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8/4/2019 Intro to My Homily on August 22, 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/intro-to-my-homily-on-august-22-2011 1/1
Intro...
Eight days ago, we were celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.Today, we are commemorating another beautiful Marian Feast, that of the Queenship
of Mary. This special Liturgical Feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on October 11,1954 through his Encyclical Letter " Ad Caeli Reginam."
The Holy Catholic Church made this proclamation in view of the fact that throughout
its history, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the faithful have continuously
addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of
Heaven. Following the tremendous destruction that occurred during World War II and
considering the reality that the threat of a similar catastrophe filled the faithful with a
great anguish, the Church turned its eyes towards Mary, the Heavenly Queen, in the
hope of her protection.
Keeping in mind that worldwide devotion to Mary continued to be very popular,
including in Fatima, to bring the Year of Mary to a happy and beneficial conclusion,
and in response to petitions that were received in Rome from all over the world, the
Church considered that it was appropriate to institute the Feast of the Blessed VirginMary, Queen. Through this proclamation, it was not the intent of the Church to
proclaim a new truth.
With complete justice St. John Damascene could write: 'When she became Mother of
the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.
Reviewing Jewish history, it is learned that the institution of the "queen mother" was
established during the reign of King Solomon. In the Old Testament, we find the
following words, "King Solomon had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she
sat on his right." [1 Kgs 2:19] Many of the kings who succeeded King Solomon kept this
practice. The mother of the king, through who the king received his throne, was trusted
as a confident and advisor. So important was the function of the queen mothers in the
days of the Old Testament that their names were listed in the succession records of the
kings of Judah.
Considering the fact that Jesus was a descendant of the House of David in which it was
the practice of the mother of the king to sit at the right hand of the king as the Queen
mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, being the mother of Jesus, is entitled by tradition to
sit at the right hand of the Lord Jesus in His eternal Kingdom, she rightfully having
inherited the honour and title of Queen Mother as the mother of Jesus who is the King
of kings and Lord of lords.
This summarizes why we as Catholics proudly call the Blessed Virgin Mary our Queen
and why the Holy Mother Church, in its inspired wisdom, has officially proclaimed this
glorious honour.