Dominican Friars

As one might admire a many-faceted gem, turning it over and over to reveal still greater brilliance, each mystery of our Catholic Faith shines forth with exquisite beauty.  The Fifth Glorious Mystery—the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth—is one such mystery I’ve turned over and over again while praying the rosary. In doing so, I’ve often pondered the question, “What does it mean for Mary to be Queen?”

In the first place, we can profit from considering what Mary is, in fact, queen of. The Litany of Loreto (otherwise known as the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary) sheds considerable light on the extent of Mary’s dominion, which ascribes the following titles to her patronage: Queen of angels, Queen of patriarchs, Queen of prophets, Queen of apostles, Queen of martyrs, Queen of confessors, Queen of virgins, Queen of all saints, Queen of the Holy Rosary, Queen of families, and Queen of peace. She is, without equivocation, Queen of Heaven and Earth.

We can also profit from considering the relationship between Mary’s roles as Queen and as Mother. Mary’s queenship derives first and foremost from her identity as Mother of God. We can better understand this idea through the ancient role of the queen mother in Israelite society. When a king ascended the throne, it was not his wife who became queen and sat at his right, but his mother. We see this take place with Solomon and his mother, Bathsheba, in the Old Testament: 

So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. (1 Kings 2:19)

Like Bathsheba, Mary is the mother of a king—the King of kings—and is made the Queen. As Queen, she is able to intercede on our behalf, and it is through her mediation that the riches of the King are distributed to us, the people. And how does Mary mediate these riches to the people? All graces flow through Jesus Christ, but God makes use of human instruments to distribute his bountiful graces. Preeminent among human beings is the Blessed Virgin Mary through whom all such graces first flow (CCC 967). It is Mary, always united to Christ, who directs these graces to the rest of the Body of Christ (CCC 969). Regarding this image, St. Bernardine of Siena describes Mary as “the neck of our head, by which he communicates to his mystical body all spiritual gifts.”  

Finally, we can consider the Memorare in light of Mary’s queenship:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

The Memorare highlights that Mary is always both Queen and Mother. On the one hand, she is our Mother and so is approachable by us, her children, who do not fear to run to her even in our sin and sorrow. On the other hand, as Queen sharing in the reign of her Son, we have confidence in her power to answer the prayers we bring: “Never was it known that anyone…was left unaided.”

This article was originally published on dominicanajournal.org and was written by Fr. Bartholomew Calvano, O.P.

This September, thousands of pilgrims will gather at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to pray the Rosary together. Helping lead that day of prayer will be Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., who will serve as the principal preacher for the 2026 Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1986 for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, Fr. Cameron has spent decades preaching, teaching, and helping Catholics grow in their love for Christ. From 1998 to 2018, he served as the founding editor-in-chief of Magnificat, the monthly worship companion that has helped countless Catholics enter more deeply into the Mass and the daily prayer of the Church. Today, he holds the Carl J. Peter Chair of Homiletics at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he forms seminarians in the art of preaching the Gospel, and he also teaches at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). In 2022, he published Mysteries of the Virgin Mary: Living Our Lady’s Graces (Cluny Media).

Ahead of the pilgrimage, we asked Fr. Cameron about the Rosary, Our Lady, and what he hopes pilgrims will take with them from this year’s day of prayer.

Q: What was your first thought when you were asked to serve as principal preacher for this year’s Pilgrimage?

A: I was very honored and delighted to be asked to serve as principal preacher for this year’s Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage. I consider the Pilgrimage — the brilliant idea of some of the younger friars of the Province of St. Joseph — to be an inspired and much needed apostolate, an occasion of many graces. I have a deep personal love for the Rosary, and it will be a joy to spend a day with others who share a similar love and devotion to the Rosary.

Q: Is there one mystery of the Rosary you find yourself returning to most, and why?

A: The one mystery of the Rosary I find myself returning to in a special way is the fifth Glorious Mystery: The Crowning of Our Lady Queen of Heaven. For me, it is the Rosary within the Rosary. I’m struck by something Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “In the recitation of the rosary, we enter into contact with the memories of Mary.” These memories are not nostalgic remembering or recalling — they are a way of reactivating. Memory makes present now works that God has already accomplished. Memory sheds light on what is remembered so that it acquires a deeper meaning. Which is why St. John Paul II said that “the memories of Jesus impressed upon Mary’s heart were to be the ‘rosary’ which Our Lady recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.” The Coronation, in its way, is the consummation of all the saving events of the Redemption, in which the Mother of God plays an instrumental role. At the Coronation, the Blessed Virgin Mary relives the memory of all the mysteries of her Son’s life, death, and Resurrection such that they become present and active and ever more meaningful — glorifying Our Lady’s life in heaven with joy beyond imagining, and anointing anyone on earth eager to live Mary’s memories with her.

Q: What has Mary taught you personally, as a priest?

A: The Blessed Virgin Mary has taught me that whenever we go to Mary in prayer, she gives us Jesus, and that there are many things in life that cannot come to be — nor are they meant to — without Mary’s maternal mediation. As Mother of God, Our Lady plays a personal role in assisting us with our misfortunes, in freeing us from evils, in relieving our sorrows, and in interceding for us in the struggles that burden us. Mary has taught me that I can trust in her faithfulness and lean on her strength. As the Dominican mystic Blessed Henry Suso prayed, “Thinking of you, Mother, recalling you, my spirit comes alive again as if out of the deepest darkness.” Mary has taught me that it is possible to achieve intimate union with our Lord, as St. Louis de Montfort remarked, by establishing a deep union with the Blessed Virgin and a great dependence on her help. United with Mary, it becomes possible to love Jesus the way that Jesus deserves to be loved.

Q: What would you want a pilgrim walking into the Basilica that morning, perhaps someone who has never prayed a full Rosary before, to know before the day begins?

A: I would want a pilgrim walking into the Basilica to know that it is Jesus Christ himself who has drawn that person to this place — that God has taken the initiative to share Himself with the pilgrim, eager to be close to the pilgrim — that this day is a gift from heaven — that the Blessed Mother is loving the pilgrim with a great tenderness and compassion and joy — that the trust and sacrifice the pilgrim shows just by being present at the Pilgrimage will be richly rewarded with many graces and blessings — that taking a risk to be a pilgrim and begin a new life with the Rosary is reason for tremendous hope in the mercy and generosity of God in the days and years to follow.

We are grateful for Fr. Cameron’s yes, and we look forward to joining him on September 26 for the 2026 Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage.

We call Saint Thomas the “Angelic Doctor” for his spiritual wisdom and superhuman self-control. His teaching reaches to the very heights of heavenly contemplation. Even so, this spiritual man thinks you should sing “God Bless America,” launch a barrage of fireworks, and eat a big ol’ red, white, and blue popsicle today!Photo courtesy of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

“Are you serious?” you ask. “Dead serious,” I reply.

Piety toward the homeland is a duty of every citizen. We are to honor our country and love it like a child loves his parents. Whether or not our nation provided and continues to provide for our good in a spirit of prudence, love, and godliness, our homeland has given us foundational gifts—material goods, law, order, and peace. The duty of honor hardly concerns whether we got the president, the representative, the policy we wanted. These can be added reasons to honor our nation, much as we can love our parents as friends as we grow older; however, the foundation for our piety will always be the primary goods given by our nation, just as with our parents. This means we can always honor our country, regardless of the state of things in our nation.

We often think of honor as something mental or spiritual. Here, St. Thomas has a very important point: the act of honor is something bodily and external. Honor involves bearing witness to the excellence of a person or thing. Although our hearts bear witness before God, we are social creatures and must bear witness before others as well. To show honor before men, who cannot see our hearts, we have to bear witness in an external, bodily way. We show honor before others “either by words, as when one proclaims another’s excellence by word of mouth, or by deeds, for instance by bowing, saluting, and so forth, or by external things, as by offering gifts, erecting statues, and the like” (ST II-II, q. 103, a. 1).

What does this mean for us? We are obliged to honor our nation, and the only proper way is by external signs. These signs, St. Thomas says, are either words, deeds, or things. To celebrate the birth of our nation most properly, we should employ each of these.

In our show of honor, we should embrace our national customs. The words, deeds, and things that Americans customarily use are best for this purpose, for two reasons. First, customary acts bear witness before others more effectively, since they are easily interpreted. Everyone knows what you’re doing if you shoot fireworks on the Fourth of July. Second, customary acts allow us to show our piety for our nation in a unified way, allowing for grand displays of patriotism and signifying that our homeland’s excellence is found precisely in the basic goods it gives all Americans: life, order, and peace.

So today, turn up your American spirit, regardless of the current state of our political life. The primary motive for honoring our country is that we were born and nourished in this land, not that our polity finds our approval. Bear witness to our homeland’s goodness by words, as you sing your heart out to “God Bless America.” Bear witness by deeds, as you launch a salvo of fireworks in the backyard. And bear witness by things, as you eat a popsicle sporting Old Glory’s red, white, and blue. This is how Americans show honor for our homeland, and St. Thomas approves!

This article was originally published on dominicanajournal.org and was written by Br. Andrew Lyons, O.P.