REFLECTIONS TODAY
As offshoot of her assumption into heaven, Mary was crowned as Queen of heaven and earth. This parallels the dignity of her Son, Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. Mary’s title is derived from her foundational privilege as the Mother of God, as the Theotokos or God-bearer. Jesus Christ, whom Mary bore in her virginal womb, is the Son of the Father, the Logos (Word) of God through whom all things came into being (Jn 1:3). One of the early Church Fathers, St. John Damascene, writes: “When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature.”
Pope Pius XII, who confirmed this title in his 1954 encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam (“To the Queen of Heaven,”) says that the royal dignity of Mary rests in her Divine Motherhood. Furthermore, she is closely associated “as the New Eve” with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power. She is correlated to Jesus as Mother of the divine Christ, and, as his associate in the redemption, she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer’s Kingdom. From her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and his Father (ACR, 39).
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: publishing@ stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.