Mary, Queen and Mother
Worthy of love or worthy of honor: how do we properly approach Our Lady?
“From this day all generations will call me blessed: the almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is His name.” (Luke 1:48-49)
In the Magnificat – the prayer which Mary says when she visits her cousin Elizabeth – Mary expresses the conviction that God has done something special for her. She has been given a unique grace. When we pray the Rosary, we fulfill the prophecy of the Magnificat every time we say, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.” In her incredible humility, Mary doesn’t reserve this blessing just for herself. Her great desire is to share this blessing with all her children. She does this in two ways: as mother and as queen.
The mysteries of the Rosary are one of the best ways to meditate on this relationship which Mary has with us. For example, as He hung on the Cross, Jesus looked to His beloved disciple and to his mother, telling her “Behold, your son,” and to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27). When praying the fifth sorrowful mystery, we can meditate on how we stand in the place of that beloved disciple, receiving Mary as our mother, and being taken by her as her beloved sons and daughters. Or, as we pray the third joyful mystery, the birth of Jesus, we can meditate on how her tender spiritual love for us is no less intense than her love of the baby Jesus.
Mary’s special grace meant that at the end of her life she was taken up body and soul into heaven, and was crowned Queen of heaven and earth. We meditate on these events in the last two glorious mysteries of the Rosary. As Queen, she has been given a unique share in the power of God: she has been given the ability to mediate and dispense grace. As His queen, Jesus listens in a special way to Mary’s prayers, and gives her a powerful role in distributing His gifts. Ever the gracious queen, she is generous and bountiful in sharing what she receives from her Son.
Mary is worthy of our love as mother, and worthy of our honor as queen. She is a source of comfort as mother, and a channel of grace as queen. As a prayer, the Rosary is uniquely able to help us meditate on both of these realities. It is a way for us to give her the honor she deserves, and a way for us to humbly ask her help and intercession in the high and low points of our lives. The next time you pray a Rosary, consider especially your relationship to Mary and how she can draw you ever closer to her Divine Son.
Br. Antony Augustine Cherian, O.P. | Meet the Brothers in Formation HERE
