My dear parishioners,
Peace! On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October, 2019, Pope Francis established the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, to be observed each year on the 10th of December. At the same time Pope Francis proclaimed a Lauretan Jubilee Holy Year to run from 8 December, 2019 through 10 December, 2020. There are fifty-one invocations in the Litany of Loreto. The following is a reflection on the forty-sixth invocation: Queen of Virgins, pray for us.
There are thirteen various forms of Our Lady’s Queenship considered in the Litany of Loreto. Here we consider specifically what it means to say that Saint Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of God is the “Queen of Virgins.” Who are the “Virgins”? The Lord Jesus Christ in Sacred Scripture likens the Kingdom of Heaven to be like ten virgins who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom (cf. Matthew 25:1-11). Saint Paul, inspired by God, neither commands nor forbids Virginity (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:25-28). That Virginity is to be prized is clear from Exodus 22:17; Judges 21:11-12; 2 Samuel 13:18; 1 Chronicles 15:20; Esther 2:2-3, 17. The Code of Canon Law (1983: canons 604, 588§1) reminds us that “the state of consecrated life is neither clerical nor lay” and among the “consecrated life is the order of virgins who, expressing the holy resolution of following Christ more closely, are consecrated to God by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical rite, are mystically betrothed to Christ, the Son of God, and are dedicated to the service of the Church.” Catholic Digest reported (November 2018) that there were “approximately 3,000 publicly consecrated virgins” in the world, mostly concentrated in France, Italy, Argentina, and an estimated 215 the United States of America (National Catholic Register 15 September, 2013). Pope Pius XII (+1958) wrote an encyclical letter Sacra Virginitas (25 March, 1954) which includes references to both Apostolic times and the Patristic age including Saints Ignatius of Antioch (+108), Cyprian (+258), Ambrose (+397), and Augustine (+430). Earlier the same Holy Father published his Apostolic Constitution Sponsa Christi (21 November, 1950) on the profession of the virginal life consecrated to God. The updated Instruction on the Ordo Virginum: Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago was published in 2018.
Our libertine age may not have much regard for modesty, chastity, or purity of heart (let alone bodily purity), Our Lady, Queen of Virgins not only preserved her consecrated virginity, but intercedes for those who would follow in her footsteps. Saint Mary, like her Son, was pure of heart (cf. Matthew 5:8). Our Lady, Queen of Virgins was modest and self-controlled (cf. 1 Timothy 2:9). The Blessed Mother was chaste, pure and reverent in her demeanor and conduct and as such is Queen of Virgins (cf. 1 Peter 3:2). Among the Order of Virgins are included some Martyr Saints: Agatha (+253), Lucy (+304), and Maria Goretti (+1902). These all preferred death to forsaking their Virginity consecrated to the Lord.
Father John Arthur Orr