Prayers, Consecrations, and
Acclamations
to the Blessed Virgin Mary
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
 Prayers to the Divine Mother
for every day of the week
Pope Pius VII., of holy memory, at the
prayer of the Chapter of the Basilica of St. Mary in Cosmedin here in Rome,
by a Rescript of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, dated June 21, 1808, kept in
the Archivium of the said Basilica, granted -
i. An indulgence or 300 days, once a day, to all the faithful who, with
contrite hearts, say the following prayers to our Blessed Lady, extracted
from the spiritual works of the holy Bishop Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori,
each on that day of the week to which it has been assigned, together with
three Ave Maria's, with the intention of making some reparation to
her for the many blasphemies which have been, and are daily uttered against
her, not only by unbelievers, but even by bad Christians.
ii. A plenary indulgence, once a month, to all who say these prayers, with
three Ave Maria's, daily for a whole month, with the intention above
named, on any one day when, after Confession and Communion, they shall pray
to God for the Holy Church, &c.
From the Raccolta
(Book of Indulgences)
It was about the year 1233
that seven holy men of noble birth, by name Bonfiglio, Monaldio,
Bonagiunta, Manetto, Amadeo, Uguccio, and Alessio Falconieri,
withdrew from the city of Florence into the solitude of Mount
Senario, receiving afterwards from the Church the appellation of
the "Seven Blessed Founders." For it was in that solitude that,
passing their days in the constant exercise of prayer,
penitence, and other virtues, they, by a special revelation from
the Blessed Virgin, instituted the Order called "Servants of
Mary," taking for the object of their institution, meditation on
the bitter pains she suffered in the Life, Passion, and Death of
her Son Jesus, and, undertaking to promulgate this devotion
amongst Christian people. One of the devout practices which they
made use of for their purpose was a Chaplet or Rosary of Seven
Divisions, in remembrance of the seven principal Dolours of the
Blessed Virgin, which were to form the subject of the reciter's
meditation according to his ability; the prayers to be said
during such meditation being one Pater noster and seven
Ave Maria's for each division, with three more Ave
Maria's at the end of all, in honour of the tears shed by
the same most holy Virgin in her Dolours.
This devout prayer, so
acceptable to our most holy Sorrowful Mother, and so useful to
Christian souls, was propagated throughout the Christian world
by these Servants of Mary and it afterwards received much
encouragement from Pope Benedict XIII., who, in order to induce
the faithful to adopt it more and more, granted by his Brief
Redemptoris, of Sept. 26, 1724 -
i. An indulgence of DAYS for every Pater noster, and the
same for every Ave Maria, to every one who, having
Confessed and Communicated, or at least made a firm resolution
to Confess, should say this Chaplet in the churches of the Order
of the Servants of Mary.
ii. The same indulgence of 200 days to be gained by all who
shall say it any where on Fridays, during Lent, and on the Feast
and Octave of the Seven Dolours of our Blessed Lady, and -
iii. An indulgence of 100 days, on any other day.
Lastly, the same Pope added -
iv. An indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines to any
one who says this Chaplet either alone or in company with
others.
Afterwards Pope Clement XII., " that the faithful might often
recollect and sympathise with the Dolours of Mary," confirmed by
his Bull of Unigeniti, Dec. 12, 1734, the before-named
Indulgences, adding also the following:
v. A plenary indulgence and remission of all sins to every one
who shall say this Chaplet daily for a month together, and shall
then, after Confession and Communion, pray for holy Church, &c.
vi. An indulgence of 100 years, every time it is said, to all
who say this chaplet, being truly penitent and having confessed,
or having at least made a firm resolution to confess their sins.
vii. An indulgence of 150 years, every Monday, Wednesday,
Friday, and Feast of Obligation of the Holy Church, after
Confession and Communion.
viii. A plenary indulgence all who say it four times a week, on
any one day in the year when, after Confession and Communion,
they shall say the said Chaplet of Seven Dolours.
ix. An indulgence of 200 years * also to those who shall say it
devoutly after their Confession.
x. An indulgence of ten years to those who keep one of these
Chaplets about them, and are in the habit of saying it
frequently, every time that, after Confession and Communion,
they shall hear Mass, be present at a sermon, accompany the
Blessed Sacrament to the sick, make peace between enemies, bring
sinners to Confession, &c. &c.; or whenever, saying at the same
time seven Pater noster's and seven Ave Maria's,
they shall do any spiritual or temporal good work in honour of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, or their Patron
Saint.
All these Indulgences Mere
confirmed by decrees of the S. Congr. of Indulgences issued at
the command of Pope Benedict XIV. on January 10, 1711. and
Clement XIII.. March 13, 1763. It is, however, requisite, in
order to gain these Indulgences, that these Chaplets should be
blessed by the Superiors of the Order of the Servants of Mary,
or by other priests of the Order deputed by them; and when
blessed, they cannot be sold or lent for the purpose of
communicating these Indulgences to others, as in that case they
would lose the Indulgences. See the above-named Brief of
Benedict XIII.
* In some summaries of these
Indulgences, and more particularly in that reprinted in Rome in
1518, we find 150 days and a few lines after, 200 days;
but in the Bull above named published at the Office of the
Reverend Apostolic Chamber in 1135, we find in both places not
days but years.
From the Raccolta
(Book of Indulgences)
His Holiness Pope Pius IX., in
order that the fervour of the devotion of the faithful might be
the more inflamed towards the Sacred and Immaculate Heart of
Mary, granted at the prayer of the Bishop of Verona -
i. An Indulgence of 300 days, once a day, to every one who
should say with contrite heart the following little chaplet.
ii. A plenary indulgence to all who have the devout custom of
saying it once a day; to be gained once a month, on the day
when, after Confession and Communion, they shall visit a church
or public oratory, and play there for a while according to the
mind of his Holiness. See decree of the S. Congr. of
Indulgences, Dec. 11, 1854.
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