Our Lady answered YES ad infinitum…
A few weeks ago, I watched a very short snippet of the funeral of the late Prince Philip of England. During the funeral, because of the COVID restrictions, his wife of almost seven decades – Queen Elizabeth II, a woman in her nineties – sat entirely alone. She is the Queen of England. During a time of unprecedented restrictions and lockdowns, she – the QUEEN – must set an example for her people.
When people think of kings and queens, they often think of the gold and jewels, servant and castles, holidays and wealth. They imagine a life of privilege. And yet, though these things are surely a part of the vocation of the monarch, there are other things that come with this role.
Most of the work of a monarch is mundane and uninteresting. They commit to causes and attend ceremonies. Effectively, a monarch must commit to devote their life to the service of their people. That is why, at over ninety years old, on probably the saddest day of her life, this little old lady, sat inside a big almost empty church entirely alone.
It is for this same reason that when she married almost seven decades ago, she collected fabric coupons for her wedding dress and had worked as a mechanic in a munitions factory. You see, though she was a Queen, she married during the Second World War, and though she had the wealth and privilege to avoid the inconveniences of that War, the Queen remained conscious of her people and publicly mimicked their restrictions where she could.
And this Queen Elizabeth II is a mortal Queen. She is only a human, and a flawed human at that.
But watching her sitting alone – doing her DUTY – I thought of another Queen – who us perfectly unflawed…
One thing that visionaries of Our Blessed Mother have in common when they speak of their visions, is that they speak of wanting to do anything to see her again. They invariably speak of the peace that she brought when they saw her – her calmness. And calmness is a sign of Grace because a soul can only be calm when it is completely surrendered to God.
For what could we ever have to fear if we truly believed in God’s power to save us and bring us HOME?
Recently, my sister told me that the Queen of Heaven – Our Blessed Mother – visits the Lost Souls of Purgatory to give them solace during their suffering.
I never heard such a thing before and yet, when I heard this information, I was unsurprised. Can you imagine the solace she would offer in that terrible place? How much hope would those Holy Souls have after seeing a glimpse of her face?
And to visit them, she would have to experience the hopelessness – the sorrows – of Purgatory. She would have to demean her Holy self to interact with sinners – the very souls who crucified her HOLY SON…
Now, I understand a little more of why God so loves the Blessed Virgin Mary.
When she said YES to the angel, she was not only saying YES to Christ’s Conception, or His Birth, or even His Death… She was not only saying YES for all her EARTHLY life.
She said YES FOREVER… Our Lady answered YES ad infinitum…
“Behold, the Lord's handmaid. May it happen to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).
When she said these words of the Gospel that we commemorate in prayers like the Angelus, Our Lady was not just answering for this life. She was not saying YES for just now, or just the next 10, 20, 30, 50, 100 years. She was saying YES until forever. She was saying YES ad infinitum…
When she was crowned Queen of Heaven, she accepted her throne for what it was… an eternity of service. An eternity of sitting alone in the Church or working in a factory, or collecting fabric coupons, so that she could set an example for her people – for me and for you too…
Saint Augustine said, “The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, He gave His Son to Mary for the world to receive Him from Her.”
It is for this reason that Saint Francis de Sales said, “Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with perfect confidence.”
Because she will do WHATEVER is required of her to lead US HOME… because she loves God and He loves us, so she will love us and SERVE us – ad infinitum…
And we are the subjects of a Queen who SERVES – ad infinitum!
How great is the love of Our God! All Praise and Glory to His Holy Name…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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