BY TORSTEN SCHWANKE
1
From earliest ages of the Church, the race
Of Christians turned to Mary for her grace.
In days of triumph or in dark despair,
They offered up their songs and humble prayer.
To Heaven's Queen their constant hopes ascend,
On Christ's own Mother safely they depend;
For faith assures us that her watchful care
Protects the world, while she in glory there,
As Queen of Heaven, wears a crown of light,
Enthroned in bliss and majesty and might.
2
But now, before Our eyes, a sudden flood
Of fierce calamities has shed much blood;
Great towns and cities lie in ruined state,
While moral evils spread a bitter weight.
We see the strength of justice start to fail,
And forces of corruption oft prevail.
With anxious hearts We face this hour of dread,
And seek the Queen, by filial reverence led;
A love that in Our heart is not alone,
But by all Christian souls is proudly known.
3
We joy to call to mind that holy day,
When nineteen-hundred-fifty crossed our way,
On November's first, before a mighty throng
Of bishops, priests, and pilgrims loud in song:
We then defined the Dogma true and bright,
That Mary was assumed to heavenly height,
Where soul and body, by her Son adored,
She reigns as Queen among the heavenly horde.
And since a century has passed its space
Since Pius Ninth declared her full of grace—
Conceived without the stain of primal sin—
We bade this current Marian Year begin.
What joy to see in Rome, and most of all
Within the Great Basilica, the call
Of faithful souls who witness to their love
For Mary, crowned in majesty above.
Throughout the world her ancient shrines are sought,
Where eager throngs in holy prayer are brought.
4
Through every broadcast and in speech we sought
To stir Our children to the love she bought,
To honor her with hearts both fond and bold,
As fits the children of a Queen of gold.
We think of words We sent by radio-voice
To Portugal, to make their land rejoice,
When Fatima's sweet image was renowned,
And with a golden diadem was crowned.
We called it then, with words of proper weight,
The herald of her sovereign, queenly state.
5
And now, to bring this Marian Year to close
With all the benefits that she bestows,
Replying to the prayers from every land,
We rule that by Our apostolic hand
A liturgical feast shall now be seen:
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Heaven’s Queen.
This holy feast shall crown the praise we bring,
Which Christian souls with joyous fervor sing.
6
Yet by this act We do not seek to find
A brand-new truth to bind the faithful mind;
For Mary's queenly right and royal name
Are long established in the Church's fame,
In old decrees and liturgies of old,
Wherein her royal dignity is told.
7
It pleases Us within this letter now
To state these things, and at her feet to bow;
To stir a greater love and brighter praise,
That men to her their grateful hearts may raise.
8
From ancient days the faithful understood
That she who bore the Source of every good
Received a higher measure of His grace
Than any creature of the human race.
For He shall reign in Jacob's house for aye,
The Prince of Peace whose word all worlds obey,
The King of Kings and sovereign Lord of Lords;
And as the Church this wondrous truth records,
Reflecting on the Mother and the Son,
They knew her royal crown was justly won.
9
Thus early writers called her by her style:
The Mother of the King, unsoiled by guile,
The Mother of the Lord, as Gabriel said,
Foretelling how her Son should raise His head
To reign forever on His heavenly throne;
And as Elizabeth made gladly known,
Who greeted her as Mother of her Lord,
They saw the royal rank her Son afford.
10
St. Ephrem, burning with poetic fire,
Thus speaks for her to lift our spirits higher:
"Let Heaven hold me in its wide embrace,
For I am honored more than cosmic space.
The skies were not Thy mother, though they be
The throne constructed for Thy majesty;
How much more glorious is her low estate
Who bore the King, than thrones of earthly state!"
And then he prays: "O Maid of heavenly birth,
Protect and keep me while I walk the earth;
Lest Satan boast or wicked foes prevail,
Spread out thy wing lest all my strength should fail."
11
Nazianzen calls her, in his holy word,
The Mother of the King and sovereign Lord;
While bold Prudentius marvels at the sight
Of her who bore the King of power and might,
Beholding how a man was born of her,
Who rules the world as its great Governor.
12
This queenly right is clearly shown to all
By those who rule and Mary "Lady" call,
And "Sovereign" or "Queen" in high accord,
Acknowledging the Mother of the Lord.
13
In homilies to Origen assigned,
Elizabeth addresses her in kind:
"The Mother of my Lord," she speaks with grace,
And adds, "My Lady," in that holy place.
14
St. Jerome too, expounding on her name,
Declares the Syrian word implies the same:
That "Mary" means "The Lady" in their tongue.
And Chrysologus, when her praise was sung,
Affirmed the Hebrew word means "Domina,"
So Gabriel said, to drive all fear away:
Lest servile dread should shake the Mother's mind,
Who by her Son was Lady of mankind.
15
Epiphanius, writing from his see,
To Pope Hormisdas prays that unity
May be preserved within the Church below,
By grace the Holy Trinity bestow,
And by the prayers of Mary, Virgin bright,
Our glorious Lady, full of heavenly light.
16
Another author from that ancient age
Presents her standing on the sacred stage,
At God's right hand, to pray for mortal men:
"The Queen of all," he terms the Virgin then.
17
St. Andrew too, of Crete, would oft proclaim
The royal honor of her queenly name:
"Today He takes from earth her mortal grace,
To reign as Queen of all the human race;
The ever-Virgin Mother, from whose womb
The living God arose to break the tomb."
18
In other words he speaks of her command,
As Queen of all who dwell in every land,
True to her name, exalted high above
All things save God, who crowns her with His love.
19
St. Germanus addresses her with grace:
"Be seated, Lady, in thy proper place;
For it is fit that thou shouldst sit on high,
A glorious Queen beneath the splendid sky."
He calls her too, in his devoted birth,
The Queen of all who dwell upon the earth.
20
John Damascene proclaims her "Ruler, Queen,"
The noblest Lady that the world has seen,
The Sovereign of each creature God has made.
Another Eastern father has portrayed
The "favored Queen," who stands beside her Son,
Whose snow-white brow a golden crown has won.
21
Ildephonsus of Toledo binds
Her titles together for all faithful minds:
"O Sovereign Lady, Ruler over me,
The Mother of my Lord, I bow to thee;
A Lady over handmaids in thy place,
A Queen among thy sisters full of grace."
22
Theologians, drawing from this store
Of ancient wisdom written long before,
Have called the Blessed Virgin by her name:
The Queen of all creation, world-wide fame.
23
The Supreme Shepherds deemed it was their part
To foster this devotion in the heart.
St. Martin First, in centuries long gone,
Proclaimed her "glorious Lady" like the dawn.
St. Agatho, to councils far away,
Declared her "Mother of our God" today.
And Gregory Second, writing to the East,
Affirmed her Queen of all, from great to least.
24
Sixtus the Fourth, in letters clear and bright,
Upheld her pure Conception in the light,
And called her Queen, who watches from above
To plead before the King with mother's love.
And Benedict the Fourteenth likewise said,
That heaven and earth are by her scepter led.
25
Thus true Alphonsus, gathering the past,
Wrote down these words to stand while ages last:
"Because the Virgin rose to heights so spring,
To be the Mother of the sovereign King,
The Church with perfect justice and with right
Has crowned her Queen of majesty and light."
26
The sacred liturgy, a mirror true
Of what the ancient faithful always knew,
Sings out her praise in East and West the same,
Exalting her eternal, royal name.
27
The voices from the East in fervor cry:
"O Mother of our God, assumed on high,
The cherubim provide thy chariot seat,
While seraphim and angels at thy feet
In shining ranks bow down before thy grace,
To welcome thee into the holy place."
28
And further: "Blessed Joseph, from a line
Of kings descended by a choice divine,
Thou wert selected from the human race
To wed the spotless Queen of heavenly grace,
Who in a way past human word or thought
Bore Jesus Christ, the King who mankind bought."
And: "I shall sing a hymn to her, the Queen,
The fairest Mother that the world has seen;
No tongue can praise thee worthily, O Maid,
Who far above the seraphim art laid.
Hail, Mary, Queen of all the world below,
Hail, Queen of us, from whom all graces flow!"
29
Within the old Ethiopic Missal's page,
We find her praised by every saint and sage:
"O Mary, center of the world wide-space,
The many-eyed cherubim yield their place,
The six-winged seraphim before thee bow;
Both heaven and earth reflect thy glory now."
30
The Latin Church exhales its ancient love,
And sings to her who rules the skies above:
"Hail, Holy Queen," the sweetest prayer of old,
And "Hail, Queen of the Heavens" is retold.
"Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven," hear them cry;
And other chants ascend into the sky:
"The Queen stood at Thy right hand, bright and bold,
Adorned in vesture of the finest gold."
"Both heaven and earth praise thee," the faithful sing,
"As powerful Queen beside the sovereign King."
"Today the Virgin Mary mounts the skies:
Rejoice, for with her Son she never dies."
31
To these the Litany of Loreto brings
A daily call to praise the Queen of kings.
And through the passing ages, men have sought
To ponder on the power her virtue bought,
Reflecting on the Rosary's last crown,
Wherein the Queen of Heaven finds renown.
32
And art, inspired by faith's unending light,
Expresses what the faithful hold as right:
Since Ephesus' great Council, she is seen
Portrayed as Empress and as heavenly Queen.
Enthroned in state, with royal crowns ablaze,
While saints and angels offer up their praise,
She rules o'er nature and its varied force,
And checks the devil in his wicked course.
This iconography, in beauty grand,
Has spread her royal name through every land,
Depicting Christ the King, in radiant grace,
Placing the crown upon His Mother's face.
33
The Roman Pontiffs, loving to sustain
This popular devotion's holy reign,
Have often crowned, with their own hands or sign,
Those images of Mary deemed divine.
34
As We have said, according to the past,
The principle on which her crown is cast
Is her Divine and holy Motherhood,
By which she bore the Source of every good.
For Holy Scripture says of her own Son:
"The throne of David shall by Him be won;
He shall be called the Son of God most High,
To reign in Jacob's house eternally."
And Mary is the "Mother of the Lord,"
From which her queenly title is assured;
For when she bore the Christ, by mystic union,
He was the King of all in high communion.
St. John Damascene wrote with perfect view:
"Mother of the Creator, Queen most true."
And Gabriel's voice was foremost to proclaim
The royal office of her holy name.
35
Yet Mary should be called our Sovereign Queen,
Not just because her Motherhood was seen,
But since by God's decree she had a part
In saving mankind with her loving heart.
"What sweeter thought," as Pius Tenth defined,
"Than that our King has ransomed human kind?
Not only by His natural right He reigns,
But by the blood He shed to break our chains."
Would that all men recalled the price He paid,
By which our soul's salvation was arrayed:
Redeemed not by the gold or silver sphere,
But by the blood of Christ, a Lamb most dear.
36
Now, in this work of saving ruined man,
The Blessed Virgin shared the wondrous plan;
And so the sacred liturgy will cry:
"Beside the cross of Jesus, lifted high,
There stood the sorrowing Mary, full of grace,
The Queen of Heaven and the human race."
As Eadmer wrote, within the Middle Age:
"As God is Lord of every history's page,
Because His power created everything,
So Mary is the Queen to whom we sing:
For God establishes each creature's place,
While Mary raises them to original grace."
37
"For just as Christ, because He paid our price,
Is King and Lord by special sacrifice,
So Mary is our Queen, by unique way,
Assisting in the debt we could not pay:
By giving of her substance, and by prayer,
She sought our saving with a mother's care."
38
From these deep truths, the proof begins to grow:
If Mary joined her Son to strike the foe,
By God's design, beside the Source of life,
As Eve stood near to Adam in the strife,
(The source of death, who brought our race its fall),
Then Christ's redemption recapitulates all.
A virgin helped to save the human race,
As once a virgin helped to bring disgrace.
And if this glorious Lady was designed
To partner in redeeming humankind;
If she, from sin's dark shadow ever free,
Offered her Son on cruel Calvary,
Resigning all her mother's rights and love,
To please the Eternal Father God above,
For Adam's children, ruined by the fall;
Then with assurance we may Mary call
Our Queen: for Christ is King as our Redeemer,
And she is Queen, the new Eve to our Dreamer.
39
In strict and proper sense, we know indeed
That only Christ is King to meet our need;
Yet Mary, as His Associate in the fight,
Shares in His royal dignity and might.
From union with her Son, she rises high,
Surpassing every creature in the sky;
From Him she gains the royal right to bring
The endless treasures of the heavenly King;
And from this union flows her constant prayer,
A mother's plea that conquers all despair.
40
Hence, none can doubt that Mary stands alone,
Exalted high above all creatures known.
"Thou hast surpassed each soul," Sophronius sings,
"What joy is greater than the praise it brings?"
Germanus adds: "Thy dignity and grace
Surpass creation and the angels' place."
And John Damascene proclaims aloud:
"Between God's servants and His Mother proud,
The distance is a limitless degree,
For she is crowned in queenly majesty."
41
To view this sublime dignity aright,
Recall her first Conception, pure and bright:
She was so filled with grace at her own birth,
She passed the total grace of all on earth.
As Pius Ninth declared in words of old:
"God showered her with gifts of finest gold,
From treasures of His own Divinity,
Far past the angels in sublimity;
So perfect, beautiful, and full of grace,
No greater holiness could e'er take place;
Save God Himself, no mind can understand
The marvel of her soul, so purely planned."
42
Besides this perfect excellence of mind,
She shares the power to rule o'er humankind.
For if the Word performs His deeds of grace
Through His Humanity in every place,
Using His Saints and Sacraments to win
The souls of men from darkness and from sin,
Why should He not employ His Mother's care
To grant the fruits of pure redemption there?
"With mother's heart," wrote Pius Ninth of old,
"She seeks to bring us back into the fold;
Exalted high above the heavenly host,
Beside her Son, when we are needed most,
She intercedes with powerful command,
And cannot be refused at His right hand."
And Leo Third affirmed her boundless power
To distribute all graces in our hour;
St. Pius adds that she fulfills this part,
By proper right of her maternal heart.
43
Let every Christian glory in her name,
And as her loyal subjects praise her fame;
For while she wields a royal power and might,
Her mother's love burns beautiful and bright.
44
Theologians and preachers must take care,
Lest twofold errors trap them unaware:
They must avoid exaggerated views,
And groundless tales that only will confuse;
Yet watch against a narrowness of mind,
That minimizes what was God-designed:
That all but deep divine dignity she bore,
Which Thomas tells us we must bow before.
45
For in this truth, as other points of faith,
The Church's Living Voice dispels each wraith;
The Magisterium is the certain guide,
Which Christ established always to reside,
To clarify what is obscured from sight,
And bring implicit dogmas into light.
46
From ancient texts, from prayers the Church has sung,
From art and piety of old and young,
We gather witnesses from every side
To prove her queenly title is our pride.
A wealth of testimonies joins the strain,
A resounding chorus praising her sweet reign;
To whom each creature bows in humble love,
Exalted high the angel hosts above.
47
Convinced that great and lasting good will rise,
If this bright truth shines clear before our eyes,
By Our Apostolic power We decree,
The Feast of Mary's Queenship now shall be.
Each year, throughout the world, her praise we run,
Upon the thirty-first of May begun.
We likewise rule that on this holy day,
The human race shall turn to her and pray,
Renewing its surrender to her Heart,
That Christian peace and triumph may start.
48
Let all approach with greater trust the throne
Of grace and mercy where her love is shown;
And beg our Queen and Mother for her might
In dark adversity to grant us light,
To comfort sorrow, and above all win
Our freedom from the slavery of sin.
Let unceasing homage, fond and loyal,
Be paid to her whose majesty is royal.
Let all her churches throng with eager crowds,
And keep her feast-days free of darkening clouds;
May every hand hold fast the Rosary bead,
To find the strength to answer every need.
Let Christians gather, whether great or small,
In homes and churches, at her loving call,
In hospitals and prisons loud in song,
To praise the Queen to whom all hearts belong.
May Mary’s name be held in reverence high,
Sweeter than honey, dearer to the eye
Than rarest jewels; let no tongue defile
That sacred name with words of breath or guile.
Let none blaspheme, nor dare a syllable speak
That robs her name of respect the faithful seek.
49
Let all men strive, according to their state,
To make her wondrous virtues circulate,
Through constant effort of the mind and heart,
That imitation take a vibrant part.
For honoring their Queen, all men shall find
That they are brothers, to one race assigned;
With envy and with avarice cast aside,
Let class and class in mutual love abide,
Respecting all the rights that guard the weak,
And cherishing the peace that all men seek.
Let no one think himself a worthy son,
Nor hope her mighty shelter can be won,
Unless, like her, he stands as pure and just,
And seeks true brotherhood in perfect trust,
Refusing any harm or bitter blow,
To comfort and to help his peer below.
50
In distant lands across the world today,
The faithful suffer in a grim array,
Persecuted for the cross they bear,
Deprived of rights and freedom everywhere.
Up to this hour, though protests have been made,
No reasonable demand has brought them aid.
May creation’s Queen, whose radiant eye
Dispels the storm and clears the clouded sky,
Look down with mercy on her children true,
Who suffer torments under heaven's blue.
May she, who subdues violence with her feet,
Grant that their rightful freedom be complete;
That practicing their faith in open light,
They serve the Gospel and defend the right,
And contribute to strength and progress found,
Where extraordinary virtues now abound.
51
By this Decree We institute a feast,
To bind her children, from the great to least,
That all may see and venerate the sway
Of God’s own Mother, leading us each day.
We are convinced this holy feast will stand
To strengthen and prolong in every land
The fragile peace that crises oft destroy,
And fill the nations with a lasting joy.
Is she not like the rainbow in the cloud,
A pledge of peace to lift the spirit bowed?
"Look on the rainbow, bless the One who made
Its beautiful bright arch that cannot fade;
It circles all the heavens with its might,
Displayed by the Most High in glorious light."
Let every soul this grateful tribute bring,
And call upon the Mediatrix of our King.
Let all men honor peace, which does not mean
That crime goes unchastised upon the scene,
Nor freedom without rein or moral code,
But harmony along God's ordered road;
To safeguard this, the Virgin’s gentle voice
Commands our will and guides our holy choice.
52
With earnest heart We pray our Queen may hear
These words We send to drive away all fear;
That by her peace, a world now shaken deep
By bitter hate, may cease at last to weep.
And when this earthly exile comes to close,
May she show Jesus, source of our repose,
Who is our joy and our eternal peace.
To you, and to your flocks, till life shall cease,
As promise of divine and heavenly aid,
And pledge of love that cannot be dismayed,
From Our full heart, to make your pathway bright,
We grant the Apostolic Blessing and its light.