What Does Mater Populi Fidelis Say About Mediatrix of All Graces?

“It does not honor Mary to attribute to her any mediation in the accomplishment of this work that belongs exclusively to God.” Mater Populi Fidelis, paragraph 55

In an effort to clarify certain Marian titles currently in use amongst some of the faithful, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) released Mater Populi Fidelis (Doctrinal Note on Some Marian Titles Regarding Mary’s Cooperation in the Work of Salvation) last month. Having previously examined Mater Populi Fidelis’s treatment of the Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix titles, I will now examine the title Mediatrix of All Graces.

As I discussed in my previous article, the title Mediatrix refers to Our Blessed Mother’s role in her Son’s work of redemption for humanity. As Mediatrix, Our Blessed Mother intercedes for us with her Son and supports him in a subordinate role in his efforts to effect our salvation. In using the title Mediatrix, the DDF cautions us to do so while recognizing that Mary’s role is subordinate and supportive of her Son’s role in salvation.

See https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20251104_mater-populi-fidelis_en.html    

The title Mediatrix of All Graces similarly refers to Our Blessed Mother’s intercessory role in her Son’s work of redemption for humanity. However, the title Mediatrix of All Graces goes beyond the title Mediatrix in that Mary is claimed to play a role in the bestowing of all of God’s graces upon humanity, even those that pre-dated her own existence. Rightfully the DDF declares that there are limits to Mary’s role as a Mediatrix.

In paragraph 53, Mater Populi Fidelis states unequivocally:
“No human person — not even the Apostles or the Blessed Virgin — can act as a universal dispenser of grace. Only God can bestow grace,[135] and he does so through the humanity of Christ[136] since “the man Christ possessed supreme fullness of grace, as being the only-begotten of the Father.”[137] Although the Blessed Virgin Mary is preeminently “full of grace” and “Mother of God,” she, like us, is an adopted daughter of the Father and, as Dante Alighieri writes, “daughter of your Son.”[138] She cooperates in the economy of salvation by a derived and subordinate participation. Therefore, any expression about her “mediation” in grace must be understood as a distant analogy to Christ and his unique mediation.[139]”

In paragraph 55, Mater Populis Fidelis states:
“As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence… does not hinder in any way the immediate union of the faithful with Christ but, rather, fosters it.”[141] For this reason, one should avoid any description that would suggest a Neoplatonic-like outpouring of grace by stages, as if God’s grace were descending through various intermediaries (such as Mary) while its ultimate source (God) remained disconnected from our hearts. Such interpretations carry a negative impact on a proper understanding of the intimate, direct, and immediate encounter that grace effects between the Lord and the believer’s heart.[142] The fact is that only God, the Triune God, justifies.[143] Only God raises us to overcome the infinite disproportion that separates us from divine life; only he acts in us with his Trinitarian indwelling; only he enters into us and transforms us, making us sharers in his divine life. It does not honor Mary to attribute to her any mediation in the accomplishment of this work that belongs exclusively to God.”

In paragraph 67, Mater Populi Fidelis states unequivocally:
“Some titles, such as “Mediatrix of All Graces,” have limits that do not favor a correct understanding of Mary’s unique place. In fact, she, the first redeemed, could not have been the mediatrix of the grace that she herself received. This is not a minor point since it reveals something central: even in Mary’s case, the gift of grace precedes her and comes from the absolutely free initiative of the Trinity in view of Christ’s merits. Like all of us, she did not merit her justification by a preceding action of her own,[172] nor did she do so by any subsequent action.[173]”

Our Blessed Mother plays a role in the dispensing of grace from God and her Son in that she intercedes for us and assists us in obtaining God’s grace. It cannot be said that she plays a role in the dispensing of all grace from God and her Son. Our Blessed Mother is a creation of Our Most Merciful Father, as we all are. Unlike God and her Son and the Holy Spirit, there was a definite point prior to which she did not exist. She was conceived without sin by the grace of God and the action of the Holy Spirit. This is a Dogma of the Catholic Church. As the DDF rightly points out, she cannot have played a role in the grace that she herself received from God. Nor could she have any role in the graces bestowed by God before she existed.

Some proponents of the Mediatrix of All Graces title like Dr. Taylor Marshall promote the notion that Mary could be responsible for graces bestowed before she existed and thus are in opposition to the DDF and Mater Populi Fidelis’s position. In his 2011 article “Is Mary the Mediatrix of All Graces?” Dr. Marshall writes “All graces, even those of the Old Testament are mediated through the ministry of the New Adam and the New Eve. Although, Mary did not yet exist, the graces prior to the New Testament were granted in expectation of a New Adam and a New Eve – Jesus and Mary.”

Dr. Marshall is right on a lot of aspects of Catholic theology but this is not one of them. His arguments in support of Mary’s involvement with graces that occurred before she existed are convoluted. Rather than try to explain his logic, I encourage you to read them for yourself https://taylormarshall.com/2011/05/is-mary-mediatrix-of-all-graces.html 

The title Mediatrix of All Graces is part of an effort by some to have a fifth Marian Dogma declared by the Church. These efforts intensified during the 1990s, so much so that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) intervened against them. In paragraph 19, Mater Populi Fidelis states:
“In the Feria IV meeting on 21 February 1996, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was the Prefect of the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was asked whether the request from the movement Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici to define a dogma declaring Mary as the “Co-redemptrix” or “Mediatrix of All Graces” was acceptable. In his personal votum, he replied: “Negative. The precise meaning of these titles is not clear, and the doctrine contained in them is not mature. A defined doctrine of divine faith belongs to the Depositum Fidei — that is, to the divine revelation conveyed in Scripture and the apostolic tradition. However, it is not clear how the doctrine expressed in these titles is present in Scripture and the apostolic tradition.”[37] 

I am also going to repeat an observation that I made in a previous article because of its relevance for the Mediatrix of All Graces title.
The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, spoke at length about the role of Our Blessed Mother in the Church. This section from paragraph 62 is particularly relevant to our discussion:

“By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.(16*) 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.(17*) For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer.”

I draw your attention especially to this sentence: “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.” The title Mediatrix appears in this short list, but without the phrase “of All Graces.” This was not an oversight but a conscious and deliberate decision of the Second Vatican Council to exclude that phrase as an inappropriate description for Our Blessed Mother.
See https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html 

Our Blessed Mother’s important role in the Church and in supporting Our Savior’s work in redeeming humanity is well attested by Sacred Scripture and the authoritative teachings of the Church. The Church also teaches that there are limitations to her role.

The Catholic Church has not approved the use of the title Mediatrix of All Graces for Our Blessed Mother. The title Mediatrix of All Graces does not appear in Sacred Scripture, in Lumen Gentium and the other documents of Second Vatican Council, and in The Catechism of the Catholic Church. In issuing Mater Populi Fidelis, the DDF is explaining why the title Mediatrix of All Graces is not appropriate for Our Blessed Mother.

For these reasons stated herein, I concur.

If I am incorrect in that assessment, then I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead me to the truth.