Mediatrix is a title given to Mary, mother of Jesus used by some Christians. It refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator by intercession in the salvific redemption by her son Jesus Christ, the one proper Mediator by action. Mediatrix is an ancient title that has been used by many saints since at least the 5th century. Its use grew during the Middle Ages and reached its height in the writings of Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.
A general role of intercession is attributed to Mary in Catholicism, Evangelical Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy,McGurkin, John Anthony 2011. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, p. 597 and the term "Mediatrix" was applied to her in the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium of the Second 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."Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, §62, November 21, 1964.
The use of the title Mediatrix and the doctrine of Mary having a highest level of saintly intercession (called hyperdulia; owing to her special relationship with her son Jesus) is distinct from the theological issues involved in the establishment of Mediatrix of all graces as a dogma.
Further to the intercessory mediation is the claim that God bestows graces through her as the mechanism of the incarnation. A stronger version of this, which has not been officially defined by the church, is that all graces (ultimately or actually) flow through Mary's intercession.
In a 2025 doctrinal note titled Mater Populi Fidelis, the Dicastery 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."
History
Early history Mediatrix is an ancient title. A prayer attributed to Ephrem the Syrian in the 4th century calls her "after the mediator, you (Mary) are the mediatrix of the whole world."Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing , p. 104 The title was also used in the 5th century by Basil of Seleucia. By the 8th century, the title Mediatrix found common use and Andrew of Crete and John of Damascus used it.Antoine Nachef (Sep 1, 2000) Mary's Pope: John Paul II, Mary, and the Church pp. 179–80
These early notions place Mary's mediation on a higher level than that of other forms of the intercession 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.
Later Middle Ages The use of the Mediatrix title continued to grow in the Middle Ages, and Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Bonaventure, and Bernardino of Siena (15th century) frequently used it.
In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas noted that only Jesus Christ can be the perfect 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.Thomas Aquinas, Summa, III, 26,1, New advent.
The same notion was stated in the 16th century by the Council 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".Council of Trent, Session XXV, U. Hanover.
17th–18th centuries Reliance on the intercession of Mary grew and reached its height in the writings of Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century.
Louis de Montfort's approach (which later influenced Pope John Paul II) emphasized that Mary is the natural path to approaching Jesus because of her special relationship with him.Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing , p. 156 This reliance on the intercession of Mary is based on the general Montfortean formula:Mark Miravalle, 1993, Introduction to Mary, Queenship Publishing p. 175 "…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 book Treatise on Prayer, Alphonsus Liguori reviewed the writings of Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clairvaux on the intercession of saints and Mary's role as Mediatrix and strongly supported the title.St Alphonsus Liguori (Jun 7, 2009) Treatise on Prayer p. 26Paul Haffner (2004) The Mystery of Mary p. 260
19th–21st centuries Several popes have used the title Mediatrix. Leo XIII used it in 1896 and Pius X in 1904. This continued in the 20th century with Benedict XV and Pius XI. However, Pius XII avoided the use of the title in official documents,Pius XII, Radiophonical message of May 13, 1946 (quote: "Mãe de misericórdia, Rainha e Advogada nossa amorosíssima, Medianeira de suas graças, Dispensadora dos seus tesoiros"). As quoted in Lumen gentium n°. 62, Chapter VIII, footnote n°. 16 (Quote: "Cfr. Leo XIII, Litt. Encycl. Adiutricem populi, 5 sept. 1895: ASS 15 (1895-96), p. 303. - S. Pius X, Litt. Encycl. Ad diem illum, 2 febr. 1904: Acta, I, p. 154- Denz. 1978 a (3370) . Pius XI, Litt. Encycl. Miserentissimus, 8 maii 1928: AAS 20 (1928) p. 178. Pius XII, Nuntius Radioph., 13 maii 1946: AAS 38 (1946) p. 266.") although he urged reliance on the intercession of Mary.
Pope John Paul II used the title Mediatrix a number of times and in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater quoted a prayer in the Collectio Missarum de Beata Maria Virgine and noted that Mary's mediation is by intercession with the Son:
In September 2012, during the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, claimant visionnaire Emma 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 to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces.Castro, June Keithley. "Messages from Mama Mary", Inquirer.
Theological issues 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 the crucifixion on Mount Calvary. 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."The Intercession of Saints
With special reference to Mary, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, which in its document Lumen gentium referred to Mary as "'Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix," says:
Similarly, the Catechism of Saint Pius X affirms:
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."Declaration of the Theological Commission of the Pontifical International Marian Academy", L'Osservatore Romano 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.L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly ed in English, 25 June 1997, p.10
Marian mediation is exercised in the following areas: mediator of the Incarnation of the Word of God in her maternal womb; mediation in the Redemption, inasmuch as the *mediation of the Son of God would not have been possible if he had not assumed human nature from the womb of a ever Virgin, thus remaining in hypostatic union with the divine nature (the divine nature and the human nature of Christ are equally important for the purpose of his saving mediation);In Latin: "quod non est assumptum, non est sanatum" (cf. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Ep. 101 ad Cledon.). Quoted in Pope John Paul II 's General Audience of 9 March 1988 Intercession for divine grace with God; in an ascending sense, as a way to reach Christ.See the Latin motto Ad Jesum per Mariam (“to Jesus by means of Mary”): in Fr. James Alberione; in the True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort (50 e: "Since she is the sure means, the direct and immaculate way to Jesus and the perfect guide to him, it is through her that souls who are to shine forth in sanctity must find him."); Pope John Paul II's motto Totus tuus; Pope Benedict XVI; and Pope Francis
Fr. David Meconi and Carl E. Olson affirmed that Mary is witness that divinization is no longer out of reach. Christ is a divine hypostasis incarnated; Mary is a human hypostatis divinized."Due to the fact that the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven in body and soul and that no other human creature participates more than she does in the divine nature because of her purity, holiness, absence of original sin, and perpetual virginity. Cf. David Meconi and Carl E. Olson, Called To Be The Children Of God – The Catholic Theology Of Human Deification, Ch. Liturgy and Divinization, Mary as Liturgical Person. Quoted in
Roman Catholic theologians distinguish between universal mediation (in Latin: mediatio in universali) and particular mediation (in Latin: mediation in speciali). while the first concerns Mary's role as Mother of God and therefore source of saving grace, the second concerns her Intercession from heaven for special graces on behalf of one or people (alive or in Purgatory). The distinction is symmetrical to that between remote and immediate co-redemption. (excerpt available at Academia.edu)
Mediatrix of all graces