Today, we celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this memorial of the Queenship of Mary, the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV has asked us to pray and fast for global peace. One of the titles of Mary is “Queen of Peace.”
Given how currently our world is wounded by wars in Ukraine, the Holy Land, and conflicts in other regions of the world, Pope Leo wrote that,
“I invite all the faithful to devote the day of 22 August to fasting and prayer, imploring the Lord to grant us peace and justice, and to dry the tears of those who suffer as a result of the ongoing armed conflicts. Mary, Queen of Peace, intercede so that peoples may find the path to peace. Let us all learn to pardon, because to pardon one another is to build a bridge of peace.”
Call Upon the Blessed Mother
Every time that our world has gone through a big crisis, our Church has always invited us to turn to the maternal care of Our Blessed Mother and implore her intercession and protection. We saw that at the battle of Lepanto, we saw that during the First World War, and we saw that during the outbreak of the Spanish Influenza. During times of war, times of famine, times of natural disasters, and times of internal crises in the Church, she has always been our go-to person. She is the one we appeal to in that prayer that Venerable Patrick Peyton loved so much “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Our Life, Our Sweetness and Our Hope, To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us.”
Given the global conflicts we are witnessing at this time, it appears we are in a time of “sighing, mourning and weeping in a valley of tears.” Through media we have seen images of emaciated kids in war zones slowly starving to death. We have seen rivers of tears flowing, tears of children and mothers because of the death of close family members. We have seen cities bombed out and reduced to piles of rubble with people buried underneath the concrete. We have also seen innocent and emaciated people held as hostages, people who were going about their lives with nothing to do with politics. A lack of an end to these sad global situations is what is increasingly becoming troubling. Where is our humanity? Have we become numb or desensitized to the pain and the suffering of our brothers and sisters? Are our consciences troubled by what we are seeing?
Mary, Queen of Peace, Pray for Us
On this Feast Day of the Queenship of Mary, we are turning to the Mother of the Prince of Peace, to ask Her to intercede for us before Her Son to grant our world peace. May we pray during this Mass and throughout this day for the conversion of hearts. May we pray for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation. May we also pray for authentic ways to live out the two greatest commandments we heard in the gospel: a genuine love of God, and a genuine love of our neighbor. May Our Lady Queen of Peace Pray For Us. Amen.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
