The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear friends today, the Church invites us to celebrate the Queenship of Mary. Her coronation as the Queen of all creation is intimately connected to her Assumption into heaven. This feast was first proclaimed as a Liturgical Feast by Pope Pius XII on 11th October 1954 through his Encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam. The wisdom of the Church makes this feast significant for us to celebrate all the more with great favour and faith. Considering the fact that Jesus was descendant of the House of David, Mary being the mother of Jesus is entitled by tradition to sit at the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Queen Mother. This tradition dates back to the Old Testament when Bathsheba was enthroned as Queen Mother because of the role she played in making her son, Solomon, the King. We contemplate this wonderful scene in the fifth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. In the fifth Glorious Mystery, the Church believes that Mary as the Queen of Heaven, Our Lord comes back to us again through Mary, passing His Life and His blessing through her hands as the Mediatrix of all graces. He came through her in Bethlehem; through her, we go back to Him-and through her He comes back again to us.
In Regina Anglorum one of the famous poems of G.K. Chesterton is...
Our Lady went into a strange country
And they crowned her for a queen
For she needed never to be stayed or questioned
But only seen;
And they were broken down under unbearable beauty
As we have been.
Our Lady wears a crown in a strange country
The crown He gave,
But she has not forgotten to call her old companions,
To call and crave;
And to hear her calling a man might arise and thunder
On the doors of the grave.
The Old Testament records Enoch and Elijah being taken up to heaven by the Lord. In the New Testament, we read of the single privilege of Mary to be chosen by God to be the mother of His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. From our Scripture classes, we know the Jewish context of those who bear children outside marriage. Therefore, this grace of being the mother of God was accompanied by hardships and a test of faith. So the angel’s greetings of ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour...was in fact not as pleasing as it appeared to be. For that greetings and blessing entailed the cross unseen and the pain unexpressed. She perhaps understood the mystery of this greeting as she accompanied her son to Calvary. But she did not fail to respond in faith and believe in heart what her son had to accomplish. She pondered all these things in her heart and with faith and confidence in her son’s divinity she told the men at the wedding to do whatever he tells.
After hearing the greetings of the angel, Mary was deeply disturbed and was perplexed about what those words mean. Mary a young Jewish girl, still holy and innocent as a teenager was afraid thinking of what would befall her. But the Angel tells her, Mary do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look, You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.
Learning from Mother Mary: Beauty takes different forms. This feast of the Queenship of Mary projects the reward of Mary’s purity of heart and sanctity of life. It also is a reminder of the true face value and inner beauty of our Blessed Mother. Therefore, this feast is an invitation to draw out our inner beauty and sanctity of life. May she help us and assist us particularly when we are troubled and confused in our isolated misunderstandings and misconceptions of truth and goodness of humanity and divinity. Thus with her assistance may we also in faith and confidence sing a hymn of Magnificat and run in haste to help and support our neighbour as she did to Elizabeth, her cousin.
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