Thursday, August 22, 2013

Queenship of Mary

Today we celebrate the feast of the Queenship of Mary.  Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954, placing  it an octive, or eight days, after the celebration of Mary's Assumption into Heaven. The feast can be considered a prolongation of the celebration of the Assumption.

Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” In all the events of her life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus, and through her queenship, she shares in Jesus’ kingship.

In the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and Queen.” Later on Church fathers and doctors continued  to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.”

The early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," based on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever, and the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord."

In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII points out that Mary well deserves the title: she is Mother of God and she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work. She deserves the title because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.

Many of “Mary’s flowers” are associated with the attributes of Mary:
          Madonna Iris is an emblem of Mary’s queenship and of her descent from the royal house of David.
          Madonna Lily is an ancient emblem of Our Lady -  the waxy white petals symbolizing her bodily purity and the golden anthers her purity of soul.   
          Lily of the Valley is called Beata Maria (Blessed Mary) in Spanish. It is  a symbol of humility: its tiny bell-shaped white flowers humbly bending downward.
          Dante called Mary the “Mystical Rose.”
          The white rose represents Mary’s purity.
          Marigold - Mary’s Gold - represents Mary’s glory, in heaven and on  earth.

John Stokes wrote: “We see how beautifully the golden masses of marigolds suggest Our Lady’s splendor after her glorious assumption into heaven, and her “coming forth as the morning rising….bright as the sun” from the interior of the Trinity, as the “Woman clothed with the sun” and “Queen in gilded clothing” and in her subsequent merciful appearances on earth. We ask her to pray that we may obtain the promise of heaven.”

I have marigolds growing in pots on my patio, their bright gold reminding me of her glory and her many blessings.

Let us honor Mary on this special day with her flowers.

The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady   

Sweet summer passes, melting day by day;
Into the smiling mellow autumn-tide:
The flowers are blooming still, the birds are gay,
And the fields wave in all their golden pride;
Fair Nature pours her treasures far and wide
In joyful homage to our Lady dear,
For that her festival of highest tide,
The crowning gem of Mary's circling year,
The bright triumphant day of heaven and earth, is here.

                           The Catholic Review. August 1872
On August 15 we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. This celebration can be traced back to the fifth-century community of Jerusalem. August 15, 432 may have been the day of dedication of the Church to the Virgin Mary located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

In the middle ages, August 15 was the major Marian feast. Its mid-summer date, which, in the medieval calendar, coincided with harvest time, enhanced its festive character. Well into the modern period, the Assumption was the most popular of the Marian feasts. In Scotland it was known as Marymass or St. Mary’s Day.



John S. Stokes Jr., in "The Blessing of Mary Gardens as Holy Places,"  http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html writes that “An essential medieval tradition and practice from which we draw in cultivating the Flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens is that of the sacramental blessing of homes, workplaces, seeds, plants, trees, gardens and fields as holy places and objects. Among the most important of Plant Blessings were those at the time of harvest, beginning with those on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, on August 15th.”

The blessing of herbs, part of the medieval harvest celebration, continues today in many parishes in Germany. On the feast of the Assumption, the faithful gather large bouquets of herbs and wildflowers, especially those associated with healing, and bring them to Mass, tied in Assumption Bundles, and place them on the altar. During the Mass the Bundles are blessed, and then they are taken home to be dried and kept for healing, seasoning, and for fragrant decoration of the home.

What if we were to gather herbs and flowers, tie them in Assumption Bundles, and bring them to Mass for blessing on the feast of the Assumption? (Might be best to alert your priest to this beforehand.)  Another way to honor Mary and to keep her in our hearts and minds in our daily lives.



I pray that some of you will compose an Assumption Bundle and take it with you to Mass on the feast of the Assumption. Let me know, by using the comment space at the end of this blog.