Readings & Reflections: Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time & The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 22,2019

Readings & Reflections: Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time & The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 22,2019

Today’s feast reminds us that holiness means depending on God. The Queenship of Mary invites us to exercise our obedience to God in a way that results not in submission, but likeness. Saint Maximillian Kolbe wrote that Mary “has a right to be loved as Queen of all hearts so that through her, hearts would be cleansed and themselves become immaculate, similar and like unto her own heart, and so worthy of union with God.” “A queen enjoys full power, even with regards to the king. Mary’s fullness of power is expressed in her intercession for us and her mediation of graces, so that we receive all personal graces from God” (von Balthasar). The Queenship of Mary shows us that being united with Jesus gives us a royal citizenship, participation in a heavenly court. We have a King and a Queen whose greatness does not distance them from us, for they are closer, more loving, and more intimately attentive to us than anyone else.

Who is Mary according to Scripture?

Please click this link to watch the video on Who is Mary according to Scripture?

Why do Catholics call Mary “Queen”? The answer click below: Why do Catholics call Mary “Queen”?

AMDG+

Opening Prayer

“Lord, may I always know the joy of living in your presence and grow in the hope of seeing you face to face in your everlasting kingdom.” Amen.

Reading I
Jgs 11:29-39a

The Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah-Gilead as well, and from there he went on to the Ammonites. Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. “If you deliver the Ammonites into my power,” he said, “whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a burnt offering.”

Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his power, so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them, from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all) and as far as Abel-keramim. Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection by the children of Israel. When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her. When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, “Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract.” She replied, “Father, you have made a vow to the LORD. Do with me as you have vowed, because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you on your enemies the Ammonites.” Then she said to her father, “Let me have this favor. Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains to mourn my virginity with my companions.”
“Go,” he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains. At the end of the two months she returned to her father,
who did to her as he had vowed.

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 40:5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Gospel
Mt 22:1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and the elders of the people in parables saying, “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.

A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast. “’Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection 1 – Son’s wedding feast

In today’s gospel a king’s invitation to a son’s wedding feast is set in center stage. He patiently invited his guests, again and again. He awaited them and meticulously described the celebration in order to attract his invited guests. But all he got were excuses from his friends. Some of them totally ignored him while there were some who even maltreated his messengers, some to the point of killing them.

God’s call to all of us may be likened to the king’s invitation. Just like the invited guests of the king, we have the freedom to refuse. God does not force His will but patiently waits for us. His invitation is extended not to a chosen few but to all. Those who will decide to come and be with our Lord, He will clothe with His righteousness and will give them a new heart. Those who shall respond to His invitation, He will empower to do the work He has set for them. He will give them the grace to live by his statutes and observe His decrees. God said: “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36:26-28

Let us ask ourselves, how many of God’s invitations we have set aside in our lifetime? How many times have we ignored our Lord’s outstretched hand?

Brethren, it might be good to re-consider God and His call as time might be running against us. We are missing the joy of abiding in our Lord and the chances of getting better and being transformed. The time has come for all of us to look deep into our past and examine where we have failed our Lord. We need to learn from them and to commit to a new life in Christ. If we respond to God’s invitation and allow Him to take our hand, our burdens will become lighter and our healing can begin and ours will be a new life.

God wants to heal us, restore us and make us whole. God’s will for us is total goodness. God loves us and is patiently waiting for us to answer his invitation. Those He calls, He will empower and bless! “I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.” Ezekiel 36:27

Today, God is calling us to partake of the great feast that He has graciously prepared for us. He calls us to His fold, to heal us and make us whole, so that we too may be able to bring His love and healing to others. It is His invitation and He wants us to open our hearts to it. To all these, our response should be: “To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart! Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”

Direction

Respond to God’s call and abide in His Word. Faithfully live our new life in Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, create a clean create for me, O God and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. In Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Reflection 2 – They would not come to the feast!

What can a royal wedding party tell us about God’s kingdom? One of the most beautiful images used in the Scriptures to depict what heaven is like is the wedding celebration and royal feast given by the King for his newly-wed son and bride. Whatever grand feast we can imagine on earth, heaven is the feast of all feasts because the Lord of heaven and earth invites us to the most important banquet of all – not simply as bystanders or guests – but as members of Christ’s own body, his bride the church! The last book in the Bible ends with an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb – the Lord Jesus who offered his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and who now reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come!(Revelations 22:17). The Lord Jesus invites us to be united with himself in his heavenly kingdom of peace and righteousness.

Whose interests come first – God or mine?
Why does Jesus’ parable of the marriage feast seem to focus on an angry king who ends up punishing those who refused his invitation and who mistreated his servants? Jesus’ parable contains two stories. The first has to do with the original guests invited to the marriage feast. The king had sent out invitations well in advance to his subjects, so they would have plenty of time to prepare for coming to the feast. How insulting for the invited guests to then refuse when the time for celebrating came! They made light of the King’s request because they put their own interests above his. They not only insulted the King but the heir to the throne as well. The king’s anger is justified because they openly refused to give the king the honor he was due. Jesus directed this warning to the Jews of his day, both to convey how much God wanted them to share in the joy of his kingdom, but also to give a warning about the consequences of refusing his Son, their Messiah and Savior.

An invitation we cannot refuse!
The second part of the story focuses on those who had no claim on the king and who would never have considered getting such an invitation. The “good and the bad” along the highways certainly referred to the Gentiles (non-Jews) and to sinners. This is certainly an invitation of grace – undeserved, unmerited favor and kindness! But this invitation also contains a warning for those who refuse it or who approach the wedding feast unworthily. God’s grace is a free gift, but it is also an awesome responsibility.

Cheap grace or costly grace?
Dieterich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany who died for his faith under Hitler’s Nazi rule, contrasted “cheap grace” and “costly grace”.

“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves… the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance… grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate… Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”

God invites each of us as his friends to his heavenly banquet that we may celebrate with him and share in his joy. Are you ready to feast at the Lord’s banquet table?

“Lord Jesus, may I always know the joy of living in your presence and grow in the hope of seeing you face to face in your everlasting kingdom.” – Read the source: http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/2019/aug22.htm

Reflection 3 – Many are called

Jesus often likens the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet. In today’s gospel (Mt 22:1-14), the king is angry at the response of those he has invited. Not only have they shunned the invitation in favor of tending their fields or businesses, but some have even murdered the servants sent to gather them!

This passage is usually interpreted as a warning to the “chosen people” that, since they did not respond to God’s offer, the invitation will be extended to others – even (shockingly enough, to first-century Jews) the gentiles. Of course, most of us owe our Christian heritage to the tireless preaching of Paul to the gentiles. Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah in large numbers and though Christianity started out as a “branch” almost of Judaism. It gained its widest acceptance among those outside Palestine. We can, therefore, be somewhat grateful that the chosen people didn’t take all the seats in paradise for themselves, but on no account should we be complacent and imagine that an invitation guarantees admission.

God is by nature generous and boundlessly self-giving. All that we have – our lives, our world – is a gift of God. But our faith tells us that a response is required and offers us examples of what that response can look like. When a guest shows up to the wedding banquet improperly dressed and is rejected, it is not a condemnation of those who cannot afford finery or who do not value external appearances. This grand invitation must be valued and responded to with respect. It demands the best response we can offer.

If we attend Sunday Mass out of a sense of obligation rather than privilege, we are like this guest – failing to see the significance of what is offered to us. This great banquet is not something to squeeze into our schedule, or something to do on our way to more important events. It is the most important event we will experience in our human lives.

We have been called, yes, and we are here to answer that call. Let us clothe ourselves with humility, dignity and a deep respect for the life God offers us. Let us choose to be not merely called, but chosen (Source: Kathleen M. Carroll, Weekday Homily Helps. Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, August 21, 2008).

Reflection 4 – Invite to the wedding feast whomever you find

What is meaning of the parable of the wedding banquet (Mt 22:1-14)? The answer is: The king is God the Father. The son is Jesus who brought the banquet of salvation (Rev 19:9). The banquet hall is the Church (CCC: 1070). Those who mistreat and kill the servants, prophets and apostles are the scribes and Pharisees, Pilate, Judas, and all others who, like them, reject Jesus. Those who reject God’s love are headed for ruin. Hence, others will be invited to take their place. So the apostles went out into the whole world to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. The banquet hall now filled with guests “both good and bad.” This represents the Church, which is open to all. To enter the banquet hall one must also have the right internal dispositions with faith and charity as symbolized by the wedding garment. Those who are not wearing the proper wedding garment will be cast out into the outer darkness called hell (Mt 13:41-42; Mt 25:41; cf. Rev 1:18; Eph 4:9; CCC: 1056-1057).

St. Gregory the Great, (+604 A.D.) wrote, “The marriage is the wedding of Christ and his Church; the garment is the virtue of charity; a person who goes into the feast without a wedding garment is someone who believes in the Church but does not have charity.”What should we do to prepare ourselves? It is by faithfulness to the Lord’s command and the breaking of the bread: “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…” (Acts 2: 42). St. Thomas Aquinas, (+1274 A.D.) reminds us that the saving sacrifice of the Mass “has no effect except in those united to the passion of Christ by faith and charity” (EM # 12). Thus, let us prepare ourselves cloth with faith and charity before receiving for Holy Communion to make our lives “all things new” (Rev 21:5) – in Him. This is the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: “… what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9; CCC: 1027). In the Mass, we join joyfully with the angels and saints in heaven “to fulfill God’s will in relation to other men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him ‘they shall reign for ever and ever’” (Rev 22:5; CCC: 1029). With this truth of our faith, how do I prepare myself before receiving the Lord in the Holy Communion at least every Sunday?

Reflection 5 – Bring Them In!

Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. –Luke 14:23

Some Christians have gotten the idea that if they erect a beautiful building, put up a sign, and place an ad in the newspaper, the unsaved will flock to church. But it just doesn’t work that way. There’s an impelling go in the gospel that makes us responsible for our friends and neighbors. We must reach out to lost sinners and bring them in.

In D. L. Moody’s day, it was a common practice for people to rent a church pew. One Sunday morning, 19-year-old Moody marched down the aisle with a motley crew of society’s outcasts trailing behind him. He had rented four pews and was determined to fill them with those who were spiritually needy. Having taken the Savior’s “Go” personally (Mt. 28:19), he literally “went out into the highways and gathered together . . . both bad and good” (22:10).

Don’t make the mistake of believing that Jesus’ command to go applies only to missionaries in faraway places. All of God’s children are to share the good news of salvation. What a tragedy it would be if our own neighbors never heard the gospel because we never told them!

Ask the Lord to place a burden on your heart for a friend or loved one who is lost. Then go and bring them in! — Richard De Haan

Who’ll go and help this Shepherd kind,
Help Him the wandering ones to find?
Who’ll bring the lost ones to the fold
Where they’ll be sheltered from the cold? –Thomas

We must go to sinners if we expect sinners to come to the Savior (Source: Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries).

Reflection 6 – Banquet of salvation

In the Old Testament the messianic Kingdom is described as a feast or wedding party. In today’s reading the Kingdom is presented by Jesus as a wedding feast or banquet prepared by the Lord to which all are called. But there are certain conditions for remaining at the banquet.

Isaiah 25:6-10 describes a magnificent feast on the holy mountain (i.e., Mt. Zion in Jerusalem). He will destroy the “veil” or “web,” that is, suffering and death; he will wipe away the tears from all faces, for the hand of the Lord will rest on this holy mountain. This is a prophecy and description of the coming of the Messiah to Jerusalem. It is also a prophecy about the Church. Also, it describes our heavenly homeland, for example in Rev. 21:4, “God… will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.” So there are at least three levels of meaning here.

Our gospel reading (Mt 22:1-14) today develops the idea that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet, but a banquet of salvation. God calls or invites all men to participate in the marriage of his Son with human nature, which took place in his Incarnation and was consummated in his death on the cross. Here we find the basis for the missionary mandate of the Church to convert the world.

In the parable the king is God the Father; the son is Jesus; the banquet is salvation brought by the son; the banquet hall is the Church; the invited who refuse or mistreat and kill the servants (the prophets and apostles) are the scribes and Pharisees, Pilate, Judas, and all others who, like them, reject Jesus. Those who reject God’s love are headed for ruin. Others will be invited to take their place; “Go into the byroads and invite all to come in.” So the apostles went out into the whole world to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The banquet hall now filled with guests “both good and bad,” represents the Church, which is open to all but is like a field in which the weeds grow along with the grain. To be invited and to enter the banquet hall does not mean certain salvation – one must also have the right internal dispositions, that is, faith and charity; this is symbolized by the wedding garment. Those not wearing the proper wedding garment will be cast out into the outer darkness; that is, they will be cast into hell.

This means that they must have faith in Jesus as God’s only Son and must also act justly. They must possess divine charity, for faith alone is not sufficient. They must avoid all mortal sin, which is the death of the soul, and must strive for perfection. This means first of all keeping the commandments, and this is summed up in love of God and love of neighbor. Also, all are called to a higher level of Christian perfection – to holiness according to Mt 5:48 (“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”). This means going beyond mere avoidance of sin; it means practicing virtue and living the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12) in imitation of Jesus and Mary.

The last two verses present the sobering thought of eternal damnation and rejection of God. Being cast out into the outer darkness means being cast into hell, where there is wailing and grinding of teeth. This will happen at death to those who die in the state of mortal sin and therefore lack divine grace. This is final – there is no possibility of change or repentance.

The invited are many but the elect are few. This does not mean that the chosen or elect are few in absolute numbers (for example, only 144,000), but that the chosen are fewer in number that those who were called. This is because of the inconstancy of those who did not respond to the divine invitation and because some of those who did respond at first later fell into sin and turned their backs on God. In this regard St. Gregory the Great said, “The marriage is the wedding of Christ and his Church; the garment is the virtue of charity; a person who goes into the feast without a wedding garment is someone who believes in the Church but does not have charity.”

“Many are called but few are chosen.” We should make up our minds right now that we will be among the chosen or elect – by avoiding all serious sin, by striving to avoid all deliberate venial sin, by practicing the virtues (especially humility and charity) and by striving to live the Beatitudes. That should be our life’s program. If we can do that, we will always be wearing the “wedding garment” that is necessary for entering into God’s final wedding feast for his Son, and we will always be ready to take our place at the eternal wedding banquet when he sees fit to call us home. (Source: Rev. Kenneth Baker, SJ, “Homilies on the Liturgies of Sundays and Feasts,” Homiletic & Pastoral Review, Vol. CVIII, No. 11-12. New Jersey: Ignatius Press, 2008, pp. 44-45; Suggested reading: Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2044-2046).

Reflection 7 – Living in the land of holiness

What this world needs now, to deliver it from so much evil happening in so many different ways, is a stronger, holier Christian body of believers. In today’s first reading, God speaks to us with assurances that, because of our desire to love him and follow him, we will grow in holiness. No doubt about it!

Are you holy now? Yes! When you were baptized, your sinful nature died and you received life in the HOLY Spirit. The problem is, we don’t always act according to our true nature. We reject our own goodness and thus we sin — or said more accurately, we reject the Holy Spirit within us.

If we accept the invitation of Jesus to join the great wedding banquet, like he explains in today’s Gospel reading, our heavenly King graces us with a feast of his goodness. And our Queen Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who lived her entire life in the fullness of grace, adds her prayers to ours and shares with us her gift of grace.

This is how God proves his holiness to the world. He proves it, as Ezekiel prophesied, through us and our ever-increasing holiness. What sins are currently controlling you? God can help you overcome them! Read Ezekiel’s words as a promise from God to you personally:

“I will take you away from that world of sinfulness, because it’s foreign to your true nature, and I will bring you back into my kingdom, your real home.

“I will sprinkle purity (clean water) upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities. I will cleanse you from the muck of your idols, from everything that you hold dearer than your true God.

“I will remove your stony heart and give you a new heart — the Sacred Heart of my Son — and place within you a new spirit — my Holy Spirit. This Spirit will empower you to live by my statutes and decrees.

“You shall live in the land of holiness — my kingdom — which I gave to your ancestors, the saints who went before you.

“You shall be my child, and I will be your God. Indeed, this is already so, because you desire it! All I ever needed from you was your permission to lead you, to change you, and to embrace you. Thank you for giving this to Me in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in the penance rites of Mass, and in your everyday love for Me.” – Read the source: http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2016-08-18

Reflection 8 – Inviting others to the banquet

When Jesus told the parable in today’s Gospel reading, he was addressing those who stubbornly refuse to enter into a right relationship with their Messiah. Through the voice of the king who gave a wedding feast for his son, God the Father speaks: “You have been invited to the Eucharistic banquet of the Savior, but you’re saying no and therefore you’re going to face terrible consequences. Some of you think you’re religious enough and don’t need to change. There are terrible consequences for you, too.”

Have you ever experienced that sort of person? Perhaps you’ve invited someone into a healthy, Godly friendship with you, but he’s rejected you or she’s tried to be your friend under the terms of her own unhealthiness and immorality.

As Christians, we’re called to bring Christ into the world by being invitational, open to new relationships so that we can reveal God’s love to more people and help them discover Jesus in the banquet of Holy Communion. But what if the people you invite say no? Or what if they say yes for the wrong reasons, unwilling to be transformed by the holiness of your love?

Jesus shows us in this parable that God does not drag the unwilling into his celebrations (not even to Mass). Sure, he gives people (until they die) unlimited opportunities to repent and join the party, but his banquet is meant for true friends. Only the true friends of Christ want to be changed by the transforming power of the Eucharistic feast. When people say no to this wonderful opportunity, he lets them fall deeper into the pits they’re digging. He lets them meet up with the terrible consequences they’re creating so that they eventually become desperate enough and humble enough to want to change.

God deals similarly with those who are faking it, i.e., those who want God’s love, kindness, patience, eternal life, etc. and who claim to be Christian but really don’t want to be Christ-like. They come to Mass without any desire to be transformed by it. He tells them, “ENOUGH! You don’t belong here and you can’t trick me into thinking that you do. Get out of here until your terrible consequences awaken you to the truth, and humble you!”

Because we are true friends of Christ, we care about those who are not yet enjoying the banquet of his love, and so we invite them to join us, but we must not force them as if we’re responsible for their decisions. Sometimes all we can do is be living examples of the blessings that come from friendship with Christ and involvement in parish life. Sometimes the best invitation is the joy we experience from celebrating his Eucharistic banquet. (Ahhh, do you experience this joy? Is it obvious?)

As this parable shows, we must not waste our time mourning the rejection and fakery of those who are unfit to join us in the banquet. If we follow God’s example, we will go out again and again to seek those who really do want to be holy. We will go out of our way to make new friends, inviting both the good and the bad while letting the stubborn ones reap what they sow, so that we can enjoy the fellowship of those who take seriously the call to celebrate the Eucharist-centered life. – Read the source: https://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2019-08-22

Reflection 9 – Queenship of Mary

Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem (June 9) called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.

The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.

Comment:

As St. Paul suggests in Romans 8:28–30, God has predestined human beings from all eternity to share the image of his Son. All the more was Mary predestined to be the mother of Jesus. As Jesus was to be king of all creation, Mary, in dependence on Jesus, was to be queen. All other titles to queenship derive from this eternal intention of God. As Jesus exercised his kingship on earth by serving his Father and his fellow human beings, so did Mary exercise her queenship. As the glorified Jesus remains with us as our king till the end of time (Matthew 28:20), so does Mary, who was assumed into heaven and crowned queen of heaven and earth.

Quote:

“Let the entire body of the faithful pour forth persevering prayer to the Mother of God and Mother of men. Let them implore that she who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers may now, exalted as she is in heaven above all the saints and angels, intercede with her Son in the fellowship of all the saints. May she do so until all the peoples of the human family, whether they are honored with the name of Christian or whether they still do not know their Savior, are happily gathered together in peace and harmony into the one People of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity” (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 69).

Read the source: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1115

SAINT OF THE DAY
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Heaven

This article is about the title of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. For Queen of Heaven in antiquity, see Queen of heaven (antiquity).

“Mary Queen of Heaven” redirects here. For the Catholic parish church, see Mary Queen of Heaven (Erlanger, Kentucky).

QUEEN OF HEAVEN

QUEEN OF HEAVEN, GREAT LADY, HOLY QUEEN
VENERATED IN	Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodoxy
FEAST	22 August
ATTRIBUTES	Blessed Virgin Mary, crown of stars, flowers
PATRONAGE	Heaven, eternal salvation to humankind, redemption

MARIOLOGY OF THECATHOLIC CHURCH

Part of a series on the
Madonna of the Magnificat (1481) by Sandro Botticelli
Overview[show]
Doctrines [show]
Papal documents [show]
Prayers and devotions [show]
Expressions of devotion[show]
Movements and societies [show]
Apparitions [show]
Key Marian feast days [show]
Catholicism portal
v t e

Queen of Heaven is a title given to the Virgin Mary by Christiansmainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in Eastern Orthodoxy and Anglicanism.^[1] The title is a consequence of the First Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, in which the Virgin Mary was proclaimed “theotokos“, a title rendered in Latin as Mater Dei, in English “Mother of God“.

The Catholic teaching on this subject is expressed in the papal encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam,^[2] issued by Pope Pius XII. It states that Mary is called Queen of Heaven because her son, Jesus Christ, is the king of Israel and heavenly king of the universe; indeed, the Davidic tradition of Israel recognized the mother of the king as the Queen Mother of Israel. The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not share the Catholic dogma, but themselves have a rich liturgical history in honor of Mary.

The title Queen of Heaven has long been a Catholic tradition, included in prayers and devotional literature, and seen in Western art in the subject of the Coronation of the Virgin, from the High Middle Ages, long before it was given a formal definition status by the Church.

Theological basis[edit]

Biblical basis[edit]

In the Hebrew Bible, under some Davidic kings, the gebirah, the “Great Lady”, usually the Mother of the King, held great power as advocate with the king. In 1 Kings 2:20, Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba, seated on a throne at his right, “Make your request, Mother, for I will not refuse you.” Fr. William G. Most sees here a sort of type of Mary.^[5]

A statue of the Assumption of Marytypically crowned with 12 stars. A reflection of the biblical image in Revelation 12. Statue by Attard, Malta.

In the New Testament, the title has several biblical sources. At the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel announces that [Jesus] “… will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end.”(Luke 1:32) The biblical precedent in ancient Israel is that the mother of the king becomes the queen mother.^[9] Mary’s queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship.^[7]

The Roman Catholic Church views Mary as the woman clothed with the sun in the Book of Revelation 12:1–3:^[6] “1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” The Church accepts Revelation 12 as a reference to Mary, Israel, and the Church as a three-fold symbolism through the Book of Isaiah and affirms Mary as the mother of Jesus as the prophetic fulfilment described in Revelation 12 (cf. Isaiah 7:14, 26:17, 54:1, 66:7).^[6]

In the Hebrew Bible the term “queen of heaven” appears in a context unrelated to Mary. The prophet Jeremiah writing circa 628 BC refers to a “queen of heaven” in chapters 7 and 44 of the Book of Jeremiah when he scolds the people for having “sinned against the Lord” due to their idolatrous practices of burning incense, making cakes and pouring out drink offerings to her. This title was probably given to Asherah, aCaananite idol and goddess worshipped in ancient Israel and Judah.^[10] For a discussion of “queen of heaven” in the Hebrew Bible, see Queen of heaven (Antiquity).

Historical practice[edit]

Fra Angelico

In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. A text probably coming from Origen (died c. 254) gives her the title domina, the feminine form of Latin dominus, Lord. That same title also appears in many other early writers, e.g., Jerome, and Peter Chrysologus. The first Mariological definition and basis for the title of Mary Queen of Heaven developed at the Council of Ephesus, where Mary was defined to be the Mother of God. The Council fathers specifically approved this version against the opinion, that Mary is “only” the mother of Jesus. Nobody had participated in the life of her son more, than Mary, who gave birth to the Son of God.^[11]

The word “Queen” appears about the sixth century, and is common thereafter.^[5] Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.^[7] For centuries she has been invoked as the Queen of heaven.^[12]

Litany of Loreto[edit]

Rubens, 1609

She is invoked in the Litany of Loreto as:

Queen of the Angels,
Queen of Patriarchs,
Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,
Queen of Martyrs,
Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,
Queen of all Saints
Queen of Families.^[12]
Queen conceived without original sin
Queen assumed into Heaven
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
Queen of Peace^[13]

Other titles[edit]

The Second Vatican Council in 1964 referred to Mary as Queen of the Universe.^[14]

Liturgy of the Hours[edit]

Crowned statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, Warfhuizen, the Netherlands.

The four ancient Marian antiphons of the Liturgy of the Hours express the Queenship of the Virgin Mary: the Salve Regina, the Ave Regina Caelorum, the Alma Redemptoris Mater, and the Regina Caeli. These are prayed at different times of the year, at the end ofCompline.

Salve Regina[edit]

Main article: Salve Regina

Mary as Queen of Heaven is praised in the Salve Regina “(Hail Queen)”, which is sung in the time from Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the vernacular, as a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Hail Holy Queen is the final prayer of the Rosary. A German Benedictine monk, Hermann of Reichenau(1013–1054), allegedly composed it and it originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of the Catholic Church until Vatican II. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. In the Middle Ages, Salve Regina offices were held every Saturday.^[15] In the 13th century, the custom developed to greet the Queen of Heaven with the Salve Regina, which is considered the oldest of the four Marian antiphons. As a part of the Catholic Reformation, the Salve Regina was prayed every Saturday by members of the Sodality of Our Lady, a Jesuit Marian congregation. The Hail Holy Queen is also the final prayer of the Rosary.

Ave Regina Caelorum[edit]

Main article: Ave Regina Caelorum

The Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven) is an early Marian antiphon, praising Mary, the Queen of Heaven. It is traditionally said or sung after each of thecanonical hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. The prayer is used especially after Compline, the final canonical hour of prayer before going to sleep. It is prayed from theFeast of the Presentation (February 2) through the Wednesday of Holy Week. It used to be sung on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Ave Regina Caelorumdates back in a different musical intonation to the 12th century.^[16] Today’s version is slightly different from a 12th-century intonation. The Ave Regina Caelorum has four parts: Ave, Salve, Gaude and Vale (in English: hail, rejoice, farewell). It was used for processions in honour of the Queen of Heaven. The Ave Regina Caelorumreceived numerous musical versions, a famous one of which was composed in 1773 by Joseph Haydn.^[17]

Alma Redemptoris Mater[edit]

Main article: Alma Redemptoris Mater

The coronation of the Virgin Mary by Rubens, c. 1625

The Alma Redemptoris Mater (Loving Mother of our Savior) is recited in the Catholic Church at Compline only from the first Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (February 2). Continuing theological discussions exist as to the origin and exact timing of this Marian antiphon. It has two equal parts. The Virgin Mary is the loving Mother of the Savior, the ever-virgin with a very high position in heaven. May she listen to her people with mercy in their need for her help.^[18]

Regina Coeli[edit]

Main article: Regina Coeli

The Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) is an anthem of the Roman Catholic Church which replaces the Angelus at Eastertide (from Holy Saturday until the Saturday after Pentecost). It is named for its opening words in Latin. The Regina Coeli was the subject of numerous intonations throughout the centuries by known and unknown composers. Not all attributions are correct however, as an often quoted Regina Coeli by Joseph Haydn had other authors.^[17] Of unknown authorship, the anthem was in Franciscan use in the first half of the 13th century. Together with three other Marian anthems, it was incorporated in the Minorite Roman Curia Office, which the Franciscans soon popularized everywhere, and which by order of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280) replaced all the older breviariesin the churches of Rome.^[19]

Veneration[edit]

The Catholic faith states, as a dogma, that Mary is assumed into heaven and is with Jesus Christ, her divine son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of herDivine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of eternal salvation. Roman Catholicism employs the liturgical Latin phrase Ora Pro Nobis, meaning pray for us, and does not teach adherents to pray to saints or worship saints, but rather asks those saints to pray for them. The encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam maintains that Christ as redeemer is Lord and King. The Blessed Virgin is Queen, because of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest.^[20] Mary was chosen Mother of Christ so she might help fulfill God’s plan in the redemption of humankind; The Catholic Church from the earliest times venerated the Queen of Heaven, according to Pius XII:

From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven and never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother’s solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.^[21]

The Queenship of Mary is commemorated in the last of the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary — the Coronation of the Virgin as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Parishes and private groups often process and crown an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with flowers. This often is referred to as a “May Crowning.” This rite may be done on solemnities and feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or other festive days, and offers the Church a chance to reflect on Mary’s role in the history of salvation.^[22]

The Virgin has been called “Queen of France” since 1638 when, partly in thanksgiving for a victory over the Huguenots and also in hope of the birth of an heir after years of childless marriage, Louis XIII officially gave her that title. Siena, Tuscany, hails the Virgin as Queen of Siena, and annually observes the race and pageant called the “palio” in her honor.^[23]

Feast of Queenship of Mary[edit]

The coronation of the Salus Populi Romani icon byPope Pius XII in 1954.

Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the Pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. The initial ceremony for this feast involved the crowning of the Salus Populi Romani icon of the Virgin Mary in Rome by Pius XII as part of a procession in Rome.^[24]The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast.^[7] In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22.

It has been placed eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption, in order to emphasize the close bond between Mary’s queenship and her glorification in body and soul next to her Son. The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Church states that “Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son” (Lumen gentium, 59).^[12]

The movement to officially recognise the Queenship of Mary was initially promoted by several Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon, France; Freiburg, Germany; and Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Gabriel Roschinifounded in Rome, Italy, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, Pro Regalitate Mariae.^[25]Several popes had described Mary as Queen and Queen of Heaven, which was documented by Gabriel Roschini. Pope Pius XII repeated the title in numerous encyclicals and apostolic letters, especially during World War II^[26]^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]

Marian Processions[edit]

Annual Grand Marian Procession through Downtown Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, California, a Marian procession took place annually for roughly the first 100 years following the founding of the city. In an attempt to revive the custom of religious processions, in September 2011 the Queen of Angels Foundationinaugurated an annual “Grand Marian Procession” in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles‘ historic core.^[32]^[33] This yearly procession, intended to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the City of Los Angeles, begins outside of the parish ofLa Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles which is part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, better known as “La Placita”. By way of city streets, the procession eventually terminates at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels where a public Rosary and Mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary are offered.^[34] Subsequent years have seen the involvement and participation of numerous chivalric, fraternal, and religious orders, parishes, lay groups, political figures, as well as other religious and civic organizations.

Art[edit]

Giacomo di Mino, 1340–1350

Main articles: Coronation of the Virgin and Roman Catholic Marian art

Earliest known (6th century) Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina(Saint Mary the Queen), Santa Maria Antiquachurch, Rome.

Early Christian art shows Mary in an elevated position. She carries her divine son in her hands, or holds him. After he ascended into heaven, he reigns in divine glory. Mary, his mother, assumed into heaven by her son, participates in his heavenly glory.

The earliest known Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina depicting the Virgin Mary as a queen dates to the 6th century and is found in the modest church of Santa Maria Antiqua(i.e., ancient St. Mary) built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum. Here the Virgin Mary is unequivocally depicted as an empress.^[35]^[36]^[37] As one of the earliest Roman Catholic Marian churches, this church was used by Pope John VII in the early 8th century as the see of the bishop of Rome. Also in the 8th century, the Second Council of Nicaea decreed that such pictures of Mary should be venerated.^[38]

In the early 16th century, Protestant reformers began to discourage Marian art, and some likeJohn Calvin or Zwingli even encouraged its destruction. But after the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century confirmed the veneration of Marian paintings for Catholics, Mary was often painted as a Madonna with crown, surrounded by stars, standing on top of the world or the partly visible moon. After the victory against the Turks at Lepanto, Mary is depicted as the Queen of Victory, sometimes wearing the crown of the Habsburg empire.^[39]National interpretations existed in France as well, where Jean Fouquet painted the Queen of Heaven in 1450 with the face of the mistress of King Charles VII^[40] Statues and pictures of Mary were crowned by kings in Poland, France, Bavaria, Hungary and Austria,^[40] sometimes apparently using crowns previously worn by earthly monarchs. A surviving small crown presented byMargaret of Yorkseems to have been that worn by her at her wedding to Charles the Bold in 1463. A recent coronation was that of the picture of the Salus Populi Romani in 1954 by Pius XII. The veneration of Mary as queen continues into the 21st Century, but artistic expressions do not have the leading role as in previous times^[40]

Artworks, including paintings, mosaics and carvings of the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven, became increasingly popular from the 13th century onward. Works follow a set pattern, showing Mary kneeling in the heavenly court, and being crowned either by Jesus alone, or else by Jesus and God the Father together, with the Holy Spirit, usually in the form of a dove, completing the Trinity. The Coronation of Mary is almost entirely a theme of western art. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Mary is often shown wearing a crown, the coronation itself never became an accepted artistic subject.^[41]^[42]