In the course of his Papacy, the fourth longest in history, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), who was a superb Latinist, issued eleven encyclicals on the Rosary, in the years 1883, ’84 and ’87, and then each year from 1891-98. All of them were published in September (except one, at the very end of August), looking forward to the feast of the Holy Rosary, which in his time was kept on the first Sunday of October. The feast was later fixed by Pope St Pius X to October 7, the date of the famous Battle of Lepanto which it commemorates.
(Some of) what Pope Leo XIII had to say about the rosary
The following is an excerpt from the last such encyclical, that of 1898, Diuturni temporis.
Diuturni temporis spatium animo respicientes, quod in Pontificatu maximo, Deo sic volente, transegimus, facere non possumus quin fateamur Nos, licet meritis impares, divinae Providentiae praesidium expertos fuisse praesentissimum. Id vero praecipue tribuendum censemus coniunctis precibus, adeoque validissimis, quae, ut olim pro Petro, ita nunc pro Nobis non intermisse funduntur ab Ecclesia universa. Primum igitur bonorum omnium largitori Deo grates habemus maximas, acceptaque ab eo singula, quamdiu vita suppeditet, mente animoque tuebimur. Deinde subit materni patrocinii augustae caeli Reginae dulcis recordatio; eamque pariter memoriam gratiis agendis celebrandisque beneficiis pie inviolateque servabimus. Ab ipsa enim, tamquam uberrimo ductu, caelestium gratiarum haustus derivantur: eius “in manibus sunt thesauri miserationum Domine: Vult illam Deus bonorum omnium esse principium.” In huius tenerae Matris amore, quem fovere assidue atque in dies augere studuimus, certo speramus obire posse ultimum diem.
Iamdudum autem cupientes, societatis humanae salutem in aucto Virginis cultu, tamquam praevalida in arce collocare, nunquam destitimus Marialis Rosarii consuetudinem inter Christi fideles promovere, datis in eam rem Encyclicis Litteris iam inde a kalendis Septembribus anni 1883, …
Cumque Dei miserantis consilio liceat Nobis huius quoque anni adventantem cernere mensem Octobrem, quem caelesti Reginae a Rosario sacrum dicatumque esse alias decrevimus, nolumus a compellandis vobis abstinere;
Constanti igitur acti desiderio ut apud christianum populum de Rosarii Marialis vi ac dignitate constaret, memorata primum caelesti potius quam humana eius precationis origine, ostendimus, admirabile sertum ex angelico praeconio consertum, interiecta oratione dominica, cum meditationis officio coniunctum, supplicandi genus praestantissimum esse et ad immortalis praesertim vitae adeptionem maxime frugiferum; quippe praeter ipsam excellentiam precum exhibeat et idoneum fidei praesidium et insigne specimen virtutis per mysteria ad contemplandum proposita; rem esse praeterea usu facilem et populi ingenio accommodatam, cui ex commentatione Nazarethanae Familiae offeratur domesticae societatis omnino perfecta species; eius idcirco virtutem christianum populum nunquam non expertum fuisse saluberrimam.
His praecipue rationibus atque adhortatione multiplici sacratissimi Rosarii formulam persequuti, augendae insuper eius maiestati per ampliorem cultum, Decessorum Nostrorum vestigiis inhaerentes, animum adiecimus.
If your Latin’s a little dusty, here’s that excerpt in English:
Looking back over the long space of time, which by God’s will we have passed in the supreme pontificate, we cannot but acknowledge that, despite our demerits, we have enjoyed the most powerful protection of divine Providence. This We deem must be attributed principally to the united, and therefore most powerful, prayers, which, as once for Peter (Acts 12, 5), so now also for ourselves, are uninterruptedly poured forth by the universal Church. Wherefore we first of all give the greatest thanks to God, the giver of all good things, and as long as life lasts, we shall cherish in mind and heart all things received from Him. Then there comes to our mind the sweet remembrance of the august Queen of Heaven’s motherly protection; and this memory likewise we shall dutifully preserve inviolate, thanking her and proclaiming her benefits. From her, as from an abundant spring, are derived the streams of heavenly graces. “In her hand are the treasures of the Lord’s mercies” (St John Damascene, sermon 1 on the Nativity of the Virgin). “God wishes her to be the beginning of all good things.” (St Irenaeus, Contra Valen., 1.3.33). In the love of this tender mother, which We have constantly striven to foster and increase day by day, we confidently hope to end our days.
For a long time, desiring to place the welfare of human society in an increase of devotion to the Virgin, as in a mighty fortress, we have never ceased to promote the custom of the Marian Rosary among the Christian faithful, by publishing encyclical letters on this subject since September 1, 1883, …
And since God’s merciful counsel once this year again allows us to see the approaching month of October, which we have already consecrated to the Heavenly Queen of the Rosary, we would not refrain from addressing you;
Driven, therefore, by a constant desire that the Christian people should ever be convinced of the power and dignity of Mary’s Rosary, having first recalled that the origin of this prayer is divine rather than human, we showed it to be an admirable garland woven from the Angelic Salutation, interspersed with the Lord’s Prayer, and joined to the observance of meditation, and a form of prayer most powerful and particularly fruitful for the attainment of immortal life. For besides the excellence of the prayers, it affords a suitable protection of the faith, and an outstanding model of virtue through the mysteries proposed for contemplation. (We showed) further how easy the devotion is and how suited to the character of the people, since it offers them an absolutely perfect model of domestic life in consideration of the Holy Family of Nazareth, and that therefore the Christian people has never failed to experience its most salutary power.
For these reasons especially, we have repeatedly encouraged the recitation of the Holy Rosary, and have endeavored to increase its dignity by a more solemn cult, following in the footsteps of our predecessors.
