THE QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY



feast day: August 22

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 SALVE REGINA (HAIL HOLY QUEEN)
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Regina

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ, 
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. 
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ, 
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes 
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos 
misericordes oculos ad nos converte; 
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, 
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. 
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
In some cases, the following versicle, response, and collect are added:

℣ Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix. 
℟ Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus. 
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosæ Virginis Matris Mariæ corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante præparasti: da, ut cuius commemoratione lætamur; eius pia intercessione, ab instantibus malis, et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
℟ Amen.

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 AUGUST QUEEN OF ANGELS



     O august Queen and our Lady of Angels, who received from God the power and mission of crushing the head of Satan, we humbly beg you to send us Heavenly Legions, with Saint Michael the Archangel as head so that under your orders they may chase the demons, combat them everywhere, repress their boldness, and drive them back into the abyss.
     “Who is like God?” 
     O good and tender Mother, you shall always be our love and our hope.
     O Divine Mother, send your Holy Angels to defend us, and to drive away from us the cruel enemy. Holy Angels and Archangels, defend us and guard us. Amen. 


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ACT OF CONSECRATION
source: http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/queenship-mary.htm

O Mary Immaculate Queen, glorious Queen of the Universe, most powerful Virgin, merciful Mother of a merciful God and refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thy Royal and Immaculate Heart.

It is through thee that Jesus Christ our King has come into the world to save it. It is also through thee that He is to reign over the world.

In order to obtain this great benefit for ourselves and all mankind, we come to thy feet to consecrate to thee our persons, our lives, all that we are, all that we have, all that we love. Keep us, enlighten us, dispose of us, reign over us.

May all hearts and all homes willingly proclaim thee as their Immaculate Queen.  

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PRAYER
source: http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/queenship-mary.htm
O Mary Immaculate Queen, look down upon this distressed and suffering world. Thou knowest our misery and our weakness. O Thou who art our Mother, saving us in the hour of peril, have compassion on us in these days of great and heavy trial.

Jesus has confided to thee the treasure of His Grace, and through Thee He wills to grant us pardon and mercy. In these hours of anguish, therefore, thy children come to Thee as their hope.

We recognize thy Queenship and ardently desire thy triumph. We need a Mother and a Mother's Heart. Thou art for us the luminous dawn which dissipates our darkness and points out the way to life. In thy clemency obtain for us the courage and the confidence of which we have such need.

Most Holy and Adorable Trinity, Thou Who didst crown with glory in Heaven the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Savior, grant that all her children on earth may acknowledge her as their Sovereign Queen, that all hearts, homes, and nations may recognize her rights as Mother and as Queen. Amen.  

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ANCIENT PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN MARY
source: http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=1491
We turn to you for protection, holy Mother of God.
Listen to our prayers and help us in our needs.
Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin.

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about:
- "The purpose of the Feast is that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and motherly sovereignty of her who bore God in her womb" (Ven. Pius XII, Ad. Coeli Reginam).
- Queen of Heaven is a title that was originally given to a number of pagan goddesses and then later applied by Christians to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Christians mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in Eastern Orthodoxy, to whom the title is a consequence of the First Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, in which the Virgin Mary was proclaimed "theotokos", a title rendered in Latin as Mater Dei, in English "Mother of God".
- The Catholic teaching on this subject is expressed in the papal encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, issued by Pope Pius XII. It states that Mary is called Queen of Heaven because her son, Jesus Christ, is the king of Israel and heavenly king of the universe; indeed, the Davidic tradition of Israel recognized the mother of the king as the Queen Mother of Israel. The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not share the Catholic dogma, but themselves have a rich liturgical history in honor of Mary.
- The title Queen of Heaven has long been a Catholic tradition, included in prayers and devotional literature, and seen in Western art in the subject of the Coronation of the Virgin, from the High Middle Ages, long before it was given a formal definition status by the Church.
- The four ancient Marian antiphons of the Liturgy of the Hours express the Queenship of the Virgin Mary: the Salve Regina, the Ave Regina Caelorum, the Alma Redemptoris Mater, and the Regina Caeli. These are prayed at different times of the year, at the end of Compline.

SALVE REGINA:
Mary as Queen of Heaven is praised in the Salve Regina "(Hail Queen)", which is sung in the time from Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the vernacular, as a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Hail Holy Queen is the final prayer of the Rosary. A German Benedictine monk, Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1054), allegedly composed it and it originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of the Catholic Church until Vatican II. Traditionally it has been sung in Latin, though many translations exist. In the Middle Ages, Salve Regina offices were held every Saturday. In the 13th century, the custom developed to greet the Queen of Heaven with the Salve Regina, which is considered the oldest of the four Marian antiphons. As a part of the Catholic Reformation, the Salve Regina was prayed every Saturday by members of the Sodality of Our Lady, a Jesuit Marian congregation. The Hail Holy Queen is also the final prayer of the Rosary.

AVE REGINA CAELORUM:
The Ave Regina Caelorum (Hail, Queen of Heaven) is an early Marian antiphon, praising Mary, the Queen of Heaven. It is traditionally said or sung after each of the canonical hours of the Liturgy of the Hours. The prayer is used especially after Compline, the final canonical hour of prayer before going to sleep. It is prayed from the Feast of the Presentation (February 2) through the Wednesday of Holy Week. It used to be sung on the feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Ave Regina Caelorum dates back in a different musical intonation to the 12th century. Today's version is slightly different from a 12th-century intonation. The Ave Regina Caelorum has four parts: Ave, Salve, Gaude and Vale (in English: hail, rejoice, farewell). It was used for processions in honour of the Queen of Heaven. The Ave Regina Caelorum received numerous musical versions, a famous one of which was composed in 1773 by Joseph Haydn.

ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER:
The Alma Redemptoris Mater (Loving Mother of our Savior) is recited in the Catholic Church at Compline only from the first Sunday in Advent until the Feast of the Purification (February 2). Continuing theological discussions exist as to the origin and exact timing of this Marian antiphon. It has two equal parts. The Virgin Mary is the loving Mother of the Savior, the ever-virgin with a very high position in heaven. May she listen to her people with mercy in their need for her help.

REGINA COELI:
The Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) is an anthem of the Roman Catholic Church which replaces the Angelus at Eastertide (from Holy Saturday until the Saturday after Pentecost). It is named for its opening words in Latin. The Regina Coeli was the subject of numerous intonations throughout the centuries by known and unknown composers. Not all attributions are correct however, as an often quoted Regina Coeli by Joseph Haydn had other authors. Of unknown authorship, the anthem was in Franciscan use in the first half of the 13th century. Together with three other Marian anthems, it was incorporated in the Minorite Roman Curia Office, which the Franciscans soon popularized everywhere, and which by order of Pope Nicholas III (1277–1280) replaced all the older breviaries in the churches of Rome.




quote:
“Let the entire body of the faithful pour forth persevering prayer to the Mother of God and Mother of men. Let them implore that she who aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers may now, exalted as she is in heaven above all the saints and angels, intercede with her Son in the fellowship of all the saints. May she do so until all the peoples of the human family, whether they are honored with the name of Christian or whether they still do not know their Savior, are happily gathered together in peace and harmony into the one People of God, for the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity” (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 69).


links/ sources:
- "Queen of Heaven" (Wikipedia):
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Heaven 
- "Queenship of Mary" (American Catholic):
   http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1115 
- "Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (Catholic Tradition):
   http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/queenship-mary.htm
- "Mary's Queenship" (EWTN):
   https://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya6.htm
- "Ad Caeli Reginam" by Pope Pius XII - Encyclical on Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary (Catholic Encyclopedia):
   http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12ac.htm 
- "Veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism" (Wikipedia):
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veneration_of_Mary_in_Roman_Catholicism
- "Queenship of Mary" (Catholic News Agency):
    http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=343 
- "Marian (Mary) Prayers" (Catholic Online):
   http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?s=31