Queen of Heaven

" I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them [...] Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here in idleness…while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son? [...] Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation [...] Teach them their catechism, how to sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do.  Go and fear nothing.  I will help you."  

I recently had the privileged of making a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help where in 1859 the Queen of Heaven appeared to  a young woman named Adele Brise. After making the journey (with my dear friend and two children in tow) and offering intentions in the Chapel and attempting to pray a decade of the Rosary (while my two year old had a meltdown), I thought to myself, 'I am I going to take anything away from this day?'  However, perhaps in hindsight I've gotten more in reflecting on the words of Our Lady to Adele and there application to my life and there continued relevance to the world today.

I was particularly struck by the title Queen of Heaven.  Just a year previous of this apparition, St. Bernadette of Lourdes, France had an apparition of the Virgin Mary, where Mary called herself, the Immaculate Conception.  Certainly, this title has significant meaning within the Catholic Church and especially in our understanding of Mary and the life that God had chosen for her to lead.  It has also shaped the faithfuls' devotion to our Blessed Mother over the years.  So it is with the title Mary gave to herself to Adele, Queen of Heaven.  What follows is my personal reflection on this title and the words of Our Lady to Adele.  In this reflection I feel like I've gained some insights that continue to help me grow in faith.

As a Queen Mother, Mary reigns with her Son with a love for her people.  She, like any good ruler wants what is best for those under her rule.  Totus tuus Latin for "totally yours" comes to my mind (in what seems eons ago I was part of a program by the same name).  The prayer in Latin is: "Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt" ("I am all yours, and all that I have is yours").  That to become closer to the King you go to His mother, to Jesus through Mary.  I have been thinking about how I make Mary the Queen in my life.  And how her love for me is so great and her desires for me so pure. 

Heaven- what matters in the 'big picture'.  How often I forget this and cling instead to my little earthly problems and things.  I really have a desire to let some of these go so I can focus more fully on what is really important.  We need to keep an eternal perspective.  What changes we would come about if I kept an eternal perspective in my married life, family life, work, politics, our world view etc.?  Am I living each day with this goal in mind?  How can I do this?  I feel as if Mary was asking me, "What are you doing here in idleness...while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?"  Each of us, myself included, has been given a job to do in the Kingdom.  Adele from that point forward busied herself in teaching the faith to the children of the area.  I feel like I'm called to do the same.  With our Blessed Mother's help and the grace that comes from God I will give it a go.

Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation!