Mary, Queen of Angels, Mary: Day 171

Mary, Queen of Angels

The Church has long affirmed that the angels are arranged in a hierarchy of ranks. Blessed John Henry Newman tells why Mary stands as queen above that hierarchy.

The great title “Queen of Angels” may be fitly connected with the maternity of Mary, that is, with the coming upon her of the Holy Spirit at Nazareth after the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to her, and with the consequent birth of our Lord at Bethlehem. She, as the mother of our Lord, comes nearer to him than any angel; nearer even than the seraphim who surround him and cry continually, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”

We know our Lord came to set up the kingdom of heaven among men; and hardly was he born when he was assaulted by the powers of the world who wished to destroy him. Herod sought to take his life, but he was defeated by St. Joseph’s carrying his mother and him off into Egypt. But St. John in the Apoca- lypse tells us that Michael and his angels were the real guardians of mother and Child, then and on other occasions.

First, St. John saw in a vision “a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”; and when she was about to be delivered of her Child there appeared “a great red dragon,” that is, the evil spirit, ready “to devour her son” when he should be born (see Rv 12:1–4). The Son was preserved by his own divine power, but next the evil spirit persecuted her. St. Michael, however, and his angels came to the rescue and pre- vailed against him. “There was a great battle,” says the sacred writer; “Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels; and that great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, who is called the Devil” (see Rv 12:7–9). Now, as then, the Blessed Mother of God has hosts of angels who do her service; and she is their queen. —Blessed John Henry Newman, Meditations and Devotions

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
The demonic powers are enemies of Mary, and they are my enemies as well. When they come to tempt, confuse, or buffet me, do I call on the Queen of Heaven and her hosts to defend me?

CLOSING PRAYER
From a prayer of a Bernardine sister: Queen of Heaven, send down your holy angels, so that under your command and by your power, they may pursue the evil spirits, encounter them on every side, resist their bold attacks, and drive them from here into the abyss of hell.

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