Other Papal Approbations

Clement IX (1667-1669)

Although no official acts were promulgated during his Pontificate, Clement IX was very familiar with Ven. Mary and The Mystical City of God, since he was Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of Spain from 1644-1653. And since he took no action to condemn the book, we may assume he approved of it, although privately; he had quite probably read it himself.

There is an interesting connection between this Pope and Ven. Mary. Her fellow religious desired to elect her Abbess of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception * in Ágreda at the young age of 25, and obtained a dispensation from the Apostolic Nuncio to do so. Much against her will (since she felt herself incapable of such an office) she was re-elected every three years thereafter (also by dispensation), with only one exception: In 1652 the Nuncio Msgr. Giulio Rospigliosi, who was later to become Clement IX, granted the dispensation, and this gave Ven. Mary time away from the duties of abbess to make a special preparation to write the book a second time (cf. Transfixion par. 25), since she had burned the first manuscript at the command of a substitute confessor. Hence we may well say that after our Immaculate Queen and Ven. Mary we owe our good fortune in possessing The Mystical City of God to this great Pope.

Also interesting is the fact that Most Rev. Samaniego predicted Msgr. Rospigliosi, no doubt due to his love for Our Lady and her book, would later become Pope.

Pius IX (1846-1878)

He stated “The Mystical City of God is a most excellent book, very appropriate for propagating the veneration of the Virgin Mary, and an antidote against the evil doctrines of our days.”

Leo XIII (1878-1903)

In 1900 a devout Canadian lay woman undertook the project of printing in one book the instructions of Our Lady found at the end of the chapters in The Mystical City of God. She travelled to Rome, obtained an audience with Pope Leo XIII, and informed him of her project. The great Pontiff not only gave her the Apostolic Blessing, but to the amazement of many he ordered her book to be printed on the presses of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda in Rome. The book is still extant and is titled Sublime Doctrine de la Mère de Dieu sur les vertus Chretiennes (extrait de la ‘Cite Mystique de Dieu’ par le Ven. Marie d’Agreda) (Rome: 1900).

A few months later it was observed by a Canadian diocesan journal:

“The reserve which is ordinarily maintained on the subject of private revelations has no longer any real reason to exist in relation to The Mystical City of God, since His Holiness Leo XIII has been so good as gladly to encourage the project of spreading among the faithful the science of the saints which is contained in that heavenly Life of the Mother of God.”

Pius XI (1922-1939)

On April 29, 1939 (within the lifetime of some of us) Pius XI granted an audience to the publisher of The Mystical City of God. He told him:

“You have done a great work in honor of the Mother of God; she will never permit herself to be outdone in generosity, and will know how to reward a thousandfold. We grant the Apostolic Benediction to all readers and promoters of the Mystical City of God.”

Thus speak true sons of the Handmaid of the Lord, for if Our Lady is Queen of Apostles then She certainly could be called Queen of Popes, their successors. One of the most beautiful revelations in the book is the extreme piety, love and reverence the Apostles had for the Blessed Mother, and the daily (and often miraculous) care She had for them. The Apostles loved Her as their Mother, and they certainly rejoice in heaven upon seeing some particulars of the great love and concern She had for them revealed in our time in The Mystical City of God.

* The Order of the Conceptionists, a branch of the Franciscan Order, already made illustrious by the revelations of Our Lady of Good Success given to Mother Mariana in Quito, Ecuador less than 50 years earlier.