Direction for Our Times and the artist Janusz Antosz present Our Lady Queen of the Church
Would like to hear more about the symbolism? Watch Anne describe the icon's powerful imagery ------> (Click here)
Our Lady, Queen of the Church
Mary, our Mother, has many titles. One of them is Mother
of the Church. In this beautiful reference we see that maternity and
protection come from Our Lady as she ministers to the Body of Christ
serving on earth.
In
this time, the Church is challenged to move into a dynamic period of
renewal. Renewal will require each Catholic to attach himself to the
ever present power of the Holy Spirit and allow God to draw from him graces of love and evangelisation.
Only an active and co-responsible laity can insure swift advance in
this regard. This change is necessary if the Church is to respond
positively and decisively to the confusion experienced by God’s children
in the face of both subtle and direct challenges to our Way. While, as
Catholics, we seek to obtain and to retain the freedom to practice our
faith, we must also consider that we believe Christianity has the
obligation in the world to represent God’s highest hopes for the dignity
of humanity.
This is a serious obligation.
For
this reason and this purpose, it would seem that the Lord would be
pleased if His most holy mother became known as Our Lady, Queen of the
Church. Venerated in this way, she will intercede with specific graces
for the protection and growth of the Church on earth. The Church will
benefit through Mary’s dignity as Queen of the Church, but also through
her influence and authority as Queen of the Church. Honouring the
feminine authority of Mary as Queen will provide for all Catholics a
spotless call, drawing them further into service in the Church, not as
passive participants, but as meaningful and active contributors who,
like Mary, can help protect the course of all of humanity by humble
service to the King’s wishes through fidelity to the Magisterium.
Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, Queen of Saints, Queen of Angels, Queen of Peace and Queen of Heaven and Earth is
already, by virtue of being the mother of the King, a Queen. Created by
the Father to remain immaculate, she chose never to be separated from
the will of the Trinity and it is for this reason that she should be
venerated as Queen of the Church. Who, like Mary, can draw God’s
children back into purity as a reciprocal gift of love to the Father?
Who, like Mary, can properly model the necessary strength and humility
of women as they live out their commitments to Jesus Christ our King?
Mary,
mother of the King, can be an approachable first stop for those seeking
reconciliation with the Sacramental life of the Church and her
intercession as Queen of the Church during this period will restore many
to the Sacraments.
There
are those who express a feminine wound in the Church. Certainly, the
times prompt equality and dignity between men and women. In heaven there
is most assuredly this equality and dignity which we desire on earth
but imperfectly strive to achieve. By offering the truth about Mary’s
role in the Church, that is, acknowledging her Queenship therein, we
will help to heal people from a wound and direct them to a model. We
will more brightly illuminate an existing path. By venerating Mary as Queen of the Church, we will allow God to teach us more about the complementarity of the genders.
It
is hoped that the woman entering service to the Church will view
herself, like Mary, as essential to the life and growth of the Church.
The woman entering service to the Church will recognise the beauty of complementarity as essential, and not incidental, to the spread of the Gospel Message.
It
is hoped that the man entering service to the Church will view himself
as a bold proclaimer of Jesus Christ in the world as well as in the
Church, and as someone who acts with Jesus to protect and defend Mary,
the Queen of the Church. The man entering service to the Church will recognise and defend the essential role of women, not only in the Church, but also in the world and, so preciously, in the family.
Clearly,
God reveals Himself and His plan for the Church into the Church over
time. The preparation of the Bride of Christ advances and into each time
God sends the remedies and protection for all challenges to the proper
development of the Church. We, as Catholics, must be alert to the Spirit
who seeks to both defend and advance in that we simultaneously protect
what is truth and advance further into that truth. In other words,
further development in the present of that which we have received in the past is no threat, and indeed, only verifies the true nature of our beliefs.
Therefore,
with confidence in God’s presence in this historical period of time, we
respond to what we believe is His desire that Our Lady, Queen of
Apostles, Queen of Saints, Queen of Angels, Queen of Peace and Queen of
Heaven and Earth also be venerated as Our Lady, Queen of the Church.
Our Lady Queen of the Church...
Pray for us!
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