"Thou wast made exceeding beautiful and wast advanced to be a Queen." (Ezech. xvi. 13.)

1st Prelude. The great sign which appeared in Heaven: "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Apoc. xii. 1.)

2nd Prelude. The grace so to live and die, that I may one day be crowned.

Specie tua et pulchritudine tua, intende, prospere procede, et regna. (In thy comeliness and thy beauty go forth, proceed prosperously, and reign.) The culminating point is reached, and Mary is led in triumph to receive her crown from the Blessed Trinity. God the Father crowns her as a Victor; God the Son as a Queen; and God the Holy Ghost as a Bride. We give our crowns on earth to victors, to queens and to brides. Mary was all of these for she had conquered the devil; she was the King's Mother, and she was the spouse of the Holy Ghost.

1. She was crowned as a Victor, as a sign of her courage and bravery. God the Father had seen the world, which He had created and had pronounced to be "very good," spoiled by sin. The Arch-fiend had entered Paradise, and had stolen away the hearts of His children, robbing them of His grace, and leaving them and all their descendants stained by sin. To Satan God had spoken of a woman whose Child would be his enemy; and of her He said: "She shall bruise thy head." Now the old prophecy has been fulfilled, and Mary stands before Him waiting for her crown. She has crushed the serpent; she has been terrible to all God's enemies; and the crown that the Eternal Father places on the head of His daughter is a token that she is indeed a Victor.

How did Mary win the Victor's crown? By her fidelity to grace. No one ever had so many occasions of grace, and she did not miss one of them.

"There is," somewhere in the heavenly courts, "a crown laid up for me." (2 Tim. iv. 8.) But "the Lord, the just Judge" will only give it me if "I have fought a good fight." (verse 7.) "To him that shall overcome will I give to sit with Me in My Throne." (Apoc. iii. 21). "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (chap. ii. 10.) "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (chap. iii. 11). All, then, depends on my efforts. I have got to be faithful, to fight, to overcome, and to hold fast. My consolation is that my Mother is interceding for me; my enemies are the same as hers, and she has overcome them. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.

2. She is crowned as a Queen. Her Son is the King of Heaven, and He crowns her as the Queen-Mother. "A throne was set for the King's Mother, and she sat on His Right Hand." (3 Kings ii. 19.) "The Queen stood at Thy Right Hand in gilded clothing, clothed round about with varieties." (Ps. xliv. 14.)

Kings and Queens wear their crowns in token of their power and authority. Jesus crowned His Mother in token of her power and authority. He made her Queen of Angels, of Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and gave her not only authority over all these, but also, in a certain sense, if we may say so reverently, over Himself. He allowed her still to keep the sweet authority which she had exercised over Him at Nazareth, when He was "subject" to her; for He says to her: "My Mother, ask, for I must not turn away thy face." (3 Kings ii. 20.) How He loves us—even to the extent of pledging Himself to answer the intercessory prayer of one who He knows will make full use of her privilege—one who is even now turning to me, her child, and saying: "I will speak for thee to the King." (verse 18). Let me determine to have my share in this blessed compact between the Son and the Mother, by continually asking my Queen-Mother for her intercession. Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora pro nobis.

3. The Holy Ghost crowns her as His Spouse. "Come from Libanus, my spouse; come and thou shalt be crowned." (Cant. iv. 8.) "Faithful unto death" she had been; ever since her Immaculate Conception she had always listened to the least inspiration of grace which her Divine Spouse had suggested, and now she receives her reward, the "crown of life." The end is attained, and there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God.

De cujus Assumptione gaudent Angeli et collaudant Filium Dei. At whose Assumption the Angels rejoice and praise together the Son of God. (Introit for the Feast of the Assumption.)

What were the causes of their joy?

1. Mary's joy at her re-union with her Son.

2. Her reception and coronation as their Queen.

3. Her being placed on the throne at her Son's Right Hand.

4. The sight of her beautiful glorified body—the means of the Incarnation—before which, as before the Tabernacle, they had so often worshipped their hidden God.

5. The likeness between the Mother and the Son—a likeness which had been increasing during her years of exile, by means of the Blessed Sacrament.

6. Hearing Jesus call her Mother. "My Mother, ask."

7. Seeing the great Intercessor at her work praying for sinners, in whom they take such an interest.

And the result of their joy is that "they praise together the Son of God"—that is, they perfectly fulfil the end for which they were created, teaching us the great lesson that the more we know Mary and rejoice in her joy, her position and her work, the more we shall know and praise her Divine Son, and so fulfil the end for which we were created.

But it is not only the Angels who are rejoicing. She is "Queen of all Saints" as well as "Queen of Angels," and the Church Triumphant is swelling the chorus of joy. Each member of that spotless multitude has already been a cause of joy in Heaven, for there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over every sinner that doeth penance. (St Luke xv. 7.) "Joy cometh in the morning" after the night of doing penance. "No cross, no crown." It is because Mary is the "Mother of Sorrows" that she is able to be the "Cause of our joy," and we must all pass by the same route.

Help me, my Mother, to share the joy of the Angels and Saints even in the "valley of tears." It is possible, but it can only be done by a faith strong enough to see things as they really are.

And what about Mary's joy? As she stands in the midst of that great multitude of Angels and Saints, who are vying with each other to do her honour, her heart too is overflowing with joy, but it is all for her Son. The honour and worship that are being paid to her are His; they are because of "the great things He has done" for her. She is only His handmaid, and she is always singing her Magnificat: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour." Humility is ever her greatest virtue, and she shows it on her Coronation Day by casting her crown at the Feet of Him Who redeemed her with His Blood—her Son, her Saviour, and her God.

Colloquy. The Ave Regina CÆlorum:—"Hail, Queen of Heaven! Hail, Lady of the Angels! Hail, blessed root and gate, from which came light upon the world! Rejoice, O glorious Virgin, that surpassest all in beauty! Hail, most lovely Queen! and pray to Christ for us." (Anthem from Purification to Easter.)

Resolution. To work for my crown to-day.

Spiritual Bouquet. "Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix, ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi."