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-second invocation: Queen of Prophets, 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 Prophets.” Who are the Prophets? In Sacred Scripture we are able to read the four major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel; as well as the twelve minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The difference between the major and minor prophets is not about the quality of their prophecy, but the quantity. The prophets are all spokesmen for the Lord (Hebrew: nabhi). God had more to say through the majors and less to say through the minors. When considering the role of the Prophets, their sixteen specific prophecies are about one third of the Old Testament (46 books) and one quarter of entirety of Sacred Scripture (73 books). Two passages of Isaiah (7:10-14; 11:1-5) are used around Christmas time, reminding us of “the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and shall name Him Immanuel” and “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse…” Abraham, while not having a standalone book of prophecy, did receive divine revelations and visions, as did Isaac, Jacob and Moses (cf. Genesis 20:7; Numbers 12:6; Deuteronomy 34:10; Exodus 33:11). Samuel established a “school of prophets” (cf. 1 Samuel 19:18). Elijah and Elisha are also recognized as prophets, even without a standalone book of prophecies (cf. 1 Kings 18:25; 19:19; Matthew 27:47; Mark 6:15; John 1:25; Romans 11:2).
The Blessed Virgin Mary has spoken for the Lord and with the Lord and beheld the Lord: “All generations will call me blessed” “Do whatever He tells you” “Standing at the foot of the Cross” (cf. Luke 1:48; John 2:5; 19:25). Thanks to grace and faith and Baptism, we are a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession to proclaim the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). In this way, we share in the prophetic task and Mary is no less our Queen too. A prophetic race speaks the truth about God and ourselves, made in His image and likeness, redeemed by His blood. As a people possessed of a prophetic spirit, a holy zeal must consume us who long for the Lord (cf. 1 Kings 19:10; Psalm 69:9; Isaiah 63:15; John 2:17; Romans 12:11).
Father John Arthur Orr