Commentary
Wednesday, 8/22/2018, The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mediatrix and Queen
The Rosary is one of the most powerful of all prayers. It consists of four sets of mysteries (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious) each set containing five mysteries. When we pray the Rosary, we meditate on these mysteries and what they mean to our faith.
The Rosary begins with Mary in the first two Joyful Mysteries. The First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, is the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary to tell her that she would have a Son and that His name would be Immanuel. The Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation, is Mary's visit to Elizabeth. Mary is also in the Third Glorious Mystery which is the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost. The Rosary ends with Mary with the Fourth and Fifth Glorious Mysteries. The Fourth Glorious Mystery is the Assumption of Mary into Heaven which we celebrated on August 15th. The Fifth Glorious Mystery is the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth which we celebrate today. All of the other mysteries are about the life of Christ.
If you are a Non-Catholic, you may not be familiar with the Rosary and you may ask, how, do we know that Mary is the Queen of Heaven and Earth? We believe that Mary is the Queen of Heaven and Earth in faith because she is the woman in Genesis 3:15 and she is the woman, who is a queen, in Revelation 12:1-2. We also believe because of apparitions which Mary made where she appeared as a queen wearing a crown. Mary, who had great humility, would not have appeared as a queen if she were not the queen.
One of Mary’s most famous apparitions occurred on 7/18/1830 when Mary appeared to Catherine Laboure. Mary foretold of great sorrows which were to come but she also told Catherine that God’s saving grace would be there for anyone who asked. Then Mary instructed Catherine to make a medal and promised that great graces would abound for anyone who wore the medal with confidence around their neck. Mary's words at Rue du Bac
We know this medal as the Miraculous Medal and it is designed according to Mary’s instructions. Mary not only appeared as a queen to Catherine, but by having Catherine make the medal depicting her as a queen, Mary testified that she is the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
In my commentary for the Assumption of Mary, I asked two questions. Would God the Father want the body of Mary, who came into the world pure, and remained unblemished as a virgin throughout her life, and as the mother of His Son and the Queen of Heaven, to be subjected to the physical corruption of death? Would the Son want the body of His mother, who He appointed as our mother in heaven, and who made it possible for Him to complete His mission as our Savior, to undergo the physical corruption of death?
When we consider these questions together with everything else that we know about Mary including her apparitions, it makes sense to conclude in faith that Mary, who is the Mediatrix of All Grace, is also the Queen of Heaven and Earth as was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in October of 1954.
