What 1,000 years of golden roses tell us about popes’ authority and influence, from Leo IX to Leo XIV

On a September visit to France, Pope Leo XIV presented a golden rose to the shrine at Lourdes, the fifth such gift he has dedicated to a Marian site. The tradition dates to 1049 under Pope Leo IX and has shifted dramatically over centuries, from a token submitted to the pope by a nunnery, to a reward popes bestowed on crusading kings and warlords, to a gift exclusively given to powerful Catholic women between 1790 and 1893.

Since the mid-20th century, popes have stopped giving the rose to people altogether, favoring shrines and basilicas instead. The last individual recipient was Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, in 1956. Vatican accounting registers show the roses historically cost roughly ten years of a laborer's wages in precious metal.

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