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HM The Great Lady and Queen Mother

HM Mary (Miryam), Great Lady and Queen Mother of Judah, Israel and All the Holy Land, Princess Dowager of Judah, Mother of the Church and Ark of the Covenant

15 August 2008

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:31-33, 35)

Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah; the King got up to meet her and bowed before her; he then sat down on his throne; a seat was brought for the King's mother, and she sat down on his right. She said, 'I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.' 'Mother,' the King replied, 'make your request, for I shall not refuse you.' (1 Kings 2:19-20)

"More honourable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim, without defilement Thou gavest birth to God the Word; true Mother of God we magnify Thee." (Byzantine Liturgy, Prayer to the Mother of God)

THE HONOURS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

THE TITLES AND PATRONAGE OF MARY

The Queen Mother of Judah

When Kings reigned in Judah, the most eminent person in the Kingdom, second only to the King himself, was the Queen. Since Kings almost always had several wives, this unique honour went to his mother, and she usually kept it for life even if her royal son died before she did. The Old Testament records one such case: King Asa reigned with his grandmother Maacah, but deposed her from her throne for idolatry (1 Kings 15:9-15). One Queen Mother, Hamital of Libnah, even served separate terms as Queen Mother to King Josiah's sons Jehoahaz and Zedekiah.

The Queen Mother was given the title G'virah, which is most accurately rendered as "Great Lady". She was the King's chief counsellor, through whom his subjects could petition him, and she often assisted him in the government of the Kingdom. During his minority she would usually rule as his Regent. She was the mistress of the King's harem, where she was treated with the utmost respect and reverence.

We do not know for certain that Mary of Nazareth was born into a noble family, but her marriage to Joseph of the House of David raised her to royal rank as a Princess of Judah. Yet she had already received the vastly higher dignity of entire freedom from the radical slavery of sin, original and personal, from the moment of her conception in her mother's womb. God gave her this unique grace, in view of the merits of her Divine Son, to fulfil the scripture in which it is written that the inheritance of the things of God shall pass to the Son born of the free woman according to God's promise, and that the natural-born son of the slave-woman shall not share in it. (Genesis 21:10; Galatians 4:22-31; cf. John 8:34).

Mary became a Princess of Judah by her marriage to Joseph, but a Queen from the moment the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, as once He had overshadowed the Sanctuary, and caused her to conceive the King of Kings in her womb without loss of her virginity. She thereby became the Ark of the New Covenant (2 Samuel 6:9,11; Luke 1:43,56). Like the Ark of the Old, Mary was of unstained purity and holiness, and she alone of all women could, it seems, have entered the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest could venture but once a year, on the Day of Atonement.

When Mary gave birth to her Divine Son, she became in very truth the Great Lady and Queen Mother of Israel, Judah and All the Holy Land, in right of His own title as King. She is entitled to the highest honour which may lawfully be given to a mere creature, since it is only as the son of a Jewish mother that Jesus is a son of Israel and eligible to take the throne of His ancestor David. Mary is truly the foundation on which the ancient covenants between God and Israel are built: without her the Christian faith would have no Jewish roots, neither could Jesus be a true son of Adam capable of making atonement for the sins of His fallen race. As a Princess Dowager of Judah, the widow of the Prince-Curator of the Throne, and as Queen Mother to the reigning King, she serves as a living symbol of the continuity and stability of the Throne of David.

PRAYER TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

O Most Blessed Mother, Heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son.

Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today. We are comforted in knowing your Heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer.

We entrust to your gentle care and intercession those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.

HEBREW

ARABIC