3. When, then, it came to pass in the secret design of God's providence that We were chosen to fill this Chair of St. Peter and to take the place of the Person of Christ Himself in the Church, worried by the enormous burden of the office and finding no ground for reliance upon Our own strength, We hastened with fervent zeal to implore the divine aid through the maternal intercession of the ever blessed Virgin.
Per multa enim et varia et formidolosa quae inciderunt tempora, semper ad eam confugimus, semper ad eam intentis oculis cupidisque suspeximus; omnique spe et metu, laetitiis et acerbitatibus, in sinu eius depositis, haec fuit assidua cura, orandi ab ea, Nobis vellet benigna in modum matris per omne tempus adesse et illud impetrare eximium, posse Nos ei vicissim deditissimam filii voluntatem probare. — Ubi deinde arcano providentis Dei consilio est factum, ut ad hanc Beati Petri Cathedram, ad ipsam videlicet Christi personam in eius Ecclesia gerendam, assumeremur, tum vero ingenti muneris gravitate commoti, nec ulla sustentati fiducia virtutis Nostrae, subsidia divinae opis, in materna Virginis beatissimae fide, impensiore studio flagitare contendimus.vatican.va vatican.va