Queenship of Mary

She Pondered All These Things in Her Heart

Today we celebrate the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. The Dominican Order has a special devotion to Our Blessed Mother, who also holds the title of Mary, Queen of Preachers. Dominican nuns preach through our life of prayer and penance, and to nourish that life, we devote time to study, particularly Sacred Scripture, which leads to the contemplation of the mystery of salvation. Our study nourishes our prayer, and our prayer nourishes our study.

On this Feast of the Queenship of Mary, we share with you the fruit of our contemplation and study, inspired by the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. It is only in Luke’s Gospel that we find an account of all 5 Joyful Mysteries. Moreover, the Gospel of St. Luke is a historical narrative. Luke intended to present the story of Jesus anew, amidst all other writings about Jesus, “so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.”(Lk 1:4) St. Luke makes it a point to show that Jesus lived in a particular time and place in history, as opposed to being a mere myth about a deity.

With Our Blessed Mother, we pray that you may encounter the Joyful Mysteries in a new way through the following narrative poem, and be led to contemplate the mystery of our salvation. May the Word become Incarnate in your hearts and minds.

A New Beginning

Two great births announced by the Angel Gabriel

John the Baptist, the forerunner, and Jesus, the Messiah

Their parents both fear, both question the angel

“Do not be afraid”, he says to Mary and Zechariah

The Fiat is spoken by our Blessed Mother

But mute in his doubt becomes John’s father

Mary greets Elizabeth; John in the womb leaps for joy

Mary sings her praise; months later two boys were born

Men wondered and rejoiced at the birth of John

But as for Jesus, rejection was his earthly welcome

Zechariah now unmute, sings a canticle

While the Virgin Mary’s song transforms into silence

Jesus’s humble birth brings both peace and strife

Shepherds visit in Luke; in Matthew the Magi

In Luke angels sing “Glory to God on high”

But in Matthew the infant Jesus runs for his life

After days of purification follows the presentation

Obedient to the law, Joseph and Mary offer doves in the temple

Simeon blesses God for seeing God’s salvation

While Mary and Joseph wonder at this light of revelation

“A sword will pierce your heart”, says Simeon to Mary

The child is to be contradicted, destined for the fall and rise of many

It is likewise a prophecy of the Mother’s role in the redemption

When at the foot of the cross Mary keeps her station

At the Passover feast, the boy Jesus remains in the temple

Separated from their child, his parents become startled

“Why have you done this to us?”, they ask him this question

Jesus answers with a hint of the resurrection (cf. Lk 2:49, Lk 24:5)

The joyful mysteries now ended, yet it is merely an overture

Of the words and deeds of Jesus, the Messiah, our Savior

In Luke’s next chapter we encounter Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man

With a genealogy tracing back from his father Joseph to the first Adam

But until then we have a lot to ponder with Mary our Mother

The child increased in wisdom, in human and divine favor

He grew in obedience to His earthly mother and father

Until on the cross he would cry out, “It is over”, to God our Father