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Mary Immaculate Scott 1209 (2002) On August 15, we celebrated the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, on the octave of that feast, falls the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. In an issue of Vatican Notes from 1958 (which can be accessed by clicking on the link in the References below), there is a comprehensive article on the Marian Year of 1954, documenting a number of events that occurred during the year to honor the Blessed Mother. On October 11, 1954, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (To the Queen of Heaven), which proclaimed the Queenship of Mary and created this new feast day. In issuing this proclamation, Pope Pius fulfilled: As early as the fourth century, Mary has been referred to as both 'Lady' and 'Queen', and Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title from that point forward. Numerous hymns honor Mary as queen, including "Hail, Holy Queen", "Hail, Queen of Heaven" and "Queen of Heaven".  "Coronation of the Virgin" by Fra Angelico (circa 1432) Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain Artistic works depicting the coronation of Mary include those of Ghirlandio and Fra Angelico, whose painting housed in the Uffizi Gallery is shown above. There are no Vatican City stamps which specifically honor the Queenship of Mary, although we know She has been depicted on many Vatican issues. One beautiful stamp issue is the definitive mail set from 2002 entitled "Our Lady in the Vatican Basilica" (Scott 1204-1213), which includes ten images of Mary found in Saint Peter's Basilica, where Mary is "abundantly represented in the art and sculpture" of that site. As a note, this was the first Vatican set exclusively denominated in euros (stamps in 2001 were denominated in both lira and euros). One of the stamps from that issue is shown above and pictures the mosaic "Immacolata" ("Mary Immaculate"), which is found in the Chapel of the Choir at the Basilica. REFERENCES: |
