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-eighth invocation: Queen assumed into Heaven, 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 assumed into Heaven.” Besides Our Lady’s Queenship, this title reminds us of her Assumption. Liturgically, the Solemnity of Our Lady’s Assumption is celebrated on the 15th of August. Both the Queenship and the Assumption of Saint Mary can be seen in Revelation 12:1: “A great sign appeared in Heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” This woman in Heaven has been recognized as the Mother of God who is also the Mother of the Church, assumed into Heaven. Her crown of twelve stars reminds us that she is Queen of Heaven, of Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles. We celebrate the Ascension of the Lord Jesus, body and soul to Heaven forty days after Easter. Related and dependent upon the Ascension is Our Lady’s Assumption. The Lord took our human nature by His divine nature and power to Heaven. He brought His Mother to Himself, body and soul at the end of her earthly life.
Building on the witness of Sacred Scripture (Revelation 12:1) the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was solemnly proclaimed by the Venerable Pope Pius XII (+1958) in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus of 1 November, 1950. The study of Saint Mary and her prerogatives is called “Mariology.” Besides Our Lady’s Assumption, there are two other major dogmas, her Immaculate Conception (liturgically celebrated on 8 December) and her Divine Maternity (liturgically celebrated on 1 January). These solemn teachings were crystalized by Blessed Pius IX (+1878) in his Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus (8 December,1854) and in the Council of Ephesus (431) respectively. Various Mariological volumes can help us grow closer to Our Lady e.g.: Introduction to Mariology (Hauke, Manfred, 2020); Mariology (Carol, Juniper, 1954); Mariology (Miravalle, Mark, ed., 2008); Mariology (Scheeben, MJ, 1946); The Glories of Mary (Ligouri, St Alphonsus, +1787); The World’s First Love (Sheen, Fulton J., 1952); There is no Rose (Nichols, Aidan, 2015). As the Litany of Loreto and Mariology each play a role in our Marian devotion, so too do her feast days. The more we know and love Our Lady the more she can lead us to her Son, as she did the waiters at Cana: “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).
Father John Arthur Orr