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The Blessed Virgin Mary

When she approaches Her divine Son's throne, as Advocate She begs, as Handmaid She prays, but as Mother She commands.

- Pius IX, tanto studio, February 19, 1805

...by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own; We declare, pronounce and define that in the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary , in the first instance of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

- Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

Almighty God enriched the Blessed Virgin with the gifts of his grace more abundantly than He enriched any other creature. He chose her from all mankind and at the word of an angel elevated her to the ineffable dignity of dignity of the Mother of God.

- Benedict XIV, Gloriosae Dominae, September 27, 1748

She is the best of Mothers, our safest confidant and in fact the very motive of our hope: she obtains all she asks for and her prayers are always heard.

- Pius VII, Exultavit cor Nostrum, November 21, 1851

When man has hardened his heart and hate has overrun the earth, when fire and sword convulse the world and make it resound with clash of arms and wailing, when human plans have prove misleading, and when all social well-being is upset, faith and history point to Mary as the only refuge.

- Benedict XV, To the Consistory of Cardinals and Bishops, December 24, 1915

Nobody knows and comprehends so well as she everything that concerns us: what helps we need in life; what dangers, public and private, threaten our welfare; what difficulties and evils surround us; above all, how fierce is the fight we wage with the ruthless enemies of our salvation. In these and in all other troubles of life, her power is most far-reaching.

- Leo XIII, Magnae Dei Matris, September 8, 1892

The mightiest helper of the Christian people, and the most merciful, is the Virgin Mother of God. How fitting it is to accord her honor ever increasing in splendor.

- Leo XIII, Adiutricem populi, September 5, 1895

Yes, Mary does bring us closer to Christ; she does lead us to him, provided that we live her mystery in Christ.

- John Paul II, Gift and Mystery, 1996