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Credidimus Caritati 私たちは天主の愛を信じた

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「チェザルのものはチェザルに、天主のものは天主に返せ。」とはどういうことか?

2016年10月27日 | お説教・霊的講話
アヴェ・マリア・インマクラータ!

愛する兄弟姉妹の皆様、

2016年10月16日(主日)に東京で聖伝のミサを捧げました。その時のお説教をご紹介いたします。

天主様の祝福が豊かにありますように!
トマス小野田圭志神父(聖ピオ十世会司祭)


2016年10月16日 聖霊降臨後第22主日
小野田神父 説教


日本の聖なる殉教者巡回教会にようこそ。

今日は2016年10月16日、聖霊降臨後第22主日のミサをしております。今日は奇しくも、聖マキシミリアノ・コルベ神父様がローマで無原罪の聖母の騎士を創立して99周年の日で、創立の日でもあります。

今日いつものように14時30分から公教要理の勉強があります。
前回は聖書について、特に聖ヒエロニモの業績について黙想しましたが、今日は10月13日のすぐ次の主日ですので、ファチマのマリア様について、99年前に一体どんな事が起こったのか、という事を一緒に黙想していきたいと思っています。

16時からは主日の第2晩課があります。明日も7時からいつものようにミサがあります。

11月は第1・第2・第3と、3週主日を連続でミサがある予定です。どうぞいらして下さい。

来年ファチマに巡礼に行く予定です。締め切りがシンガポールの方に、締め切りは11月30日までに、申し込みのお金500シンガポールドルとパスポートの写しを送らなければならないので、ファチマにローマに行こうという方はぜひ早めに仰って下さればと思います。



“Reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei Deo.”
「チェザルのものはチェザルに、天主のものは天主に返せ。」

聖父と聖子と聖霊との御名によりて、アーメン。

愛する兄弟の皆さん、今日私たちの主は、ファリザイ人から試みを受けて、「ユダヤ人はローマに従うべきか、従順であるべきだろうか?それともローマには異教の権威だから従わずに反乱するべきかどうか?」という事を試されました。

そしてお答えになったのが、この有名な、「チェザルのものはチェザルに返し、天主のものは天主に返せ」でした。ここに、「私たちが従順というものはどこに通ずるのか」という本質が隠されています、述べられています。

そこで今日提案したいのは、この「チェザルのものはチェザルに返す」という事はどういう事なのか?

そして第2に、「天主のものを天主に返す」とはどういう事なのか?です。
実は、今日のミサを見ると、むしろ強調は「天主のものは天主に返す。」その返したいその為に、その為の祈りがミサの全てに込められたように思われます。そこで天主のものを天主に返すとはどういう事か、という事を黙想して、

最後に、私たちは遷善の決心を立てる事に致しましょう。

第1のポイントです。
では「チェザルのものはチェザルに返す」という事はどういう事なのでしょうか?

これは聖パウロがはっきりと説明しているように、「全ての権威は天主から来る」という事です。全ての権威が天主から来ているのであって、天主から来ない権威は全くないが故に、私たちは、私たちの上に立てられた目上に長上に従わなければならない、そしてそれは天主の御旨に非常に適う事である、という事です。何故かというと、天主様は私たちが社会生活を送る事を望み、そしてその社会生活の基礎とする「権威」を与える事を望まれたからです。私たちが権威に従うという事は、天主の御旨であるからです。

ではなぜ私たちは他の人に従わなければならないのでしょうか?何故かというと、人間の本性それだけを見るとその事だけを見ると、実は私たちは人間の本性としては皆同じであって、その数がいくら多かろうが、いくら知恵があろうが、本性の、人間の自然の本性だけを見るならば、誰がその人の上に立つ、その人の下だ、という事は説明がつかないからです。

天主は、人が権威の上に立つようにまず「家庭制度」というものをつくりました。子供がお父さんとお母さんから生まれてきて、子供が家庭の中に生活するというように望まれました。同じく、この家庭が集まって「社会」をつくる事を望まれました。

天主が権威者に権威を与えるが故にこそ、それが天主の御望みで社会生活をする事が御望みであるからこそ、私たちは天主に従うが故に地上の権威に従わなければなりません。

この天主の権威が故に、地上の権威者、それがお父さんやお母さんであったり、或いは学校の先生であったり、或いは町長さんであったり、市長であったり、或いは王様であったり、天皇陛下であったり、大統領であったりしますが、天主様が私たちの意思を1つにまとめて、1つの共通の善の為にまとめる為に、1つに一致させる事を御望みになったが為に、この権威に従う事は天主の聖心に非常に適う事になるのです。

その権威は従って天主の代理者であって、その権威に従う事は私たちはすなわち天主に従う事に繋がるのです。ですから権威者が法律を定める時には、私たちは天主からのものとしてそれに従わなければなりません。もしも国が例えば兵隊に、「この国の為に、守る為に行って戦え」と命令するならば、それにさえも従わなければならない義務が生じます。

しかしこの地上の権威は、天主の代理者であるが故に権威を持つものであるので、もしもそれがあからさまに明らかに天主に反するものであったり、或いはキリストに反するものであったり、或いはイエズス様の立てたカトリック教会の権威と掟に反するものであれば、それは私たちには従う義務がありません。

ですから日本に来たキリシタンたちも同じ事を教えられていました。迫害を受けながら宣教師たちは、「上の命令は天主様の命令だから、それに従うように。例えそれが私たちを迫害するような者からのものであっても、私たちは従わなければなりない。ただしキリストを否む、キリストに逆らう、というような命令にだけは私たちは従う事ができない」と同じ事を教えていました。

つまり、「チェザルのものはチェザルに返せ」という事は、「地上の権威には、天主の権威に従うが為に従いなさい」という事です。それが納税の義務であり、或いは兵役の義務であり、或いは遵法精神であり、全てそうだという事です。

ではその、チェザルものはチェザルに返すその元になった、「天主の権威」というものは何でしょうか?

今日のミサの中心のテーマはここにあります、「天主のものは天主に返す。」つまり私たちは、「私たちの存在、私たちが今こう在る事を、今こう生きて、息を吸って生活している事ができる事、私たちが目をもって、耳をもって、そして鼻で呼吸をして、手で触って、足で歩いて、私たちが全て持っているものは天主から来た。それを私たちは天主に返さなければならない。」

もしも私たちが良い市民である事を命じられているならば、イエズス様が良い日本国民である事を命じておられるならば、更にもっと良き天国の市民である事を命じておられる、という事です。

私たちは天主様から全てを頂き、それは天主の為に頂きました。私たち自身の為に、私たちの自立的な、天主に反する、天主とは関係ない、天主とは全く独立した世界や何かをつくる為ではありません。しかし、こう私たちが天主様から頂いたこの肉体と霊魂、知性と意思、或いは心と精神、私たちの持てる全ての才能と能力、或いは私たちの持つ全ての財産やその友人、家庭、全ては天主様から頂いたものであるにもかかわらず、私たちはそれ一体をどうやって使ってきたでしょうか?天主様の為に全てをお返ししたでしょうか?天主に属するものとしてそれを返したのでしょうか?良き天国の市民だったのでしょうか?

私たちは何か、「そうだ」と言ってしまう事は自分を騙しているという事に気が付いています。

何故かというと、「天主の為に良く時間を使ったのだろうか?良く自分が与えられた才能を使ったのだろうか?」というとそうではなく、他の為に、自分のやりたい、しかし禁じられた事の為に、或いは天主に反する為に、或いは罪を犯す為に使ってしまった、という事が過去あるからです。

ちょうどそこから、今日の入祭誦の叫びが出てくるようです、「私たちは本当なら天国の市民として生活しなければならないにもかかわらず、でも実際はバビロンの流刑に居て、天主から遠い所に居るようだ。深い淵の中から私は天主に叫ぶ。御身が邪悪に目を向けたならば、一体誰がそれに、邪悪ではない身の潔白を証明する事ができようか。どうぞ私の叫びの、祈りの声を聞いて下さい」と入祭誦では歌っています。

入祭誦の中には実は無いのですけれども、この有名な詩篇の中には、「御身の耳を注意深く傾けて下さい。私の祈りの声を聞いて下さい。“Fiant aures tuæ intendentes in vocem deprecationis meæ. ”」という有名な1節があります。

集祷文も同じです。集祷文も「教会の祈りに耳を傾けて下さい」と言っています。聖体拝領唱も同じです、「御身の耳を傾けて私の声を聞いて下さい」と。

これは一体何を意味しているかというと、「私たちが天主様の、天主の義務を果たさなければならないにもかかわらず、これを果たすのに失敗している。私たちには主の助けと憐れみが必要である」というその心からの叫びです。イエズス様が、「天主のものを天主に返せ」と言われたのにもかかわらず、私たちはそれをうまくする事ができないでいる。

一体私たちはどうしたら良いのでしょうか?どうしたら天主のものを天主に返す事ができるでしょうか?「どうぞ私の声を聞いて下さい。」教会はミサの全ての中で、「私たちの声を聞いて下さい」「私たちの声を聞いて下さい」「聞いて下さい」と嘆いて、叫んで、繰り返し、繰り返し、頼んでいます。

では私たちはどのような遷善の決心を取ったら良いのでしょうか?

ちょうど100年前、1916年、同じような事を言った存在があります。それはファチマで3人の子供たちに、ポルトガルの守護の天使が現れてこう言ったのです。

「我が天主よ、私は御身を信じ、御身を礼拝し、御身に希望し、御身を愛し奉る。私は御身を信じない人々、御身を礼拝しない人々、希望しない人々、愛さない人々の赦しを乞い願い奉る。」

このように3回お祈りをして見本を見せて、その次に子供たちに言いました。10歳にもならない子供たちでした。「イエズス様とマリア様の聖心は、あなたたちのこの祈りに非常によく耳を傾けている、注意深くしている」と。

天使のこの、「あなたたちの祈りの声に、イエズス様の聖心とマリア様の御心は非常に注意深く聞いていますよ」というのは、ちょうど教会の今日の叫び、お祈りに対する答えではないでしょうか。全く同じ言葉が使われています、ただ、「2つの耳」の代わりに「イエズス様とマリア様の聖心」に変わっているだけです。他は全く同じです。

では、私たちはちょうど99年前のマリア様の言葉にも、10月13日に現れたマリア様の言葉にも耳を傾けて下さい、「もうこれ以上、天主に対して罪を犯さないで下さい。私たちの主はもはやすでに犯され続けています。もうこれ以上犯さないで下さい」と最後にお願いしました。シスタールチアは後に、「ファチマのマリア様の言葉の中で一番印象に残った、一番心に深く残ったのはこの言葉だった」と言います。

私たちも、天主のものを天主に返すように致しましょう。もはや主を犯す事はないように、罪を犯し続ける事がないように、私たちのでは祈りを捧げる事に致しましょう。

「主よ、私は御身を信じ、御身を礼拝し、御身に希望し、御身を愛し奉る。御身を信じない人々、礼拝しない人々、希望しない人々、愛さない人々の代わりにその赦しを乞い求め奉る」と私たちも何度もお祈り致しましょう。

すると、私たちのこの祈りは非常にイエズス様とマリア様の心に快く響き、そして極めてそれに敏感に答えて下さるはずです、天使がそう約束しました。

マリア様は同じくファチマで仰いました、毎回6回御出現される度に、「ロザリオを唱えなさい」「ロザリオを毎日唱えなさい」「ロザリオを毎日唱え続けなさい」「戦争が終わる為にロザリオを唱えなさい」と言われました。

ですから私たちもこの声に応える事に致しましょう。こうする事によって私たちは、天主のものを天主に返す事ができます。

“Reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris Caesari,et quae sunt Dei Deo.”
「チェザルのものはチェザルに、天主のものは天主に返せ。」

聖父と聖子と聖霊との御名によりて、アーメン。

"Commentary on the Litanies of our Lady" by Fr. Laisney SSPX : 英語版「聖母の連祷についての解説」聖ピオ十世会司祭 レネー神父様

2016年10月27日 | お説教・霊的講話
アヴェ・マリア・インマクラータ!

愛する兄弟姉妹の皆様、
レネー神父様の「聖母の連祷についての解説」の【英語原文】をご紹介いたします。

天主様の祝福が豊かにありますように!
トマス小野田圭志神父(聖ピオ十世会司祭)

Monday 15th August, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Need of reparation
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the antidote to modern sins
Commentary on the Litanies of our Lady

By Fr. Laisney SSPX


My dear brethren,

Today we celebrate the reward of the Blessed Virgin Mary. All her life on earth was so faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ, that she deserved and merited the highest reward. Yet God rewards beyond the merits, because He cannot be overcome in generosity: first He himself is the source of the merit, because He gives the grace by which we merit; then He gives the reward of the merit and goes beyond! Truly blessed are they who serve God faithfully, like our Lady!

The first grace of our Lady was her Immaculate Conception: and the first grace is always unmerited, as St Paul says: “who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made him?” . She was perfectly faithful to that first grace, cooperating fully with the grace of God, and thus deserved the perfect reward! Now that life-long perfect cooperation of Mary with the grace of God is what we call “the Immaculate Heart of Mary”: hence you see the intimate connection between the feast of the Assumption and the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which Pope Pius XII fittingly set on the octave day of the Assumption.

Now Bishop Fellay is launching a one-year Crusade in honour of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from today to the feast of the Immaculate Heart next year, which will be the 100th anniversary of her apparitions at Fatima. You are very strongly encouraged to say every day the Rosary (5 mysteries) and if possible the full Rosary (15 mysteries, or even more if you can!) and to make sacrifices in reparation for sins, especially those sins that are particularly offending the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

When we see the evils of this world multiplying to a frightful degree, the Islamic violence, the corrupt morals to the most unnatural levels, even asking for a “right” to be perverse, the spread of abortion which is somehow the epitome of modern immorality, and even the sale of aborted baby body-parts, we ask ourselves: what can we do? When our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save us from sin, how did He do it? He offered Himself as the perfect victim on the Cross! Faced with the corruption of the modern world, our Lord calls us to imitate Him and to make reparation for all these sins. Indeed St Paul says: “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as most dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness” . To imitate our Lord Jesus Christ, precisely in the love He practiced in offering himself as Victim for our salvation, this is what we ought to do. We do this by making sacrifices in reparation for sins.

Some people have difficulty to understand how God could be offended by sin, since God is perfectly happy. But it is not difficult to understand that our Mother is sad for our sins: a mother wants her children to be good; she is extremely sad when she sees them being criminals and perverts. Now our Lady is our mother, because she is the mother of all men, because our Lord Jesus Christ shed his Blood for the salvation of all men. And today she is extremely sad because of all the sins of the modern world. So her good children will strive to console her by making reparation by their sacrifices. In so doing, they will call for mercy on the sinners, so that our Lord Jesus Christ may grant them the grace of conversion (and penance!) so that they too may be saved.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary is the opposite of the modern sins: it is the sanctuary of the most beautiful purity, virginity in all domains; she never even started the least on the path of sin. She is also meek and gentle, so opposed to the violence of the modern world. She is the best of all mothers, giving life, the opposite of those murders of babies in the womb. Hence devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is an antidote to these sins. Hence our Lord Jesus Christ wants to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of His mother in the world. Let us respond generously to such beautiful divine plan.

To know better the Heart of Mary, I will give a short commentary on the Litanies of our Lady.

“Holy Mary”: we honour here the holy name of Mary, which the Son of God has chosen for His earthly mother!

“Holy Mother of God”: we honour here her unique mission, that to become the Mother of Jesus, Who is true God and true man from the first moment of His conception by the Holy Ghost in her most pure womb. Hence she fully deserves the title of “Mother of God”: motherhood is a relation between persons, and the person of her Son is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. All her other titles flow from this first one.

“Holy Virgin of virgins”: this is a Hebrew superlative, similar to “king of kings”, meaning the most perfect virgin. Indeed she is virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus, virgin for ever. She is virgin in her body and in her soul, having never stained her soul in any domain.

“Mother of Christ”: “Christ” means the Anointed One, the Messiah in Hebrew, the one the whole chosen nation was expecting for so many centuries. She was of the tribe of Judah and of the family of David. She was the one chosen by God to receive “the Christ” in her womb, fulfilment of the expectation of these generations of holy Patriarchs and prophets, who longed for Him and saw Him from afar .

“Mother of the Church”
: because our Lord Jesus Christ is inseparable from His Church, which is His Body . She could not be the mother of the head without being the mother of the body at the same time! Those who reject this motherhood of our Lady practically try to separate Christ from His Church, the head from the body, and that cannot please our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray for their conversion. Today there are many, even among Catholic theologians, who are willing to accept that Christ is necessary for salvation, but who reject that the Church is necessary for salvation. But how could they be united with Christ without being part of His Body, the Catholic Church? How could they live of the life of Christ without being in the Body of Christ, the Catholic Church? Today more than ever we need to pray our Lady for the Church, to restore the beauty of the Church by a true renovation of its members.

“Mother of divine grace”: sanctifying grace is the life of Christ in us. As a Mother, she is the one through whom we receive life, through whom we receive grace. And as a good mother, she has no greater desire for us but that we may live of the life of Christ fully: so we can pray to her to obtain graces in abundance.

“Mother most pure, most chaste, inviolate and undefiled”: all these titles sing with great joy the purity of our Lady, and the admirable union of that perfect virginity with her motherhood. Truly one finds in her the model of purity so much needed in the modern world; she reminds us also that purity is not merely for consecrated virgins, but also for all mothers, at their own level. Married faithful must avoid the corruptions of the world, and practice the chastity of their state, being faithful to one another and shunning all abuse.

“Mother most lovable”: what kindness in our Lady for us, her children! As children, we are happy to be with her, close to her, because she is so lovable.

“Mother most admirable”: admirable in her chastity, admirable in her love for Jesus even to the foot of the Cross, admirable for the extraordinary gifts our Lord has given her, culminating in her Assumption: we admire her going up to heaven! Truly today we sing to her “Mother most admirable!”

“Mother of good counsel”
: her good counsel was the one given to the waiters at Cana: “Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye” . To do always what Jesus wants is truly the right rule of life. To follow not only His commandments, but also his Counsels, the Evangelical Counsels, is the short way to Christian perfection.

“Mother of the Creator”: as a good Son, our Lord Jesus Christ is “subject to her” . But Jesus is the Creator, the Almighty: so she can somehow dispose of that almighty power to save us, to obtain all kinds of graces!

“Mother of the Saviour”: He paid for our sins and merited all graces on the Cross, and being his Mother, Mary can obtain all these graces from Him for us. So we should come to her with great confidence in the power of her intercession.

“Virgin most prudent”: her prudence is manifested in her question to the Angel Gabriel: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?” She wanted to make sure the messenger was from God, and to test this, she checked that he would not ask her to break her vow of virginity. To keep one’s purity, one must be prudent and avoid all occasion of sin. This is most necessary today, when such occasions have multiplied. Our Lady teaches us the virtue of prudence, to shun all such occasion of sin, without compromise.

“Virgin most venerable”: the world despises virginity, but the Church – taught by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself – holds virginity in very high esteem. Veneration for his Mother, the Virgin of virgins, is dear to all good Catholics and a constant reminder of the importance of purity.

“Virgin most renowned”: no one, after our Lord Jesus Christ, has been so honoured, so loved in history as the Blessed Virgin Mary. And even among her enemies, in their very opposition to her, they cannot but know her!

“Virgin most powerful”: she is powerful by her prayers. Because she has always done what pleased Jesus, she can ask him anything she wants (but she never wants anything that would displease Him!) Thus she can obtain for us all the graces we need for our salvation, she can obtain the conversion of sinners, and the sanctification of the faithful and the deliverance of souls in Purgatory…

“Virgin most merciful”: the Latin has “most clement”. Clemency is the virtue by which punishment is diminished to the repentant sinner.

“Virgin most faithful”: she was always faithful to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; she was always faithful to her duty. She is also a most faithful friend, the model of fidelity!

“Mirror of Justice”: in the Scriptures, the word “justice” is often synonymous of “holiness”. She is the perfect mirror of the virtues and holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ, beautiful mirror in which we get to know Jesus, and especially his love for humility and purity.

“Seat of Wisdom”: our Lord Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Wisdom. He came into this world as a child, sitting on His mother’s lap, as a King on His throne! Our Lady is indeed filled with this Wisdom of Jesus, deep knowledge of the mysteries of God.

“Cause of our joy”, because she gave us Jesus Who is the source of all our joy, and will be eternally the object of our beatific vision, eternal beatitude.

“Spiritual vessel”: that is, recipient of the most beautiful spiritual gifts, the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, for the most elevated spiritual life. And she can give them to us.

“Vessel of honour”: that is, all that which is honourable, virtuous, praiseworthy can be found most excellently in her. Truly God has made of her the showcase of His generosity, the marvel of Redemption.

“Singular Vessel of devotion“: who could ever describe the devotion of our Lady, how much she loved to pray, the elevation of her prayers and affection to God the Father, to her Divine Son, to the Holy Ghost – her Divine Spouse? If we want to learn to pray, let us ask our Lady!

“Mystical Rose”
: white because of her purity, red because of her sorrow at the foot of the Cross, gold because of her glory in her Assumption!

“Tower of David”: this is a reference to the Canticle of Solomon, in which it is said to the Bride: “Thy neck, is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men” . Our Lady is described also in this Canticle as “strong as an army in battle array” . All this shows her strength against the Devil and his followers: she said an absolute NO to the Devil, NO to sin, with no compromise at all. She can strengthen us in our fight against temptation. Then in gratitude to her, the victorious souls offer her their shield, which thus decorates her as the Tower of David was decorated by all the shields of all the valiant soldiers of David.

“Tower of Ivory”: this is another reference to the Canticle of Solomon: “Thy neck as a tower of ivory” . It describes in this figurative way, the beauty of our Lady, the beauty of the perfect Bride of Christ – since our Lady is not only the mother, but also the New Eve, perfect helper of the New Adam. She stood at the foot of the Cross in this quality of New Eve, model of the Church, Bride of Christ.

“House of gold”: the gold of pure charity, spiritual riches, true “treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal” . It also refers to “the house of the holy of holies [in the Old Testament temple built by Solomon, who] overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents” . This inner “house of gold” signifies the interior sanctuary of the soul, in which dwells the Holy Ghost: because of her purity and holiness, Mary is called in a special way by the Church “Temple of God, Sanctuary of the Holy Ghost” . All who live in the state of grace are also “temples of the Holy Ghost” but far from being as beautiful as our Lady was. She is the model of us all: house of gold!

“Ark of the Covenant”
: in that inner tabernacle, there was the ark built by Moses, in which he had put the manna and the Tables of the Law. The manna symbolised our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true Bread coming down from Heaven, but which precisely was put in the most pure womb of our Lady; also by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ she perfectly obeyed the Law, especially the Law of charity: hence she deserves to be called the “Ark of the Covenant”. The ark too was completely covered in golden plates, making it most beautiful, as is the soul of the blessed Virgin, completely adorned by charity and all virtues.

“Gate of Heaven”: that refers to the Eastern Gate of the new Temple, seen by Ezechiel: “And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut” . St Jerome tells us that this gate symbolises our Lady, through whom the Lord God entered into this world: the closed door is the sign of her perpetual virginity. But we can go to Heaven through her, by true devotion to her.

“Morning star” indicating the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ, called the “Sun of justice”: “unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings” (Mal 4:2). His wings are the extended arms of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, from which our soul is healed.

“Health of the sick”: all those wounded by sin can come to her and she will lead them to our Lord Jesus Christ who will heal them. He entrusted to her all those beautiful healing graces. She is the “dispensatrix of all graces”, the one who distributes all the graces of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Refuge of sinners”: those who are overwhelmed by their sins, their gravity, their frequency, and want to get out of them, they can all come to her and obtain through her the grace of a true conversion, solid conversion. She will not push them away.

“Consoler of the afflicted”: all those who suffer, physically, spiritually, can come to her and find grace of healing, grace to bear their sufferings in union with our Lord Jesus Christ crucified, grace of consolation and strength.

"Help of Christians": a child can always call upon his mother; he knows she is not going to abandon him. Our Lady is the best of all mothers; she is not going to abandon all those who call upon her, but rather is prompt to come to their help. There are many shrines in Christendom that give her that title under this or another form, because of some special help that had been granted there through her intercession.

“Queen of Angels, of Patriarchs, of Prophets, of Apostles, of Martyrs, of Confessors, of Virgins and of all the Saints”: all these beautiful Saints, all Saints honour her as their Queen, because of the excellence of her position with our Lord. In the Old Testament, the one who was queen was not the wife of the king (he usually had several wives), but rather the mother of the king, as is seen with Solomon . The Scriptures mentions all the mothers of the kings of Judah, ancestors of our Lord and themselves “sons of David”, because they were all figures of the Mother of the Son of David, the Queen of all Saints. She is Queen because she is the mother of the King, our Lord Jesus Christ.
In particular she is Queen of the Patriarchs because she is the last and most illustrious ancestor of Christ, the immediate one, His very Mother. To the most illustrious patriarchs, Abraham and David, had been promised that Christ would be their "descendant", in the singular as St Paul notes so that the prophecy applies to Christ rather than to the Hebrew people as a whole. Now she is the "Rod out of the root of Jesse," that is, the shoot from the long line of descendants of Abraham and David, on which at last Christ as the flower blossomed.
She is the Queen of the Prophets, because many of them prophesised about her.
She is the Queen of the Apostles, because they knew her and esteemed her, after our Lord, as the most perfect model of Christians and as their mother. Indeed we find in the very next century Fathers of the Church such as St Irenaeus presenting our Lady as the New Eve, a lesson he must have learnt from St Polycarp who himself learnt it from St John, the Apostle to whom the Virgin was entrusted.
She became the Queen of the Martyrs, especially when she was standing at the foot of the Cross, model of excellent fortitude even until death!
She is the Queen of the Confessors, that is, of all the Saints who gave testimony to our Lord by the excellence of their heroic life, because her life was even more perfect than that of all of them.
She is the Queen of the Virgins in a very special way, because of her most perfect innocence: she is The Immaculate!

“Queen conceived without original sin”: this is her singular privilege, which places her above all the other saints. It reminds us also of our need of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, because of the wounds of our nature, due to the original sin with which we were born.

“Queen assumed into heaven”: she alone was assumed into heaven body and soul before the end of the world. This privilege at the end of her life corresponds to the privilege of her Immaculate Conception at the beginning of her life.

“Queen of the most holy Rosary”: this is the great means of devotion to her, which she gave to St Dominic, and has sanctified countless generations of faithful. It is the means through which she will again establish the devotion to her Immaculate Heart, and obtain thus the graces for the conversion of the world.

“Queen of peace”: she obtains peace on earth, but even more she leads us to everlasting peace in Heaven!

May the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ come through the reign of Mary, by establishing devotion to her Immaculate Heart! Amen!

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