August 22, 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
FEAST OF THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY
Pius XII established this feast in 1954 as a logical follow-up to the Assumption - thus it is celebrated in the octave of the Assumption. Mary's queenship has roots in Scripture where the Archangel Gabriel announces that her Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. Her queenship is a share in Jesus's kingship. The Fathers of the Church, starting with St. Ephrem in the 4th century, called Mary 'Lady' and Queen'. In the Middle Ages, hymns and devotional prayers (particularly by the Dominicans and Franciscans) address her invariably as Queen.
No papal items in today's OR except the text of the Holy Father's letter to Cardinal Re naming him to represent him at the 1500th anniversary celebration of the Shrine to Santa Maria delle Grazie in Mentorella outside Rome on Aug. 29. Page 1 items: An essay on the collaboration between men and women in the New Testament; a feature on Marc Chagall's stained-glass windows in Hadassah University in Jerusalem; updates on the consequences of Pakistan's devastating floods; civilian victims of continuing civil conflict in the Somalian capital; and the latest US attempt to broker direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
THE POPE'S DAY
Sunday Angelus - The Holy Father spoke about the Queenship of Mary that we celebrate today, and underscored
the lesson of God in the simple girl of Nazareth whom he made Queen of heaven and earth - how he exalts the
humble and brings down the arrogant.
The Vatican also released the full text of the Holy Father's message to the 31st annual Meeting for Friendship
among Peoples, sponsored by the Comunione e Liberazione movement, which opened today in Rimini.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/08/2010 17:36]