Day 48: Mother and Queen

I'm Father Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension.
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You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint Reflections, and beautiful full-page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. The fifth glorious mystery is the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth, Revelation chapter 12 verses 1 through 5.
And a great sign sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth in anguish for delivery and another sign appeared in heaven behold a great dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems upon his heads and his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child that he might devour her child when she brought it forth she brought forth a male child one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
A reflection on the fifth glorious mystery is going to pull quite a bit from Dr. Brant Petrie's book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary.
One of the first things he does when he looks at Revelation chapter 12 is he points out that the numbering of the chapters is actually a later edition. And so he finds it important, the reading of Revelations chapter 12, to also read the preceding verse.
This is Revelation 11, 19. Then God's temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.
And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. So this is important, particularly building upon what we reflected on yesterday is that we have the ark of the covenant, we have the temple in heaven.
And here we have this great sign which appears in heaven, the woman clothed with the sun, moon under her feet and on her head, a crown of 12 stars. While we're not going to be able in the scope of this study, insofar as it's not really what our reflection here is focused on, it is important to note that the woman clothed with the sun is consistently understood to represent an individual woman, Mary, but also the church.
I say that just in case you, the listener, are aware of that, you'll notice that I'm just focusing on this woman as being a symbol of Mary. And in doing some study and preparation for our reflection today, to be honest, I think Mary's coronation as queen of heaven and earth is, it's kind of

straightforward and it's just a natural consequence of who Mary is and who Jesus is. Jesus is the king who reigns forever.
And Mary is the mother of the new David, the mother of Jesus, the mother of the new king, and therefore is fulfillment of the Old Testament reality. She is the queen mother.
We read here in the book of Revelation, she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Who is the one that brings forth the male child? It is Mary.
So what's that maker? The mother of this child. And who is this child? He is the one who is to rule all nations.
This fulfillment of what the angel spoke to Mary at the Annunciation. This is Luke chapter 1, verse 32, referring to Jesus.
He will be great. He will be called the Son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever of his kingdom.
There will be no end. Jesus is very clearly the son of the most high.
Jesus is very clearly the new David, the new king who will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end. And his mother in life and his mother in eternity is Mary.
Therefore, she is the mother of the king known as the queen mother. She is the queen.
Psalm 45 says this, your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity.
At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. We can read in this a prophecy of Mary as mother, as queen, standing at the right hand of Jesus.
And to stand at the right hand of the king means to share in the authority of the king. Mary is above the moon.
She is caught up with Jesus. She's at the right hand of the throne of God, sharing in the authority of Jesus.
She is the queen mother. She is the one

crowned with stars. Again, a sign of queenship, a sign of authority, a royal sign.
From Mary being at the right hand of Jesus, sharing his authority, necessarily flows these responses from us.

One, she's owed veneration and respect.

And this veneration and respect does not pull from our adoration of Jesus. Writing about Mary as queen, this is what St.
John Damascene writes, neither the human tongue nor the mind of the angels that live beyond this universe can give worthy praise to her through whom it has been granted us to gaze clearly on the glory of the lord let us in holy reverence with trembling hand and yearning soul pay gratefully the humble first fruits of our minds as we must to the queen mother the benefactress of all nature. He also writes, Surely she who played the part of the creator's servant and mother is in all strictness and truth and reality God's mother and a lady and queen over all created things.
This is St. John Damascene writing in the 8th century.
What flows from this is that we owe Mary veneration and that we can trust in her intercession. The veneration that we have for Mary, it's called hyperdulia, this highest form of veneration that we can give to a creature.
And of course, this like makes sense. This makes sense.
One of the greatest insults you can give to a man is to be disrespectful to his mother, either through direct disrespect or through ignoring that person. Like that can be just as disrespectful.
It makes sense. If you want to honor a son, you also honor the mother.
And that honoring the mother is actually a form of honoring the son but the veneration that we have for Mary what we call again hyperdulia this highest of venerations for a creature it is altogether different than the adoration that we have for Jesus for which we use the term latria it is worship to God alone so yes like we honor Mary and we honor her with the highest

honor that we can give to a created being. And it is itself a form of honor to Jesus,

but it is distinctly different from this Latria, this adoration, which is only for Jesus because

he is God and Mary is not. And also what we'll get into is that Mary as queen continues this role of the queen mother as being intercessor.
And so that by sharing in Jesus's authority, we know that she acts as intercessor for us, pouring out grace from heaven. And in this fifth glorious mystery, we see the glorification of queenship.
We see the glorification of the role of Mary as mother, now being fruitful and efficacious for all of her children who continue our earthly pilgrimage. And so as we pray today, let us honor Mary and let us be renewed in confidence of this great intercessor this great advocate we have in heaven in our blessed mother queen of heaven and earth let us pray in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and

to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
All right, friends,

thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing

this journey with you again tomorrow.

Poco a poco.