VATICAN - AVE MARIA - “Mary Queen of our hearts” by don Luciano Alimandi

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Mary is Queen of heaven and earth through grace, just as Jesus is King by nature and by conquest. Since the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is first of all an inward fact which comes about in the heart, as it is written: “The Kingdom of God is within you”, in the same way the reign of the Blessed Virgin is principally in the soul of the person, and especially in souls who render glory to Mary and her Son, more than in exterior manifestations; hence with the saints we can call her Queen of Hearts”. (TVD, n. 38).
With these clear and profound words, Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, in his admirable “Treaty on true devotion to Mary”, presents for the attention and meditation of the faithful one of the realities universally recognised and loved by Catholics with regard to the Mother of Jesus: her regality which art has abundantly privileged, depicting it beside her divine maternity.
As it is said of the kingdom of Jesus, so too the regality of Mary is not of this world; it is no worldly power, it is an eminently spiritual sovereignty that she exercises deep in the soul, through grace which touches the will, intellect, memory of those who open with trust to her spiritual maternity.
To open one’s heart to Mary that she may be our inspiration is a privileged path to holiness lived by countless Christians: great and small, educated and less educated, known and unknown, many have practised this art of Marian consecration.
Just as we learn as children to open our heart to the Lord Jesus, to take the first steps towards Him in prayer, reception of the sacraments, listening to the Word, meditation, so too we learn to approach, She who of the Son is the Mother, to put ourselves consciously under her protection in order to do the will of Christ. The Queen of the Church removes our distractions and reminds us of the constants for the building of the Kingdom.
From the beginning the Church has taught, through the mouth of the Supreme Pontiffs, and the Church’s Saints and Doctors, the art of entrustment to Mary and indicated in many way, this path as the privileged to Christ. It suffices to think of the numerous magisterial interventions of the Popes on the Holy Rosary: one of the most typical expressions of recognition of Mary’s regality, her conscious and trustful acceptance. How can we fail to think then of the ancient prayer “Sub tuum praesidium”: “Under your protection we find refuge, O Holy Mother of God!” These prayers stem from a growing desire ever more intense: to let ourselves be guided by Mary, Mother and Queen, who leads us to conquer our selfishness and the temptations of the evil one.
If we are to advance along this path, entrustment to Mary must never contrast with entrustment to Christ, because the former prepares the latter. The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI at the end of the Marian month on 31 Mary this year said: “Wherever Mary is, Jesus is present. Whoever opens his or her heart to the Mother encounters and welcomes the Son and is pervaded by his joy. True Marian devotion never obscures or diminishes faith and love for Jesus Christ Our Saviour, the one Mediator between God and humankind. On the contrary, entrustment to Our Lady is a privileged path, tested by numerous saints, for a more faithful following of the Lord. Consequently, let us entrust ourselves to her with filial abandonment!”. These two powers are interwoven and mysteriously united, as at the Wedding Feast at Cana: one, that of Mary, is subordinate to the other, that of Christ; but both flow into the one marvellous Work. (Agenzia Fides 22/11/2006 - Righe 43; Parole 605)


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