Traditional Date of the Feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces = June 8?

[Tis_Bearself]

I am having some confusion with the traditional date of this feast. Please note, this thread is ONLY for discussing the traditional date of the feast, not for discussing the theology of/ people’s personal issues with the concept of Mary as Mediatrix (a subject we’ve had a lot of past threads on already).

I usually follow the Catholic Culture website liturgical calendar for USA, and for June 8, it says that according to the 1962 Missal of St. Pope John XXIII was the feast of Mary, Mediatrix. I’ve found a couple of other traditional websites also saying June 8 was the traditional day for this feast in “some places”.

However, I’ve found other traditional websites that don’t mention this feast at all, or don’t mention it as being on June 8. So far in my research I’ve been able to find a source saying that Pope Benedict XV in the 1920s established it, at least for Belgium (which was pushing for it), on November 8 and later it got moved to May 31. When the 1962 calendar got revised after Vatican II, the feast was dropped, apparently.

(As a side note, I found that the Philippines had a different date for this feast associated with an alleged apparition that’s apparently unapproved as of now, so I won’t discuss it further. I’ve also read that a number of religious orders were celebrating it even before Pope Benedict XV put it in the calendar, and that the orders all presumably had dates of their own for the feast, for example the Dominicans seem to have had it on various days and finally ended up with it on May 8. )

Normally when a feast has been moved around in the pre-Vatican 2 calendars, I can look up old revisions of the calendar and see when it moved/ which Pope moved it, but I’m drawing a blank here for some reason. The calendars I can find don’t seem to be showing this feast.

So my question is:
How did the feast of Mary, Mediatrix which Pope Benedict XV put in place for Belgium on November 8, end up getting moved to June 8? Who moved it, was there a reason why it moved, etc. And where are the “some places” it was celebrated on June 8? Was USA one of them?

Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this.

 

[Genesis315]

According to what I can gather from the preview of the book linked below, Benedict XV approved the first Mass and Office for this feast, and it was originally assigned May 31 in Belgium. It’s unclear what other countries adopted it after that (it looks like Spain was definitely one). On page 449 I can see a snippet that says individual bishops in a bunch of countries had permission to celebrate it. So it seems it varied not just by country, but by diocese. This is what probably accounts for all the variety.

When Pope Pius XII instituted the Feast of Mary’s Queenship on May 31, the places where Mary Mediatrix was celelbrated either dropped it or moved it somewhere else (again, probably why there is so much variety). It is still an optional memorial in Belgium on August 31.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Virgin_Mary_Mediatrix_of_All_Graces/TQLTAQAAQBAJ

This books seems pretty well researched.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Thanks, yes everyone seems to agree the feast ended up on May 31 by the 1950s so I’m not sure where the June 8 is coming from, unless someone out there has an old missal showing it on that day.

I am trying to find the original document by Pope Benedict XV establishing it so I can see what day he had it on originally as the sources are all over the map on that, but so far can’t find it.

 

[Genesis315]

The book I linked to cites the date of the decree of approval for the first approved Mass and Office texts as being January 12, 1921 setting the date of the feast as May 31, as bridge between the Marian month and the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Bishops had to seek permission to use it in their dioceses. The Belgian bishops were first to get approval, and Bishop Mercier (the main mover and shaker who got the Mass composed and approved in the first place) encouraged a bunch of bishops from all over to seek permission as well.

According to the same book, in 1954, the Queenship of Mary was instituted universally for May 31. It seems to me this is where the variation in dates begins, since dioceses either dropped it or moved it elsewhere at that point. So in 1962, there was likely a variety of different dates used, depending on what diocese you were in, if it was even celebrated at all in a particular place.

The book seems pretty legit, being written by a professor of the history of Mariology.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’m beginning to think Catholic Culture should have put it on May 8 (because it seems like the Dominicans and some other orders had it on that day prior to Pope Benedict XV’s putting it on the General Calendar) and made a mistake in the month.

I think for my personal calendars I will move it to May 8 and follow the Dominicans’ date, as there are already two other Marian feasts (current Queenship of Mary and traditional Visitation) on May 31.

I cannot find any support anywhere for June 8 being associated with this feast.