Leo XIV explicitly rejects the chain of mediation between God and man:

[O]ne should avoid any description that would suggest a Neoplatonic-like outpouring of grace by stages, as if God’s grace were descending through various intermediaries (such as Mary).⁶⁵

Notice Pope Leo’s mockery of Our Lady as Mediatrix, by scoffing that it would be “Neoplatonic-like”.

Further, by the scope of his statement (and although presumably unintended by him), Pope Leo XIV seems even to reject that any grace from God “descends” to us through the Human Nature of Christ. Of course, Pope Leo intends by these words (above) to reject the mediation by Our Lady and to specifically reject the three-fold steps from God, to the Man Christ, to His Mother, to us, as traditionally taught by the Catholic Church, for example:

All this is taken from St. Bernard and St. Bonaventure. According to them, we have three steps to take in order to reach God. The first, nearest to us and most suited to our capacity, is Mary; the second is Jesus Christ; the third is God the Father. To go to Jesus, we should go to Mary, our mediatrix of intercession. To go to God the Father, we must go to Jesus, our Mediator of redemption.⁶⁶

Pope Leo XIV continues, citing and quoting Vatican II, and warns Catholics not “to attribute to her some form of a perfective intervention, perfective instrumentality, or secondary causality in the communication of sanctifying grace” ⁶⁷

The truth, though, is that this secondary causality is exactly what the Church has always infallibly taught about Mary’s role as mediatrix!

Pope Leo XIV denies that Our Lady, is Mediatrix of All Graces, and in this way is God’s tool for our salvation. Here are Pope Leo XIV’s words:

[S]he [viz., Our Lady] does not add anything to Christ’s salvific mediation in the communication of grace, she should not be regarded as the instrumental agent of that free bestowal.⁶⁸

Further, in the quote below, when denying the dogma of Our Lady, as Mediatrix of All Graces, Pope Leo XIV especially singles out for denial the words of the traditional hymn Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above, where the hymn calls Our Lady “The Spring thorough which All Graces Flow”.

Here are Pope Leo’s impious words:

She [viz., Mary] is also frequently portrayed or imagined as a fountain from which all grace flows. If one considers the fact that the Trinitarian indwelling (uncreated grace) and our participation in the divine life (created grace) are inseparable, we cannot think that this mystery depends on a “passage” through Mary’s hands. Such notions elevate Mary so highly that Christ’s own centrality may disappear or, at least, become conditioned.⁶⁹

Pope Leo XIV’s only “authority” for his denial of the Our Lady, as Mediatrix of All Graces is his fellow conciliar revolutionary and prior conciliar pope, Benedict XVI, before becoming pope:

Cardinal Ratzinger already affirmed that the title “Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces” was not clearly grounded in Revelation.  In line with this conviction, we can recognize the difficulties this title poses, both in terms of theological reflection and spirituality.⁷⁰

Our Reaction to Pope Leo XIV’s Insults to the Glorious Mother of God

These are wicked words of Pope Leo XIV! These words should make the blood boil of any loyal son of Mary, in a way similar to, but greater than, when a man hears his own earthly mother being ridiculed or insulted.

King St. Louis IX of France advised that attacks on our Holy Catholic Faith are sometimes best answered by deeds:

[N]o man, unless he is a skilled theologian, should debate with Jews.  Instead, when a layman hears the Christian law slandered, he should defend it only with his sword, which he should thrust into the offender’s guts as far as it will go.⁷¹

We should respond to Pope Leo XIV’s vile words, not with a sword, but with the spiritual weapon of our Rosaries.

Conclusion

One of the hallmarks of the conciliar revolution is its continual efforts to minimize the Glorious Mother of God. One of the ways we must be counter-revolutionary is by devoting ourselves to her and honoring her at every opportunity, including as the glorious Mediatrix of All Graces!

Truly, Pope St. Pius X’s description – “wretched and unhappy”⁷² – applies well to Pope Leo XIV with his evil program of minimizing the honor of Our Lady.

Let us pray hard for him and to Our Lady, the Mediatrix of All Graces!