Mary, Our Patroness and Queen
October is the month of the rosary. During this month, we concentrate our attention on Mary, our Blessed Mother, who leads us to her Son as we continue on our journey of faith in this life. October is a very special one for all of us in the Diocese of Palm Beach as we celebrate the foundation of our Diocese, which took place on Oct. 24, 1984. This year marks the 40th anniversary of our Diocese. From its foundation, the Diocese was placed under the patronage of Mary, Our Lady Queen of the Apostles, and we celebrate this feast as well on Oct. 24. It is our patronal feast day. How blessed we are to have Mary as our Patroness in her special role as Queen of the Apostles.
Mary has many titles within the life of the Church. Queen of the Apostles is a significant one as it points to her prominent role among the apostles. After the Resurrection, Mary was the unifier among them as she was the one who completely comprehended what had occurred in the mission of her Son. She handed onto the apostles what she had treasured in her heart all during the years of her Son’s ministry. She was with the apostles as the Holy Spirit descended upon them on Pentecost. Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the role of Mary in the life of the Church proceeds that of St. Peter himself. She is the model of holiness, and it is to that personal relationship with her Son that we are all called.
It was St. John Paul II who created our Diocese from that of the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Orlando. We are all familiar with a great devotion to Mary that the great St. John Paul II had in his life. His apostolic crest bore a large M for Mary, and his motto was Totus Tuus, Totally Yours, referring to the giving of himself over to Mary in the words of St. Louis de Montfort. Pope Francis likewise has a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, which is very manifest in all that he does. Every time he makes a journey from and back to Rome, he prays at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome to ask for Mary’s intercession and safety. It is where he has requested that he be buried when his earthly journey is completed. And in keeping with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has frequently emphasized that the role of Mary in the life of the Church is significantly more important than that of the apostles. He has also expressed that, to know who Mary is, we must go, not to the great theologians, but to the people who have devotion to Mary and truly understand what her role is within the Church.
On Oct. 9, a new book was released in Rome under the title of As Jesus Taught Us: The Prayer of Pilgrims of Hope. It is a collection of Pope Francis’ reflections on prayer, some of which have not been yet published. The pope has written a preface to the book in which he explains that the first teacher of prayer for him was his grandmother. He also explains his own deep devotion to Mary as well as his praying the rosary. The pope mentions how there is a beautiful story, a legend, that tells us how Mary loves and saves everyone. He recounts, “It is the story of Our Lady of Thieves, protector of robbers. They steal, but because they pray to her, when one of them dies, Our Lady, who is at the window of heaven, gestures for him to hide. She tells him not to go to Peter, who won’t let him in. But in the evening, she opens the window of Paradise and lets him in from there. I like this: Our Lady is the one who let you in through the window. It’s almost like smuggling. Just like at Cana. The Lord did not have the freedom to say no. She’s like this with her Son. It’s like this: pleading omnipotence.” This moving legend means a great deal to Pope Francis and expresses his personal and deep devotion to Mary.
True devotion to Mary, as evidenced by Pope Francis, is not a matter of pious devotion. It became popular in circles of theology to emphasize that we go to Jesus directly, and that Mary’s role is secondary to His. This is certainly true. However, Jesus has intertwined the role of Mary in His own ministry and mission in such a way that she exemplifies what it means to be His perfect follower. He’s also given her to us as the Mother of the Church and the mother of each one of us. In such a manner, the Lord has placed Mary above Peter and the apostles and has offered to us a unique intimacy with His mother through which God actually comes to us. Pope Francis has stated, “What took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with good and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes flesh within us; He comes to dwell in us, He dwells in all who love Him and keep His word. It is not easy to understand this, but really, it is easy to feel it in our heart.” It is Mary who shows us the way. It is through her that we come to Jesus. She will always let us in through the window.
The rosary offers us a unique opportunity to come to Jesus through Mary. All of the mysteries of the rosary are centered on the essential elements of Christ’s ministry. By meditating upon them, using the Hail Mary as a background, we come closer to infusing those mysteries within our lives. The mysteries of the rosary are all based in the New Testament. We truly open our heart to the word of God when we pray the rosary and let the Lord speak to us as He spoke to Mary. When we meditate on these mysteries, we simply are not recalling events that occurred 2,000 years ago. We are letting these mysteries speak to the realities of our lives and all of their complexities, joys and sorrows. As we do so, we do so with the heart of Mary, listening to God’s word today and opening ourselves up to it.
As we come to the celebration of our 40th anniversary as a Diocese, we look to Mary as our Patroness as Queen of the Apostles. As a mother and friend, she walks with us in all things that we experience to lead us to her Son for a true and personal relationship with Him. How comforting is the image of the legend that Pope Francis described in the preface of his new book regarding Mary letting a thief into heaven through the window because nothing will prevent her from bringing us to Christ. Indeed, our Diocese has many blessings with Mary as our Patroness and Queen.
Mary, Queen of the Apostles, pray for us!
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
