The Fifth Glorious Mystery
The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth
1. When the Virgin Mary was borne into Heaven, soul and body, by the
Angels, she was received with great rejoicing by the entire company of
the blessed. A halo of light surrounded her as her Divine Son, Jesus
Christ, placed her on His right hand and proclaimed her Queen of Heaven
and Earth. It was fitting that this supreme dignity should have been
accorded her, for she was the beloved daughter of the Eternal Father,
the immaculate spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the mother of God, the
Word made man and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
Mary
is Queen of the Angels because, even though she is inferior to them by
reason of her human nature, she is superior to them by reason of her
dignity as Mother of God. What Angel could say to the Incarnate Word:
“You are my son”? What Angel could command Him as she could in her role
of Mother?
Mary has yet another claim to her title which no Angel
could ever have. She participated in the passion of her Son Jesus,
offering herself along with Him as a victim of expiation. She made a
contribution in the supernatural order of the Redemption which neither
Angel nor Saint could have made. With Jesus, through Jesus, and in
Jesus, she is the co-redemptrix of the human race. Let us bow low before
such greatness and join with the choirs of the blessed in paying homage
to her.
2. Mary is also styled Queen of the Patriarchs because
it was through her that they came to possess the object of their
desires, the divine Redeemer, Who released them from Limbo and brought
them to Heaven. She is Queen of the Prophets because their prophecies
were realised through her. She is Queen of the Apostles whom she
assisted and encouraged after the departure of her divine Son. She is
the Queen of Martyrs because her maternal heart was pierced by a sword
of sorrow. She is Queen of the Confessors because nobody else was
capable of so deep and lively a profession of the faith. She is the
Queen of Virgins because her virginal purity was crowned by the supreme
dignity of Mother of God. She is Queen, moreover, of all the Saints, for
no other human creature could ever surpass, or even dream of the summit
of holiness to which she attained. Above all, however, she is our
Mother and our most powerful Queen. She loves us because we have been
redeemed by the blood of her Son, Jesus Christ, and she desires to
obtain God’s favours for us and to take us under her maternal
protection.
We children of Eve, in exile in this vale of tears, should turn to Mary with confidence and trust in her power to save us.
3. Mary’s reign extends even to the powers of hell, which were
vanquished through her instrumentality as Mother of God. We should not
lose courage when the devil tries to trap us into sinning. Instead, we
should ask Mary, humbly and perseveringly, to save us. Besides praying
to her, however, let us take care to imitate her virtues. We must
endeavour to become more like Mary if we wish her to regard us as her
children and to take us under her maternal protection.
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