Mediatrix is atitle given toMary, mother of Jesus used by someChristians. It refers to the role of theBlessed Virgin Mary as a mediator byintercession in thesalvific redemption by her sonJesus Christ, the one proper Mediatorby action. Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by many saints since at least the 5th century. Its use grew during theMiddle Ages and reached its height in the writings ofLouis de Montfort andAlphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.[1]
A general role of intercession is attributed to Mary inCatholicism,Evangelical Lutheranism,[2][3]Eastern Orthodoxy, andOriental Orthodoxy,[4] and the term "Mediatrix" was applied to her in the dogmatic constitutionLumen gentium of theSecond Vatican Council. "This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the One Mediator."[5]
The use of the title Mediatrix and the doctrine of Mary having a highest level ofsaintly intercession (calledhyperdulia; owing to her special relationship with her son Jesus) is distinct from the theological issues involved in the establishment ofMediatrix of all graces as adogma.
Further to the intercessory mediation is the claim that God bestowsgraces through her as the mechanism of theincarnation. A stronger version of this, which has not been officially defined by the church, is thatall graces (ultimately or actually) flow through Mary's intercession.
In a 2025 doctrinal note titledMater Populi Fidelis, theDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church emphasized that "the biblical statement about Christ’s exclusive mediation is conclusive," with Christ being the only Mediator. As far as the word "mediation" was concerned, the Dicastery acknowledged that "[it] is commonly used in many areas of everyday life, where it is understood simply as cooperation, assistance, or intercession." Therefore, the document concluded that it is "inevitable that the term would be applied to Mary in a subordinate sense. Used in this way, it does not intend to add any efficacy or power to the unique mediation of Jesus Christ, true God and true man."[6]
Mediatrix is an ancient title.[1] A prayer attributed toEphrem the Syrian in the 4th century calls her "after the mediator, you (Mary) are the mediatrix of the whole world."[7] The title was also used in the 5th century byBasil of Seleucia. By the 8th century, the title Mediatrix found common use andAndrew of Crete andJohn of Damascus used it.[1]
These early notions place Mary's mediation on a higher level than that of other forms of theintercession of saints. Her position as the mother of Jesus Christ the redeemer and source of grace makes her preeminent among others who might be called mediators.[7]
The use of the Mediatrix title continued to grow in the Middle Ages, andBernard of Clairvaux (12th century),Bonaventure, andBernardino of Siena (15th century) frequently used it.[1]
In the 13th century,Thomas Aquinas noted that onlyJesus Christ can be theperfect mediator between God and humankind. However, this does not hinder that others may be called mediators, in some respect, between God and man, because they assist and prepare union between God and man.[8]
The same notion was stated in the 16th century by theCouncil of Trent, which declared "that the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, (and) help for obtaining benefits from God, through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our alone Redeemer and Saviour; but that they think impiously, who deny that the saints, who enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, are to be invocated; or who assert either that they do not pray for men; or, that the invocation of them to pray for each of us even in particular, is idolatry; or, that it is repugnant to the word of God; and is opposed to the honour of the one mediator of God and men, Christ Jesus; or, that it is foolish to supplicate, vocally, or mentally, those who reign in heaven".[9]
Reliance on the intercession of Mary grew and reached its height in the writings ofLouis de Montfort andAlphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.[1]
Louis de Montfort's approach (which later influenced PopeJohn Paul II) emphasized that Mary is the natural path to approaching Jesus because of her special relationship with him.[10] This reliance on the intercession of Mary is based on the general Montfortean formula:[11] "…to do all our actions by Mary, with Mary, in Mary and for Mary so that we may do them all the more perfectly by Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus and for Jesus…"
In his bookTreatise on Prayer,Alphonsus Liguori reviewed the writings ofThomas Aquinas andBernard of Clairvaux on the intercession of saints and Mary's role as Mediatrix and strongly supported the title.[12][13]
Several popes have used the title Mediatrix.Leo XIII used it in 1896 andPius X in 1904. This continued in the 20th century withBenedict XV andPius XI.[1] However,Pius XII avoided the use of the title in official documents,[14] although he urged reliance on the intercession of Mary.[1]
Pope John Paul II used the title Mediatrix a number of times and in his encyclicalRedemptoris Mater quoted a prayer in theCollectio Missarum de Beata Maria Virgine and noted that Mary's mediation is by intercession with the Son:
"Mary's motherhood continues unceasingly in the Church as the mediation which intercedes, and the Church expresses her faith in this truth by invoking Mary 'under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix' ... The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power": it is mediation in Christ. …Mary's mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood… through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ."[15]
In September 2012, during the Feast of theNativity of Mary, claimant visionnaireEmma de Guzman stated that the Virgin Mary revealed her maternal role as"Mediatrix before the Mediator," a special Marian title associated by many Filipino Catholics in reference toOur Lady Mediatrix of All Graces.[16]
Among Catholic theologians, it is undisputed that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and the human race, especially in the salvific role of redemption as exhibited by thecrucifixion onMount Calvary.[17] Accordingly, the word "mediator" in the strict sense fits Jesus alone in relation to God, but in a subordinate sense, Christians exercise a mediation "that is effective through, with, and in Christ. The subordinate mediator never stands alone, but is always dependent on Jesus."[18]
With special reference to Mary, theCatechism of the Catholic Church, quoting theSecond Vatican Council, which in its documentLumen gentium referred to Mary as "'Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix," says:
Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. ...Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix [Lumen gentium, 62]. Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men ... flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it [Lumen gentium, 60]. No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source [Lumen gentium, 62].[19]
Similarly, theCatechism of Saint Pius X affirms:
19 Q. Since Jesus Christ is our only mediator with God, why have recourse also to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints?A. Jesus Christ is our Mediator with God, because being true God and true man He alone in virtue of His own merits has reconciled us to God and obtains us all graces. But in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, and through the charity which unites them to God and us, the Blessed Virgin and the Saints help us by their intercession to obtain the graces we ask. And this is one of the great benefits of the Communion of Saints.
At a Mariological Congress held at Czestochowa in August 1996, a commission was established in response to a request, by the Holy See, which had asked to know the opinion of the scholars present at the Congress on the possibility of defining a new dogma of faith regarding Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. (In recent years, the Pope and various dicasteries of the Holy See had received petitions requesting such a definition.) The response of the commission, deliberately brief, was unanimous and precise: It found that the titles, as proposed, were ambiguous, as they can be understood in very different ways.[20] It also held that it was not opportune to abandon the path marked out by the Second Vatican Council and proceed to the definition of a new dogma.[21]
Going further than expressing belief in Mary as Mediatrix, proposals have been made to declare that Mary is the Mediatrix ofall graces. PopeBenedict XV allowed the dioceses of Belgium to celebrate the feast ofMary Mediatrix of all graces on May 31 each year.[22] In printings of theRoman Missal from that date until 1961, theMass of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces was found in the appendixMissae pro aliquibus locis (Masses for Some Places), but not in thegeneral calendar for use wherever theRoman Rite is celebrated.[23] Other Masses authorized for celebration in different places on the same day were those ofthe Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love andOur Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Belgian celebration has now been replaced by an optional memorial on 31 August of the Virgin Mary Mediatrix.[24]
blessed Mary prays for the Church
the blessed Mary prays for the Church
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