When the angel Gabriel came to Mary he told her that her Son would have the throne of David and that His kingdom would have no end (Luke 1:32-33).
In ancient Israel, the mothers of the House of David’s kings were crowned, addressed as Gebirah, “Great Lady”. They sat beside the throne of their royal sons.
Since our Lord is our King, then His Mother is our Queen.
On 22 August we observe, in the traditional Roman calendar, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the newer calendar it is the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary’s Queenship is intimately tied to the Kingship of her Son.
Her Immaculate Heart beats in harmony with His Sacred Heart, for she conceived her King within her Heart, before she carried Him below her Heart.
There is a lovely hymn at Lauds for this Feast, originally O gloriosa Domina, composed by Venantius Fortunatus (+609) and changed around a bit by Pope Urban VIII in 1632.
This was a favorite hymn of St. Anthony, which his mother would sing to him.
Another version. This is sung by the wonder BEER BREWING MONKS of Norcia!
Another version.
There are interesting variations on a disc Hispania & Japan: Dialogues
There comes to mind the faithfulness of the Japanese Catholics even after the hideous persecution from the Tokugawa Shoguns and the absence of missionaries for so long.
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