Mary, Queen of Angels

Sing, sing, ye Angel Bands,
All beautiful and bright;
For higher still and higher,
Through fields of starry light,
Mary, thy Queen ascends,
Like the sweet moon at night.
A fairer flower than she
On earth hath never been;
And, save the Throne of God,
The heavens have never seen
A wonder half so bright
As thine ascending Queen!
And shall I loose thee then,
Loose my sweet right to thee?
Ah! no-----the Angel's Queen
Man's Mother still will be,
And thou upon thy throne,
Wilt keep thy love for me.

-----FATHER FABER

It seems but fitting that we should during this lovely month of the Angels pay reverent and loving homage to her who is raised above all the Angel choirs, Mary, their Queen.

It is the delight of these bright spirits to sing the praises of the Mother of God. Even the Seraphim have not a glory that in any way approaches hers. After her Incarnate Son, she is the splendor of the Heavenly Court, and the Angels behold her in all her glory and are ravished at the sight. Is she not the Mother of their King and God? But what is it that exalts Mary above all the Angels? Not merely her obedience to God, for this has always characterized them all, but rather her obedience in circumstances the most trying, amid suffering the most intense. In her compassion she approached most nearly to the Passion of her Son. None save Him ever surpassed her in suffering. She was the Queen of Martyrs, and therefore is the Queen of Angels. Thus it is that she has earned a more excellent reward than they.

The pious Boudon thus comments on her title, "Queen of Angels": "The Mother of God is the general of the armies of God and the Angels form the glorious troops; thus they are the soldiers of her, who alone is terrible as a whole army in battle array, and in the beginning they fought valiantly for her honor in opposition to Lucifer and the apostate Angels, who would not submit themselves to her empire, God having revealed to them that she should one day be their sovereign. She is the august and triumphant Queen of Paradise; the Angels are those faithful and generous subjects who honored her as we 'have just now said, before she was, and who glory in being subject to the laws of her kingdom. She is the Lady of the Angels and is often invoked under this title of Our Lady of the Angels; they are then, her servants, but such zealous servants that they await but the manifestation of her will to execute it, at its least sign, with a promptitude that is indescribable. She is even their friend . . . and we may say, moreover, that she is in some manner their Mother and such is the opinion of many learned theologians. All these titles sufficiently show that the glory of this Queen, of this great and powerful Lady, is implied in the consideration shown to her subjects, her soldiers and her servants. The love which she bears them, treating them as her faithful friends and even as her children, calls upon us for every possible reason to love what she loves and to entertain the profoundest regard for those whom she desires to be honored. Let us then praise and bless the holy Angels, because the most pure Virgin, the august Queen and Lady of the Angels, is praised and blessed by them."

But above all let us praise the Most High who through the Precious Blood has worked such wonders in our Lady and her clients. It is indeed to that Divine Blood that we owe our privileges and happiness. "The Precious Blood": says Father Walz, "is the fountain of the plenitude of all graces in Mary, but it is also the source of her power to help us. By her union with the Incarnate Word and by offering the Precious Blood in the temple and beneath the Cross in union with her Divine Son, she became the Mother of the Savior and the Mother of those who wish to be saved in His Sacred Blood. O my heavenly Queen, how could I ever forget thee? How could I but love thee? Forever and ever thou shalt be to me 'the Mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.' The Precious Blood of thy Son shall ever remind me that it was taken from thy blood; just as my devotion to thee shall ever increase by devotion to the Price of my Redemption."

O Mother thou dist give to Christ
The Blood that made us free,
Sweet Fountain of the Precious Blood
We place our trust in thee.

While being the song of Angels, the Sacred Blood "was the light of Mary's darkness and the jubilee of all her woes," adds Father Faber. "It turned her sufferings into dignities and crowns. Her holiness which enchants all Heaven, is the monument and trophy of that victorious Blood."

Sweet Lady of the Angels, dearest Mother of men, be mindful of thy children of earth, lonely "Pilgrims of the Night." Be thou with us throughout life's journey, and at eventide, be thou near with thine Angels to comfort and welcome us to our heavenly Father's home. Meanwhile, may our mortal ears become more attuned to Angelic strains inviting us to rise ever higher above the earth earthly, in the ways of Divine love and light.

"Angels! sing on, thy faithful watches keeping,
Sing us sweet fragments of the songs above,
 While we toil on, and soothe ourselves with weeping,
Till life's long night shall break in endless love.

Angels of Jesus,
Angels of light,
Singing to welcome
The pilgrims of the night!"

-----FATHER FABER

As a parting tribute of filial love to our sweet Mother in Heaven, Our Lady of the Angels, may we make our own these tender, prayerful lines of the saintly Cardinal Wiseman:

"The Lord is with thee! My Mother dear,
Thou art never weary that news to hear-----
The gladdest news that was ever told,
Forever new and forever old,

Thy children are telling it all day long,
And the Angels make it their sweetest song,
And we hail thee, and bless thee, and love to tell
He's ever with thee-----the Mother He loves so well.

He came to thee first in the midnight gloom
That wrapped thee round in the silent room,
When the listening air was thrilled and stirred
By the breath of Gabriel's wondrous word-----

And the silver wings of the Heavenly Dove,
Drooped, brooding o'er His Virgin love,
And thy Jesus came to thy heart unseen
As the Angel knelt to the Angels' Queen.

He came to thee first-----He is with thee now,
He has set a crown on thy shining brow,
He is with thee' forever-----no more to part,
For thy home of love is His Sacred Heart.

Hail Mary! my Mother, thy joy is won,
The Lord is with thee! thy Lord and Son;
Hail Mary! my Mother! thy pains are past,
And forever and ever thy bliss shall last.

Hail Mary! Again and again we greet
The Mother of God and our Mother sweet,
We look on that beautiful, loving face
So full of glory, so full of grace,
And we sigh for the day when we shall rest.
In thy tender arms, on thy loving breast,
The day when our exile will be past
When thou shalt show us thy Child at last.

O Mary! to think we shall see thee then,
The face we have dreamed of again and again,
To think----- oh, can it ever be true
That the lord will be with us too?
That through all those bright, unending hours,
Jesus and Mary will both be ours.

PRAYER TO THE QUEEN OF ANGELS
[by St. Frances of Rome]

Hail Daughter and Handmaid of the Most High King and Spouse of the Holy Ghost; we beseech thee that thou, with St. Michael the Archangel, and all the Powers of Heaven, and all the Saints, wouldst deign to intercede for us with thy most beloved Son, our lord and Master, Who with the same Father and Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth forever and ever. Amen.