Queen of Heaven

Rick Rotondi

Description

She is history's most famous woman. Those who come to her at their hour of need are welcomed with a mother's love, compassion, and care. She is gentleness itself to all who turn to her, save one: To Lucifer, the devil, she is an implacable foe. Queen of Heaven is the story the battle between the angel who said "no" to God, and the woman who said "yes." It is a battle that has flared through history to the current day. Queen of Heaven is an encounter with Mary as you have never had before. Accompany Mary from her Immaculate Conception through her Assumption and beyond. Join her as she defends Christendom at Lepanto, frees a captive people at Guadalupe and heals a broken nation at Lourdes. Listen to her at Fatima as she predicts the rise of Communism-and watch as she defeats it through her beloved Pope. Above all, discover why, though the battle continues, victory is assured to all who turn to the Queen of Heaven.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Catholic Church
• Theology
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Saint Benedict Press
• Date de parution: 09 mai 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781505110364
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

QUEEN
OF _____
HEAVEN
MARY’S BATTLE FOR SOULS
   
Brian Kennelly & Rick Rotondi
TAN Books Charlotte, North Carolina
Queen of Heaven: Mary’s Battle for Souls
by Brian Kennelly and Rick Rotondi
Copyright © 2017 Saint Benedict Press
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible—Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition) , copyright © 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture texts noted as NABRE are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Cover and interior design by David Ferris Design
ISBN: 978-1-5051-0978-8
Published in the United States by
Saint Benedict Press
PO Box 410487
Charlotte, NC 28241
www.SaintBenedictPress.com
Printed in the United States of America
 

A common theme of Marian art is the Coronation of the Virgin, showing Mary honored by the heavenly host.
Mary was Jesus’s first tabernacle and throne.
 

To the Queen of Heaven
Mother of mercy and most gracious advocate
 

 

Who is she
that comes forth as
the morning rising,
fair as the moon,
bright as the sun,
terrible as an army
set in battle array?
Antiphon of the Legion of Mary (Song of Solomon 6:10)
 

CONTENTS
Introduction
1. The Battle Begins
2. The Woman and the Serpent
3. The Day Creation Held Its Breath
4. The Sorrowful Mother
5. Night of Faith
6. All Generations Will Call Me Blessed
7. Mother of the Americas
8. I Am the Immaculate Conception
9. The Lady of the Rosary
10. My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph
Epilogue: Slithering Through History
Sonnet: To the Queen of Heaven
Suggested Reading
Image Credits
 

INTRODUCTION
T here are only four doctrines that the Catholic Church holds definitively about Mary: She is the Mother of God; she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit and remained a virgin her entire life; she was free of all sin, personal and original, from the first instant of her conception; and at the end of her life, she was assumed body and soul into heaven. Profess these, and you profess all that the Church requires of her members regarding Mary.
Yet the place of Mary in the life of the Church is far richer than that. De Maria numquam satis goes an old Catholic saying: “Of Mary, there is never enough!” From the very beginning, starting even during the public ministry of Our Lord, the faithful have been drawn to contemplate the special status of his mother.
Theologians have explored and debated many propositions about Mary: her precise place in the divine economy, her role in distributing grace, whether or not she experienced death before her assumption into heaven. Scripture scholars, too, have been fascinated by Mary. They have pored over the relatively few Bible verses that mention her, discovering layers of insight and meaning. And of course in the heroic women of the Old Testament, and even in objects such as the Ark of the Covenant or the hortus conclusus (“enclosed garden”) of the Song of Songs, they have seen Mary hinted at and foreshadowed.
Throughout history, a number of holy souls and mystics have claimed private revelations from Mary. Often these expand upon what is known of her life from the Bible, filling in the gaps and giving a glimpse of the things Luke tells us Mary pondered and kept in her heart (see Lk 2:19). And in a few extraordinary cases, credible witnesses claim to have been visited by Mary, who appears bodily to them with a message for a region, country, or all mankind.
While the Church never makes such apparitions a matter of faith, she has declared some “worthy of belief.” Among these, three stand out, all commemorated on the Church’s universal liturgical calendar: the apparitions at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and most recently Fatima, the one hundredth anniversary of which we celebrate this year.
Queen of Heaven is an exploration of the rich Catholic tradition about Mary, a synthesis of the writings of saints, Scripture scholars, mystics, and visionaries to tell the story of Mary from before time until today. We have drawn only from sources approved by the Church. With regard to theological speculations, most scriptural exegeses, and private revelations, Church approval is not a declaration of certain truth but rather a confirmation that the writings are not contrary to the Faith and may be held. This is all that we claim for our “eternal biography” of Mary; and here, as elsewhere, we submit in every matter to the judgment of the Church.
Queen of Heaven is not only the story of Mary. It is also the story of her great antagonist in the drama of salvation: the fallen angel who screamed no to God’s plan in contrast to Mary’s yes, the serpent who strikes at her offspring, the dragon who is enraged by her and seeks to devour her child (see Rv 12:4). In brief, Queen of Heaven is about the battle for souls waged between Mary and the devil; and because the Church is even more circumspect in its teaching about the devil than about Mary, virtually everything we posit about his activities in history is a matter of speculation, too.

The fall of the rebel angels as described in Revelation 12:7-9.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that the devil has “a disastrous influence,” that he “may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus,” and that “his action may cause grave injuries—of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature” (CCC 394–395). Yet specifying exactly what injurious events in history are due to the devil’s actions or influence, rather than unaided human weakness or malice, is a task the Church almost always declines. Atrocities such as the human sacrifice of the Aztecs, the sacrileges of the French Revolution, and the gulags of the Soviets were diabolical at least in the figurative sense. Were they directly inspired by the devil? In the end, that is more than we can say definitively. But we can suspect, and do so in good company, as you will soon come to see.
A final note about the role of Mary in God’s plan. Though Mary’s glories are so great that they can hardly be exaggerated—though in her praise enough can never be said—she is still the handmaid of the Lord, as well as queen, who points not at herself but at her Son, telling one and all to “do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).

At Cana, Mary told the servers “do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).
In the game of chess, it is the king who rules the board, the one who determines the fate of the game. But it is the queen who, at the king’s willing, flies about protecting her subjects from the enemy. As we will attempt to show, our queen, the Queen of Heaven, has done just this for the last two millennia. She has left her throne and returned to defend her children time and time again. She has come to lead us back to the kingdom so that we may fall in adoration before the King.
February 11, 2017 Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Magi were among the first adorers of the King.
Through pride, Lucifer and the rebel angels fell from the angelic choir.
 

The Battle Begins

CHAPTER
1
 

The Queen of Heaven was born just over two thousand years ago, coming of age in the little village of Nazareth in Galilee. But Mary’s story begins well before that; in fact, before time itself.
The great evangelist Archbishop Fulton Sheen said we can picture Mary as being with God, existing as an eternal thought in the divine mind, not only at creation, but before it. In the dedication to his famous book about Mary, The World’s First Love , Sheen called Mary “the Woman whom even God dreamed of before the world was made.”
Sheen’s observation is echoed in Lumen Gentium , one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Lumen Gentium refers to Mary as the predestined mother (see LG 56), while the Catechism teaches that “from all eternity,” God chose Mary to be the mother of his Son (CCC 488).
Knowing God’s eternal plan for Mary helps us understand her role in the economy of salvation. It also sheds light on the enmity that would arise between her and the prince of darkness.
The prince of darkness. Yes … he is a reality. From the very beginning, he has also taken part in the cosmic drama of our salvation. And in understanding his origins and his revolt at the dawn of creation, we can better understand Our Lady and the role she plays in the battle for souls.
WAR IN HEAVEN
God existed eternally, before any of his creations. His existence was not a solitary one, for there was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, living in a communion of indescribable love. Despite having no need to share that love outside the Trinity, God willed to do so.
He began with the creation of the angels. God created them good, but just as he would do with us, he gave the angels free will. Only free creatures can truly love; a compulsory love is no love at all.
Much about the angels remains a mystery. We know they are powerful, immortal. We know God created a great multitude or host. And we know that some of them abused their free will, rebelled against God, and so became devils.
Traditi