The perpetual virginity of Mary •
Dominici gregis – This papal bull was issued by
Pope Clement VIII on 3 February 1603. It considered Marian piety the basis for Church and condemned a number of issues as errors, including the denial of the virginity of Mary.
Mother of God This dogma was proclaimed at the
Council of Ephesus in 431 and promulgated by
Pope Celestine I. This dogma has attached to it the penalty of an anathema. It was promulgated during the Nestorian Heresy who state that Mary was just the "Christotokos" (Mother of the Christ) rather than the "Theotokos" (Mother of God)
The Immaculate Conception •
Cum Praeexcelsa, a bull by
Pope Sixtus IV, issued 28 February 1476, when plague was ravaging the country, established a Mass and Office for the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception. •
Ubi primum is an encyclical of
Pope Pius IX to the bishops of the Catholic Church asking them for opinion on the definition of a dogma on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It was issued on 2 February 1849. •
Ineffabilis Deus – In this key
papal bull (the title of which means "ineffable God" in Latin)
Pope Pius IX defined
ex cathedra the
dogma of the
Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The decree was
promulgated on 8 December 1854, the date of the annual
Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The decree surveys the history of the belief, citing its roots in the long-standing feast of the Conception of Mary as a date of significance in the Eastern and Western churches. It also cites the approval of Catholic bishops worldwide who were asked in 1849 to offer their opinion on the matter. (The decree had been preceded by the encyclical
Ubi Primum of 2 February 1849 whereby Pius IX solicited the opinions of the bishops of the Catholic Church regarding defining dogma. •
Ad diem illum – This
encyclical by
Pope Pius X on the
Immaculate Conception, was given on 2 February 1904, in the first year of his Pontificate. It was issued in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. It is an important document because it explains the
Mariology of
Pope Pius X. One of the reasons the pope gave for writing the encyclical was his desire for
the restoration of all things in Christ which he had defined as his motto
Instaurare omnia in Christo: to restore everything in Christ, to whom there is no safer or more direct road than Mary. •
Fulgens corona – This
encyclical by
Pope Pius XII was issued on 8 September 1953 on the Feast of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The encyclical proclaimed a
Marian year for 1954, to commemorate the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
Fulgens corona is significant as it contained the Mariological
methodology of
Pope Pius XII and his views on limits and challenges of
Roman Catholic Mariology.
The Assumption •
Deiparae Virginis Mariae (1 May 1946) – an encyclical of
Pope Pius XII to all Catholic bishops on the possibility of defining the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith. •
Munificentissimus Deus This
Apostolic constitution (the title of which means "most bountiful God" in Latin) was issued by
Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950. It defines
ex cathedra the
dogma of the
Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the second ex-cathedra
infallible statement ever made by a
Pope, the first since the official ruling on Papal Infallibility was made at the
First Vatican Council (1869-1870). Following the example of Pius IX,
Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical
Deiparae Virginis Mariae on issued on 1 May 1946 to all Catholic bishops on the possibility of defining the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of faith. ==On Mary as Queen of Heaven==