Pope Pius XII, wearing the ring of St. Peter, raises his right hand in a papal blessing at the Vatican in 1945. Pope Pius XII saw a vision of the Miracle of the Sun on several occasions. (Public Domain)
Venerable Pope Pius XII is an important man for the age of Mary (1830-1954). He was known as the "Pope of Mary." Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) was born on March 2, 1876, in Rome. He was ordained a priest on Easter Sunday, April 2, in 1899.
Pacelli was consecrated Bishop by Pope Benedict XV on May 13, 1917, the day of the first apparition of Our Lady in Fatima. He was elected Pope on his 63rd birthday, March 2, 1939.
Both Blessed Alexandrina da Costa and Sister Lucia of Fatima prayed and petitioned the Holy Father to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On Oct. 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart, and on July 7, 1952, he consecrated the Russian people to the Immaculate Heart.
During World War II, Pius XII worked for peace and to help the Jews. When the Nazis occupied Rome, the Holy Father opened the Vatican to more than a million refugees, providing food and shelter for them.
The chief rabbi of Rome, Rabbi Israel Zolli, was so moved by the actions of Pius XII that he became a Catholic. He used the baptismal name "Eugenio Maria" in honour of the Holy Father. After the war, the government of Israel promised to plant 850,000 trees in Pius XII’s honour—one for each Jewish life that was saved by his actions.
On Nov. 1, 1950, Pius XII officially declared the dogma that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven. According to the longtime housekeeper of Pius XII, the Holy Father saw the miracle of the sun four times. Three times were within days of the proclamation of the dogma and one time on the actual day of the proclamation.
Two Marian feasts were related to Pius XII. On May 4, 1944, Pius XII decreed in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Holy Father hoped to obtain by Our Lady's intercession "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity, and the practise of virtue".
On Oct. 11, 1954, Pius XII established the Feast of the Queenship of Mary to be celebrated throughout the world, and commanded that on that day each year, the world should renew its consecration to Our Lady. He wrote, "The purpose of the feast is that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and motherly sovereignty of her who bore God in her womb".
Pius XII declared the Marian Year 1953-1954. During the Marian Congress in the Philippines in 1954, he delivered a message to it by radio. He said that the rosary was the national devotion of the Philippines and called the Philippines the "Kingdom of the Holy Rosary."
On Sept. 15, 1951, Pius XII published a rosary encyclical and encouraged the practice of family rosary. He wrote, "We affirm that the custom of the family recitation of the Holy Rosary is a most efficacious means. What a sweet sight – most pleasing to God – when, at eventide, the Christian home resounds with the frequent repetition of praises in honour of the august Queen of Heaven! Then the rosary, recited in common, assembles before the image of the Virgin, in an admirable union of hearts, the parents and their children, who come back from their daily work. It unites them piously with those absent and those dead. It links all more tightly in a sweet bond of love, with the most Holy Virgin, who, like a loving mother, in the circle of her children, will be there bestowing upon them an abundance of the gifts of concord and family peace."
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「瑪利亞的教宗」
教宗真福庇約十二世在聖母年代（1830-1954）來說，是一位重要人物，被稱為「瑪利亞的教宗」。游錦.瑪利亞.若瑟.若望.帕西里（即後來的教宗庇約十二世）於1876年3月2日在羅馬出生，1899年4月2日（復活節）晉鐸。
1917年5月13日（花地瑪聖母首次顯現），教宗本篤十五世把他擢升為主教；1939年3月2日，正是他六十三歲生辰，被選為聖伯多祿的繼承人，聖教會的元首。
真福雅麗珊.高詩戴及花地瑪的路濟亞修女，均向教宗要求要把世界奉獻給聖母無玷聖心。1942年10月31日，教宗庇約十二世把世界敬獻給聖母無玷聖心；1952年7月7日，他又把俄國人民獻托給無玷聖心。
第二次世界大戰爆發，教宗庇約十二世為恢復和平而努力，同時亦協助猶太人逃避納粹德軍的殘害，把梵蒂崗開放給以百萬計的猶太人，作為他們的難民收容所，給他們提供溫飽。
當時羅馬的猶太主師依斯肋.索里，受教宗庇約十二世的行為所感動，受洗皈依天主教，取教名為「游錦.瑪利亞」，以向教宗致意。大戰結束後，以色列政府承諾植樹八十五萬株，表示對教宗庇約十二世的感謝 ── 每株樹代表教宗拯救一名猶太人的性命。
1950年11月1日，教宗庇約十二世正式宣佈「聖母靈魂肉身一同蒙召升天」為當信道理。教宗的長期管家憶述，在宣佈這當信道理數天的期間，教宗目睹四次與太陽有關的奇蹟，其中一次是在宣佈當天發生。
與聖母有關的兩個瞻禮日，都和教宗庇約十二世息息相關。1941年5月4日，教宗指定普世教會慶祝「聖母無玷聖心」的瞻禮日，希望藉聖母的轉禱帶來「世界和平、教會的自由、罪人的皈依、愛慕純潔、和德行的實踐。」
1954年10月11日，教宗庇約十二世建立「聖母元后」瞻禮，令普世教會每年慶祝。他寫道：「這瞻禮目的是讓眾人更清楚意會到和更熱心地尊敬聖母慈悲和母親的權柄，她在胎中懷了天主。」
教宗庇約十二世定1953年至1954年為「聖母年」；1954年他在菲律賓舉行的「聖母大會」中，藉大氣廣播，認定誦唸玫瑰經是菲律賓對聖母國家級的敬禮，並稱菲律賓為「至聖玫瑰的國家」。
1951年9月15日，教宗庇約十二世發表了「玫瑰經通諭」，鼓勵「家庭玫瑰」。他筆諭：「我們確認家庭誦唸玫瑰經的習慣是最有效的方法。多麼甘飴的景象-----最中悅天主的------當在黃昏時，基督徒家庭，反覆響起恭敬天上母后的讚美聲！父母和子女們經過一整天辛勞，回到家裡，在聖母像前聚在一起，心連心地一起公唸玫瑰經。它讓他們與外出了的成員及亡者熱心地聯繫著。它更緊密地連繫眾人於甘飴的愛中，與至聖童貞一起，就如孩子們圍繞著慈祥的母親一樣，她將在此給予他們和睦及家庭和平的豐盛恩典。」