In The Service of Our Queen
Fr. Victor Devy, SMM
L IKE HER SPIRITUAL MOTHERHOOD, the Queenship of Mary entails practical consequences for each one of us. Since it is God’s will that Mary should be our Queen as well as our Mother, we owe her, along with the filial piety of a child, the obedience and submission of a subject.
This attitude is in keeping with the teachings of the New Testament with respect to our duties towards God Him-self. God is both our Father and Master. The obedience He requires of His servants does not differ basically from the filial confidence He expects of each one of His children.
MARY’S QUEENSHIP CALLS FOR THE HOMAGE OF OUR WHOLE BEING AND THE CONSECRATION OF ALL ACTIVITY
No one will deny that royal dignity calls for respect, obedience and fidelity, on the part of the subjects. This is precisely what God expects of us with regard to her whom He has established as the Queen of creation and to whom He has confided the sway and domination over all hearts.
It may be well for us, in this brief article, to insist on the fundamental disposition required for a true devotion to Mary; we will thus open the way to the countless practical applications that constitute the very warp and woof of our daily lives.
We Are Her Subjects
Even more than her other privileges, Mary’s queenship requires that, sincerely and with joyous spontaneity, we acknowledge our condition as servants and subjects, for time and eternity. It calls for the homage of our whole being and the consecration of all our activity.
This, of course, far surpasses anything we may meet with in our relations with earthly powers. The reason is that their authority is limited, and thus they cannot command anything which is beyond their jurisdiction. But in the service of God, everything must be dedicated to His glory and to the spiritual good of His subjects. ”Now we know that for those who love God all things work together unto good.” (Rom. 8:28)
Mary’s queenship knows no other limits, has no other aim than to lead souls towards their last end; that is why nothing is excluded from her dominion, nothing that tends to procure God’s glory and the good of souls. To quote Pope Pius XII: “. . . her Kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.” (May 13, 1946)
The first and fundamental task that lies before us, therefore, is to convince ourselves of the fact that we have been established servants and subjects of Mary by the very same decree that constituted Mary the Mother of God and Queen of Creation. Henceforth, our whole being, with all its faculties, is subject to her authority and must needs offer her a perfect service if it is to offer a perfect service to God.
We must set ourselves to the task of acquiring a mentality proper to subjects and servants of Mary, and we must glory in this state of dependence as our greatest title of nobility. Nobles and saints have not hesitated to crown their most distinguishing titles with the simple designation of “Servant of Mary.” St. Louis de Montfort loved to call himself an “unworthy slave of Jesus in Mary.”
Nothing could be more glorious than this state of dependence provided, of course, it be accompanied by the faithful observance of Mary’s commands; provided, too, that it manifest itself by a holy life and a dependence on her that leads one to perfect self-sacrifice. Otherwise we would deserve the title of mere “honorary,” not “honorable,” subjects.
Painting: Virgin and Child, 1872
Antoine Auguste Ernest Herbert (or Hebert): French Painter: Born 1817
Nothing could be more glorious than this state of dependence provided, of course, it be accompanied by the faithful observance of Mary’s commands; provided, too, that it manifest itself by a holy life and a dependence on her that leads one to perfect self-sacrifice.
Not Mere Lip-Service
Mary’s queenship calls for more than the simple acceptance of the proofs of her dignity on a purely speculative basis. Thus the mere chanting of her praises, as in the litanies and prayers of the Church, does not do full justice to Our Lady’s mission, unless this open profession of faith be accompanied by a profound conviction and by a life faithfully molded on the example and the commands of the Queen of all Saints. One would then offer her mere lip-service, but not a service that proceeds from deeds. Truly, also, one would deserve the stinging reproach God made to Israel: “this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” (Matt. 15:8; Isaias 29:13). If one’s heart is far from Mary, how could it be near God? When through prayer and meditation we have reached the firm conviction that we are the subjects as well as the children of Mary, it is with cheerful docility that we accept her counsels as well as her commands. She, in turn, teaches us the truths of the gospel and develops in us a taste for the maxims of the Eternal Wisdom, in a way hither-to unprecedented. It is thus, also, that she prepares our souls to understand those extraordinary messages which she has been pleased to bring to the world, such as those of La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, etc., in order to lead the world back to the feet of her divine Son.
Duties of State
Thus it is that the duties of our state in life are looked upon as our personal instructions from the Queen of All Hearts. The regulations of religious life as well as the rules of any state in life, are a manifestation of her will. They are no longer enigmas that can’t be explained, or incidents without purpose; no, they are the sure paths which Mary traces out for each one of us and which will eventually lead us to perfection and eternal salvation. Instead of complaining and straining one’s back beneath a burden that would crush unenlightened souls, with Mary one feels disposed to walk blithely and rapidly in the ways of her commandments. “I have run the way of thy commandments.” (Ps. 118: 32)
Strange as it may seem, the most elementary principles are at times the most easily forgotten, that is why we should not hesitate to re-enkindle from time to time our basic convictions. How many of us are fully convinced of our nothingness and weakness in the service of God? This, alas, is all the more true with respect to the service of Mary.
We forget, we hesitate, we balk when confronted with an act of perfect obedience. And why? Because we are not sufficiently aware and convinced that we are servants of Mary. In this respect we may do well to reflect upon the example Christ Himself left us. Christ, the Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom, chose to submit Himself to His earthly parents: “and He was subject to them.” (Luke, 2 : 51) This dependence, referred to in one circumstance, was the ordinary condition of Jesus during His earthly life, in keeping with the duties of His Messianic mission. This mystery of Jesus submitting Himself to Mary, this state which still persists now that They are in heaven is truly a model worthy of imitation. In fact, it is one of the motives adduced by St. Louis de Montfort to justify his perfect consecration. In his formula of consecration, we read in part: “Receive , 0 benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity . . . I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou hast been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to make Thy faithful slave through her . . .”
Total Dependence
It is not our purpose, in this article, to explain how this conviction of our total dependence on Mary’s power should increase and take root in our souls day after day. On the other hand, it is obvious that this conviction will be brought about only when the soul comes into full possession of this truth: “0 Lord , I am Thy servant and the son of Thy Handmaid!” (Ps. 115 :16)
Here one cannot help but avert to the fact that the doctrine of Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood, as well as that of her Queenship, both lead up to the perfect consecration of the Holy Slavery of Jesus in Mary, as taught by St. Louis de Montfort. There are many other forms of devotion, it is true, (and none can claim a monopoly in such matters) but this one seems to bind them all into one beautiful sheaf in order to bring them to perfection. In a word, it renders justice fully to “the great things” God has been pleased to work in Mary, and through her, to the singular power with which He has endowed her to share in the great work of all centuries, namely, “To restore all things in Christ.” (Eph. I:10)
