RADIO VATICANA REPORT: Pope
Benedict XVI held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday. Marian devotion was
the theme of his remarks, on the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin.
“Dear friends,” said Pope Benedict in Italian-language remarks to pilgrims and
tourists gathered in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo,
“Devotion to Our Lady is an important part of spiritual life,” adding an appeal
to the faithful, that they not not fail to turn confidently to Mary in prayer,
saying, “She will not fail to intercede for us with her Son.”
The Pope went on to recommend that all the faithful imitate Mary’s faith and her openness to the fullness of God’s loving design. “Mary,” said Pope Benedict, “is the Queen of Heaven - close to God – and also close to each of us, a mother who loves us and listens to our voice.”
It was a theme to which the Holy Father returned during his English-language remarks:
I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially the groups from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Japan and the United States of America. I also greet the young altar servers from Malta and their families. Today the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the prayers of Our Lady guide us along our pilgrimage of faith, that we may share in her Son’s victory and reign with him in his eternal Kingdom. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings!
The Holy Father also had especial greetings for the visiting Chaldean Sisters of Mary Immaculate, whose work on behalf of people in their native Iraq he praised. The Pope is in Castel Gandolfo for the Summer months, and is keeping a reduced schedule of appointments – though he is scheduled to travel to Lebanon from September 14th to September 16th.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
The Pope went on to recommend that all the faithful imitate Mary’s faith and her openness to the fullness of God’s loving design. “Mary,” said Pope Benedict, “is the Queen of Heaven - close to God – and also close to each of us, a mother who loves us and listens to our voice.”
It was a theme to which the Holy Father returned during his English-language remarks:
I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims present at today’s Audience, especially the groups from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Japan and the United States of America. I also greet the young altar servers from Malta and their families. Today the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May the prayers of Our Lady guide us along our pilgrimage of faith, that we may share in her Son’s victory and reign with him in his eternal Kingdom. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings!
The Holy Father also had especial greetings for the visiting Chaldean Sisters of Mary Immaculate, whose work on behalf of people in their native Iraq he praised. The Pope is in Castel Gandolfo for the Summer months, and is keeping a reduced schedule of appointments – though he is scheduled to travel to Lebanon from September 14th to September 16th.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
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AMERICA : NEW FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM AFTER NUNS - "NUN BETTER"
DIOCESE OF CLEVELAND
REPORT:
 Nun Better™ Snickerdoodle, one of seven new flavors in Pierre’s Ice Cream Company’s newly launched Signature Collection, is the product of a unique collaboration between the 80-year-old Cleveland-based ice cream maker and the Sisters of the Holy Spirit, an order of nuns famously known for delivering batches of their homemade Nun Better® Cookies to the Cleveland Indians.Featuring Caramel Ice Cream with Snickerdoodle Cookies and Caramel Swirl, Pierre’s Nun Better™ Snickerdoodle is inspired by the cookie of the same name, one of several varieties in the order’s Nun Better® brand which includes Lemon Crinkle, Butterscotch Coconut Toasties and Old-fashioned Oatmeal Raisin. Proceeds from the sisters’ cookies support their order, whose ministry involves serving the older adults at Jennings Center for Older Adults in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Sister Mary Assumpta,
known around Cleveland as “The Baseball Nun” for delivering her order’s cookies
to the Indians and serving as a baseball correspondent for WEWS-TV NewsChannel5
in Cleveland and CBS This Morning in the 1990s, approached Pierre’s last year
about creating an ice cream based on one of the order’s cookies. After months of
searching for the perfect ingredients and fine tuning the recipe, Pierre’s
flavor-development team unveiled Nun Better™
Snickerdoodle.
“Nun Better™
Snickerdoodle is a wonderful flavor,” said Sister Mary Assumpta. “It really
captures the spirit of our cookies. We are very excited and are sure it will
please both cookie and ice cream lovers alike!”
Pierre’s Signature Ice
Cream line was created in celebration of Pierre’s 80th anniversary in 2012.
Offering “the ultimate ice cream experience,” Signature is a line of Super
Premium Ice Cream Pints featuring seven unique and indulgent flavors: Banana
Fudge Chunk, Cherries & Chocolate Chunks, Chocolate Lava Cake, Coconut Fudge
Almond, Exquisite Vanilla, Mocha Mud Pie and Nun Better™
Snickerdoodle.
“Ice cream lovers will
definitely be delighted by Nun Better™ Snickerdoodle,” said Pierre’s President
and CEO, Shelley Roth. “The sisters are very passionate about their cookies,
just like Pierre’s is about making ice cream. It was a perfect flavor for
Pierre’s Signature
Collection.”
The new flavors arrived
in stores in July.
Pierre’s Ice Cream Company is a leader in the production and distribution of gourmet ice creams, sherbet, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and frozen novelties. Over 235 products and flavors share the Pierre’s name. The company is privately owned and operated with its headquarter office and production plant in Cleveland, Ohio. Pierre’s has 80 years of tradition and commitment to the highest quality standards, outstanding service and industry leadership. For more information about Pierre’s, visit www.pierres.com.
The Sisters of the
Holy Spirit are celebrating their 80th anniversary as a Catholic community in
the Diocese of Cleveland. Located in Garfield Heights, Ohio, this religious
order is the sponsor of Jennings Center for Older Adults, a leader in care for
Northeast Ohio’s older adults. For more information about the community or Nun
Better® cookies, visit www.sistersoftheholyspirit.org.
SHARED FROM DIOCESE OF
CLEVELAND
|
ASIA : CHINA : SEMINARIES CLOSED - GOVERNMENT LOSES CONFIDENCE OF PEOPLE
ASIA NEWS REPORT: by Bernardo
Cervellera
The seminaries will be closed until further notice, a nun was forced to step down as superior general. Seminarians and nuns "did not cooperate" with the government for the ordination of July 7, when Ma Daqin decided he was quitting the Patriotic Association. Catholics resistance to and criticism of official Church body on the rise. A bishop tells AsiaNews: "The government has lost control of the masses and the confidence of the people."
Rome (AsiaNews) - Shanghai's regional and minor seminary will not reopen - as planned - at the beginning of September until further notice, a nun was forced to resign as superior general of her order: these are some of the "revenge" moves by the Patriotic Association to express its anger at Msgr. Ma Taddeo Daqin's decision to leave the control of the official Catholic Church and against those who "have helped him."
On 7 July Msgr. Ma was ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, with the approval of the Holy See. During the ceremony, he avoided the embrace and communion with Zhan Silu, the illicit bishop who was there, and announced he would henceforth devote himself fully to his pastoral mission and consequently quit the Patriotic Association (PA), an organization which, according to Benedict XVI is "incompatible with Catholic doctrine" and pursues a policy of "independence" from the Holy See.
Immediately after his ordination, brave Msgr. Ma (see photo) was placed under house arrest in Sheshan Regional Seminary and forbidden to wear any Episcopal insignia (pectoral cross, ring, beretta, etc. ..). In addition, an investigation was opened into his behavior in violating the Party's "rules" of ordination.
Now the Bishop of Shanghai, Msgr. Aloysius Jin Luxian has issued a short note warning that the seminaries will not open in early September "until further notice" and this is due to the "present situation".
A few days earlier, another note had warned that Sister Agnes Liu Shujing was being removed from the office of superior general of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Presentation. The Mother, who was preparing a weekly course with all 86 nuns of her order, had to cancel this commitment.
According to UCAN news agency, "there is no official reason for her resignation," but we know that Sr. Agnes "did not cooperate" with the government in the preparation for the 7 July ordination. She had in fact delayed in passing on the PA's order that all sisters had to attend the ordination ceremony, although there was an illicit bishop, to the sisters of her order.
Sources have passed on the details to AsiaNews: nuns and seminarians, in fact, attended the ceremony, but with a very precise task to fulfill: prevent illicit bishops from entering the church and taking part in the ceremony. This is why together they formed a "human barrier" between the bishops in communion with the Pope, although Zhan Silu was then able to infiltrate the same.
The PA is concerned that the example of Msgr. Ma Daqin, the seminarians and nuns will spread to all the other dioceses and for this very reason has closed down all of the seminaries and removed Sr. Agnes.
But in all likelihood these moves will boomerang and create even more resistance in the Church. Already a priest, quoted by UCAN, points out that the major seminary of Sheshan not only serves Shanghai, but also Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, which he says "should not be involved in this episode ". The leaders of the churches in these provinces have planned to criticize the choice of government authorities in Shanghai.
Another priest, contacted by AsiaNews defends choice of Msgr. Ma: "The PA is not the government and therefore one can freely join and leave this association. Msgr. Ma did not do anything illegal in his resignation from the PA."
Even bishops who so far have been very obedient to the PA are backtracking. At least two official bishops, requisitioned by the Party to participate in the illicit ordination of Harbin, refused and found a way not to go.
One bishop has confided to AsiaNews: "What is happening in Chinese society is also happening in the Catholic Church: the government has lost control of the masses and the people's trust. The faithful no longer pay any attention to the PA, it no longer counts".
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
The seminaries will be closed until further notice, a nun was forced to step down as superior general. Seminarians and nuns "did not cooperate" with the government for the ordination of July 7, when Ma Daqin decided he was quitting the Patriotic Association. Catholics resistance to and criticism of official Church body on the rise. A bishop tells AsiaNews: "The government has lost control of the masses and the confidence of the people."
Rome (AsiaNews) - Shanghai's regional and minor seminary will not reopen - as planned - at the beginning of September until further notice, a nun was forced to resign as superior general of her order: these are some of the "revenge" moves by the Patriotic Association to express its anger at Msgr. Ma Taddeo Daqin's decision to leave the control of the official Catholic Church and against those who "have helped him."
On 7 July Msgr. Ma was ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, with the approval of the Holy See. During the ceremony, he avoided the embrace and communion with Zhan Silu, the illicit bishop who was there, and announced he would henceforth devote himself fully to his pastoral mission and consequently quit the Patriotic Association (PA), an organization which, according to Benedict XVI is "incompatible with Catholic doctrine" and pursues a policy of "independence" from the Holy See.
Immediately after his ordination, brave Msgr. Ma (see photo) was placed under house arrest in Sheshan Regional Seminary and forbidden to wear any Episcopal insignia (pectoral cross, ring, beretta, etc. ..). In addition, an investigation was opened into his behavior in violating the Party's "rules" of ordination.
Now the Bishop of Shanghai, Msgr. Aloysius Jin Luxian has issued a short note warning that the seminaries will not open in early September "until further notice" and this is due to the "present situation".
A few days earlier, another note had warned that Sister Agnes Liu Shujing was being removed from the office of superior general of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Presentation. The Mother, who was preparing a weekly course with all 86 nuns of her order, had to cancel this commitment.
According to UCAN news agency, "there is no official reason for her resignation," but we know that Sr. Agnes "did not cooperate" with the government in the preparation for the 7 July ordination. She had in fact delayed in passing on the PA's order that all sisters had to attend the ordination ceremony, although there was an illicit bishop, to the sisters of her order.
Sources have passed on the details to AsiaNews: nuns and seminarians, in fact, attended the ceremony, but with a very precise task to fulfill: prevent illicit bishops from entering the church and taking part in the ceremony. This is why together they formed a "human barrier" between the bishops in communion with the Pope, although Zhan Silu was then able to infiltrate the same.
The PA is concerned that the example of Msgr. Ma Daqin, the seminarians and nuns will spread to all the other dioceses and for this very reason has closed down all of the seminaries and removed Sr. Agnes.
But in all likelihood these moves will boomerang and create even more resistance in the Church. Already a priest, quoted by UCAN, points out that the major seminary of Sheshan not only serves Shanghai, but also Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, which he says "should not be involved in this episode ". The leaders of the churches in these provinces have planned to criticize the choice of government authorities in Shanghai.
Another priest, contacted by AsiaNews defends choice of Msgr. Ma: "The PA is not the government and therefore one can freely join and leave this association. Msgr. Ma did not do anything illegal in his resignation from the PA."
Even bishops who so far have been very obedient to the PA are backtracking. At least two official bishops, requisitioned by the Party to participate in the illicit ordination of Harbin, refused and found a way not to go.
One bishop has confided to AsiaNews: "What is happening in Chinese society is also happening in the Catholic Church: the government has lost control of the masses and the people's trust. The faithful no longer pay any attention to the PA, it no longer counts".
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
AUSTRALIA : NEW SUPPORT FOR PARENTS FACING DEATH OF BABY
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese
REPORT
22 Aug 2012
For any family, being told their
unborn child has a fatal or life-limiting condition is heartbreaking. But thanks
to Catholic Health Australia (CHA), a first-of-a-kind website now offers
support, guidance, comfort and perinatal palliative care for parents and
families faced with such a tragic diagnosis.
"Without having experienced it personally, it is impossible to know the range of emotions that run through the minds of families when they find out their child has a condition that will result in the child's death soon after - or even before - he or she is born," Martin Laverty, CEO of CHA said this morning when he launched the website at CHA's annual conference in Perth.
The website, pnpc.org.au, offers parents and their families a wide range of resources, a chance to share their grief and emotions with others who have experienced the same bittersweet journey, as well as all important emotional, spiritual and practical help.
"Through this project we have been able to
hear from parents who have made the decision to continue with the pregnancy and
share the joys and sorrows the experience created for them. We also spoke with
clinicians and genetic counsellors, bereavement counsellors and pastoral care
workers to offer their perspective on how families deal with such a difficult
situation," Martin Laverty says.
Parents faced with a diagnosis their much loved, much wanted baby is unlikely to survive are shocked and devastated. A time that should be filled with joy is suddenly filled with sadness. But until now there has been little support for parents or their families as they struggle to cope with such a grim diagnosis as well as the challenges of continuing with the pregnancy where the baby may die at any time or shortly after he or she is born.
"With the website we also aim to give families information about the range of conditions that may result in these diagnoses and offer advice on where they can find help," says Martin Laverty, CEO of CHA.
While those who have had to deal with anguish of their unborn child being diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, many parents who share their stories on the website speak of the joy of meeting and holding their baby, and of being a parent to a much loved child, if only for a short time.
Those who share their stories and bereavement
counsellors encourage parents to embrace their baby no matter how brief the time
they may have together, even if that time is limited to the period the child is
safely cradled inside the womb.
The experience of those who met and held their baby and spent time with them, even when the child was still-born, will also help provide some parents with answers, comfort and a way forward.
With the support of CHA the website has been developed in collaboration with Catholic hospitals such as Melbourne's Mercy Hospital for Women, Calvary Healthcare and Brisbane's Mater Mothers' and Mater Mother's Private Hospitals, all of which provide a wide range of perinatal palliative care services to help families from the time of diagnosis until their child's death and beyond.
"Families need to receive the best possible
medical care advice they can. But they also need support from people who have
experience in dealing with the emotional aspects of preparing for the birth of a
child with a life-limiting condition and unlikely to survive," Mr Laverty
says.
The website can be accessed by logging on to www.pnpc.org.au
shared from ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
22 Aug 2012
New support for parents struggling to come to
terms with a devastating diagnosis
"Without having experienced it personally, it is impossible to know the range of emotions that run through the minds of families when they find out their child has a condition that will result in the child's death soon after - or even before - he or she is born," Martin Laverty, CEO of CHA said this morning when he launched the website at CHA's annual conference in Perth.
The website, pnpc.org.au, offers parents and their families a wide range of resources, a chance to share their grief and emotions with others who have experienced the same bittersweet journey, as well as all important emotional, spiritual and practical help.
Martin Laverty Chief Executive Officer of
Catholic Health Australia
Parents faced with a diagnosis their much loved, much wanted baby is unlikely to survive are shocked and devastated. A time that should be filled with joy is suddenly filled with sadness. But until now there has been little support for parents or their families as they struggle to cope with such a grim diagnosis as well as the challenges of continuing with the pregnancy where the baby may die at any time or shortly after he or she is born.
"With the website we also aim to give families information about the range of conditions that may result in these diagnoses and offer advice on where they can find help," says Martin Laverty, CEO of CHA.
While those who have had to deal with anguish of their unborn child being diagnosed with a life-limiting condition, many parents who share their stories on the website speak of the joy of meeting and holding their baby, and of being a parent to a much loved child, if only for a short time.
Decision to continue with pregnancy can be
heartbreaking
The experience of those who met and held their baby and spent time with them, even when the child was still-born, will also help provide some parents with answers, comfort and a way forward.
With the support of CHA the website has been developed in collaboration with Catholic hospitals such as Melbourne's Mercy Hospital for Women, Calvary Healthcare and Brisbane's Mater Mothers' and Mater Mother's Private Hospitals, all of which provide a wide range of perinatal palliative care services to help families from the time of diagnosis until their child's death and beyond.
Every moment with a baby is valuable even if
such time is brief
The website can be accessed by logging on to www.pnpc.org.au
shared from ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
AFRICA : NIGERIA : ARRESTS AND BOMB FACTORY FOUND IN CHURCH ATTACKS
VANGUARD REPORT:
Lokoja — The police in Kogi say that additional eight
suspects have been arrested in connection with the killings of 19 worshippers at
Deeper Life Bible Church, Okene, on Aug. 6.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Katsina, who
disclosed this to newsmen in Lokoja on Tuesday, however, said that two of the
suspects had died in custody.
He said that police arrested two of the suspects in a bus on Murtala Mohammad Bridge, Jamata, Lokoja, on their way to the state from one of the neighbouring states.
Katsina said that the arrested persons were suspected to be among the attackers of the church, who were re-grouping after the attack.
The police commissioner also said that the attackers hatched their plot to attack the church and Okene Local Government Secretariat at their hideout in the Eyika Adagu area of the local government.
"Three persons each were detailed to attack the church and the soldier respectively; the pastor was the target of the attack but because of confusion as they entered the church, they were shooting sporadically."
He said that the gang also confessed that they had planned to launch another attack on Aug. 19, to disrupt the services and the Eid-el-Fitri celebration before the arrest of its leader.
The police in the state announced on Aug. 13 that 16 suspects had been arrested in connection with the killings.
The commissioner also said that two bomb-manufacturing factories were discovered on Tuesday in Abu Limit Estate and Eyika Adagu in Okene and Okehi Local Government Areas respectively.
Conducting journalists round the factories, Katsina said they were discovered following information provided by the arrested leader of the 21-man gangwho masterminded the church attack.
According to him, items recovered from the factories included seven AK 47 rifles, 1,000 live ammunition, 29 loaded magazines, six locally made pistols, gas cylinders, two rocket launchers and other bomb making components.
He said that after the attack on the soldiers at Okene Local Government Secretariat on Aug. 7, the police got the information that the suspects were at a training camp at Etar Hill, planning another attack.
He further said that the police mobilised officers to the hill and engaged them in gun battle, adding that some of the gunmen were injured in the operation while others escaped to a farm settlement.
Katsina said that the suspected gang leader was arrested behind banana trees at a farm settlement in Ulowo, Ondo State, after an exchange of gun shots in which he sustained serious injuries. (NAN)
SHARED FROM VANGUARD NIGERIA
He said that police arrested two of the suspects in a bus on Murtala Mohammad Bridge, Jamata, Lokoja, on their way to the state from one of the neighbouring states.
Katsina said that the arrested persons were suspected to be among the attackers of the church, who were re-grouping after the attack.
The police commissioner also said that the attackers hatched their plot to attack the church and Okene Local Government Secretariat at their hideout in the Eyika Adagu area of the local government.
"Three persons each were detailed to attack the church and the soldier respectively; the pastor was the target of the attack but because of confusion as they entered the church, they were shooting sporadically."
He said that the gang also confessed that they had planned to launch another attack on Aug. 19, to disrupt the services and the Eid-el-Fitri celebration before the arrest of its leader.
The police in the state announced on Aug. 13 that 16 suspects had been arrested in connection with the killings.
The commissioner also said that two bomb-manufacturing factories were discovered on Tuesday in Abu Limit Estate and Eyika Adagu in Okene and Okehi Local Government Areas respectively.
Conducting journalists round the factories, Katsina said they were discovered following information provided by the arrested leader of the 21-man gangwho masterminded the church attack.
According to him, items recovered from the factories included seven AK 47 rifles, 1,000 live ammunition, 29 loaded magazines, six locally made pistols, gas cylinders, two rocket launchers and other bomb making components.
He said that after the attack on the soldiers at Okene Local Government Secretariat on Aug. 7, the police got the information that the suspects were at a training camp at Etar Hill, planning another attack.
He further said that the police mobilised officers to the hill and engaged them in gun battle, adding that some of the gunmen were injured in the operation while others escaped to a farm settlement.
Katsina said that the suspected gang leader was arrested behind banana trees at a farm settlement in Ulowo, Ondo State, after an exchange of gun shots in which he sustained serious injuries. (NAN)
SHARED FROM VANGUARD NIGERIA
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : QUEENSHIP OF MARY : WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22, 2012
| Luke
1: 26 - 38
| |
| 26 | In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, |
| 27 | to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. |
| 28 | And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" |
| 29 | But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. |
| 30 | And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. |
| 31 | And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. |
| 32 | He 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, |
| 33 | and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." |
| 34 | And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" |
| 35 | And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. |
| 36 | And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. |
| 37 | For with God nothing will be impossible." |
| 38 | And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. |
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 22: QUEENSHIP OF MARY AND NOVENA PRAYER
 Information:
|
The
beginning of the concept that she is a Queen is found in the annunciation
narrative. For the angel tells her that her Son will be King over the house of
Jacob forever. So she, His Mother, would be a Queen.
The
Fathers of the Church soon picked up these implications. A text probably coming
from Origen (died c. 254: cf. Marian Studies 4, 1953, 87) gives her the title
domina, the feminine form of Latin dominus. That same title also appears in many
other early writers, e.g. , St. Ephrem, St. Jerome, St. Peter Chrysologus. (cf.
Marian Studies 4. 87-91. The word Queen appears abut the sixth century, and is
common thereafter (Marian Studies, 4, 91-94. )
The
titles of king or queen are often used loosely, for those beings that excel in
some way. Thus we call the lion the king of beasts, the rose the queen of
flowers. Surely Our Lady deserves the title richly for such reasons. But there
is much more.
Some
inadequate reasons have been suggested: She is the daughter of David. But not
every child of a king becomes a king or queen. Others have pointed out that she
was free from original sin. Then, since Adam and Eve had a dominion over all
things (Genesis 1. 26) she should have similar dominion. But the problem is that
the royalty of Adam and Eve was largely metaphorical.
The
solidly theological reasons for her title of Queen are expressed splendidly by
Pius XII, in his Radio message to Fatima, Bendito seja (AAS 38. 266): "He, the
Son of God, reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty and the
dominion of His kingship, for, having been associated to the King of Martyrs in
the unspeakable work of human Redemption as Mother and cooperator, she remains
forever associated to Him, with a practically unlimited power, in the
distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King
throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest: through Him, with
Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by
right of conquest, and by singular choice [of the Father]. And her kingdom is as
vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her
dominion."
We
notice that there are two titles for the kingship of Christ: divine nature, and
"right of conquest", i.e. , the Redemption. She is Queen "through Him, with Him,
and subordinate to Him." The qualifications are obvious, and need no
explanation. Her Queenship is basically a sharing in the royalty of her Son. We
do not think of two powers, one infinite, the other finite. No, she and her Son
are inseparable, and operate as a unit.
Of
the four titles Pius XII gave for her Queenship , we notice that two are closely
parallel to those of Jesus: (1) He is king by nature, as God, she is Queen by
"divine relationship" that is, by being the Mother of God. In fact her relation
to her Son is greater than that of ordinary Mothers of Kings. For she is the
Mother of Him who is King by very nature, from all eternity, and the
relationship is exclusive, for He had no human father. Still further, the
ordinary queen-mother gives birth to a child who later will become king. The son
of Mary is, as we said, eternally king, by His very nature. He is king by right
of conquest. (2) She too is Queen by right of conquest. We already saw that this
title for Him means that He redeemed us from the captivity of Satan. She shared
in the struggle and victory. Since the Pope expressed her dependence on Him in a
threefold way—something we would have known anyway—then it is clear that he did
not have in mind any other restriction which he did not express. So, with
subordination, "by right of conquest" means the same for her as it does for
Him.
The
other two titles: (3)She is Queen by grace. She is full of grace, the highest in
the category of grace besides her Son. (4)She is Queen by singular choice of the
Father. A mere human can become King or Queen by choice of the People. How much
greater a title is the choice of the Father Himself!
Pius
XII added that "nothing is excluded from her dominion." As Mediatrix of all
graces, who shared in earning all graces, she is, as Benedict XV said in a text
already cited, "Suppliant omnipotence": she can obtain by her intercession
anything that the all-powerful God can do by His own inherent
power.
In
the OT, under some Davidic kings, the gebirah, the "Great Lady", usually the
Mother of the King, held great power as advocate with the king. Cf. 1 KGB 2:20,
where Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba, seated on a throne at his right:
"Make your request, Mother, for I will not refuse you." Here is a sort of type
of Our Lady.
Novena to Mary, Queen of All HeartsO Mary, Queen of All Hearts, Advocate of the most hopeless cases; Mother most pure, most compassionate; Mother of Divine Love, full of divine Light, we confide to your care the petitions which we humbly ask of you today. Consider our misery, our tears, our interior trials and sufferings. We know that you can help us through the merits of your Divine Son, Jesus. We promise, if our prayers are heard, to spread your glory by making you known under the title of "Mary, Queen of All Hearts, Queen of the Universe." Grant, we beseech you, hear our prayers, for every day you give us so many proofs of your love and intercession to heal both body and soul. We hope against all hope; ask Jesus to cure us, pardon us, and grant us final perseverance. O Mary, Queen of All Hearts, help us; we have confidence in you. O Mary, Queen of All Hearts, help us; we have confidence in you. O Mary, Queen of All Hearts, help us; we have confidence in you. SOURCE: EWTN |
