Kingdom of the Immaculate

August is of course the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the centrepiece of which in the traditional calendar is the feast of the Immaculate Heart, placed by Pius XII on the Octave Day of the Assumption (August 22) in 1944. A decade later the same Pontiff made May 31 — the last day of the month of Mary — the feast of the Queenship of Mary. When revising the calendar in 1969, Paul VI moved the feast of the Immaculate Heart to the Saturday before the feast of the Sacred Heart in order to underline the unity between the two and placed the Queenship of Mary on the now vacated Octave Day of the Assumption. Now, regardless of one’s view of these changes, the whole bit of activity does show forth the deep connection between the mysteries of the Assumption, the Immaculate and Sacred Heart, and the Queenship of Mary — which in like manner to the Two Hearts (regardless of when celebrated) is also closely bound to the Kingship of Christ. Indeed, Ernest Oldmeadow’s comment on the boundaries Kingdom of Christ shortly after the feast was proclaimed in 1926 fits also the Kingdom of Mary: “Christ the King has other rebels besides Russia and Mexico and France. The map of His dominions shows not only the Empires and Kingdoms and Republics, but also the counties, the towns, the villages, the hamlets, and — like the ordnance maps of largest scale — the homesteads each and all. Indeed, it goes farther than the work of any human cartographer; because it shows the inmost places of every human heart. Even the humblest man or woman or child alive is, so to speak, a tiny province in the dominions of Christ the King: a province either submissive or disobedient, either loyal or rebellious.” So too with the coterminous realm of Mary.

My first encounter with the Immaculate Heart of Mary came in 1966, in that town of Our Lady’s dominions called Hollywood, California. Blessed Sacrament School, manned by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and attached to the Jesuit parish of that name, would be my first encounter with education. My first grade there was lovely; the second was an explosion of fury on the part of the Sisters, who, having been reprogrammed by Carl Rogers, sought to emancipate themselves from everything decent. Annoying as all of it was, however, I kept my love for their symbol, a heart pierced with a sword and bedecked with flowers. Many years later, I found to my delight that three of them had begun a new foundation in Wicihta, faithful to the original rule and charism — it flourishes even now.

In time, I began to understand the story of Fatima, in the course of which, Our Lady herself not only encouraged devotion to her Immaculate Heart but spoke of its eventual victory. This message combined with St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s devotion of “Slavery” to Mary was directly responsible for Fr. Feeney and his associates naming themselves the “Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Of course, Father Feeney had always had a deep interest in the United States of America being and becoming ever more a province in the Kingdom of Christ and Mary — hence his early championing of the cause of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Given that Our Lady is patroness of our country as a result of her Immaculate Conception — which in turn is what made her heart Immaculate — his devotion to her on that basis is understandable. If ever there were a country with a particular obligation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it is ours.

It is of course from the Assumption of Our Lady, body and soul, into Heaven that her coronation as Queen thereof stems. This mystery too we celebrate and mark in August. French King Louis XIII’s vow that he would consecrate his country to Mary if she gave him an heir has been kept ever since by all the churches in France. As Dom Gueranger put it, “The Assumption, then, will always be the national feast of France, except for those of her sons who celebrate the anniversaries of revolutions and assassinations.” Without a doubt, this act was the forerunner of the many national consecrations to the Sacred and/or Immaculate Hearts which continue down to our present day — to include Leo XIII’s of all Mankind.

Of course, this is all in the highly flawed present. At Fatima, Our Lady predicted her victory — the “Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.” Many saintly religious have predicted “The Reign of the Sacred Heart.” Some mystics foretold the “Coming of the Last Emperor.” Might these three phrases be describing the same future event? Might we somehow be linked to them even now?

Of the first named, St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote “The Immaculate Heart must conquer the whole world and each individual, in order to return them to God. It is for them that we should recognise her for who she is and submit ourselves to her and to her reign, which is all love and tenderness.” Fr. Verheylezoon, the great propagator of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home, declared that “‘The Enthronement’ says the Catechism of the Enthronement, ‘strives to establish the reign of the Divine Heart in the family, in order to prepare in this way the social reign of our Saviour; to cause Him to rule over the whole of society.’ In fact, the day on which Jesus reigns in all families, He will immediately become King of society, and will be recognized, revered, honoured and obeyed by the whole people in all the manifestations of social life.” In effect, we can to choose to live as subjects of the Kingdom of Jesus and Mary in the here and now — and in so doing, help prepare the way for their outward appearance.

What of the last Emperor? There are several versions of the prophecy, but that of one monk named Adso may be considered typical: “Since therefore the Apostle Paul said that the Antichrist would not come before, unless the departure will come first, that is to say, unless all realms will first depart from the Roman Empire, to which they had previously been subdued. However this time has not yet come, because, while it is true that we may see the Roman realm for the most part destroyed, nevertheless, as long as the Kings of the Franks endure, who hold by right the Roman Empire, the dignity of the Roman realm will not perish everywhere, because it will continue on in its kings. Some of our scholars truly state that one of the kings of the Franks shall possess the entirety of the Roman Empire, which shall in newest days. And he shall be the greatest and last of all kings. After he has governed the kingdom happily, in the end he shall come to Jerusalem and on the Mount of Olivet he shall lay down his scepter and his crown. This is the end and consummation of the Roman and Christian empire.” It is interesting to note that the last reigning heir thus far to the traditions of the Roman Empire, Bl. Karl I of Austria, was immensely dedicated to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, and reigned during the Fatima year of 1917. Devotion to him has grown tremendously since his beatification in 2004. One cannot help but wonder if one of his descendants might be the Last Emperor of legend and prophecy — and if participation in his cultus might not also be a way of hastening that time of triumph.

What is certain, then, is that in one sense, Our Lady’s Queenship is already accomplished over Heaven and Earth, since the mysterious day of her coronation upon her arrival into Heaven. She reigns over Angels and the Blessed in Heaven, and intercedes with Her Son for those of us still in the flesh. Our Lady remains the “Virgin Most Powerful,” and her foot yet crushes the serpent’s head. Through her has Salvation come.

But her Kingdom can be tangible in the here and now. As St. Louis Marie de Montfort says, we may wear her “livery” — the Rosary and Scapular — as signs of our personal submission to our Queen. All those countries — including our own — and provinces, cities, and so on which claim her patronage are signs of her dominion, as are those consecrated to her, and her shrines and churches under her dedication. As noted, we can invite her and her Son to reign over each of us and our homes, as we saw in the citations just read.

Whether we accept it or not, however, her Queenship and her Son’s Kingship are on their way to ruling over all and sundry at the Last Judgement. We — you and I — may live to see that “day of wrath, day of mourning,” which shall usher in her and His final triumph. Or we may die before, after many years of watching. Either way, may the haunting words of “‘Tis for the Love of Mary” be true for each of us: “…but after this our exile, and after all the years we still must wait, take us unto your Heart, Immaculate.”