The Queen of Heaven and Earth

Our Lady Crowned on this First Sunday of May

Dear Friends and Family,

We have a Queen! The Queen of Heaven and earth. And what a wonderful, beautiful queen She is. This morning the pastor here, Fr. Deprey, very kindly asked me to be the main celebrant for our Solemn High Mass. The Mass began with a procession to the statue you see pictured above, except that She was uncrowned at the time.

The procession was led by about 10 young men who would then serve the Mass. They were followed by a little girl, about 7 years old, carrying the crown of flower for the Virgin Mary on a special pillow. Then came the MC, Fathers Deprey and Breton (acting as Deacon and Subdeacon for the day), and myself.

We processed to the side altar as pictured here:

Side Altar to Our Lady.

This is also where I celebrate most of my quite early morning Masses during the week. As we arrived there a small stepladder was placed in front of the altar, I climbed up (having to then stand on the altar as there was no other way to reach the top of the statue), received the crown of flowers from the little girl, and then crowned Our Lady. All the while the choir and organist led a beautiful hymn in French to Her. A beautiful moment to crown Our Heavenly Mother!

We then processed into the sanctuary and began the Solemn High Mass.

The chanting of the Gospel.

It was a beautiful Mass. I was struck by the diversity of the congregation: white and black, French and English speakers, young and old, handicapped, great numbers of little children--all came together to kneel and adore the Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And among the Congregation were.... my own parents.

My Dad and I outside the original chapel St. André helped build.

They traveled here for the weekend to see where I was living, praying, and studying. Yesterday we made a day pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory and the tomb or Saint André (Brother André). It was especially nice to read some accounts of his life, while praying in the oratory, to pray at his tomb, and to see the little chapel he lived in and helped build (before the larger one was built). It was a very nice weekend with my parents.

Last week was intense for studies and this week will be the same, but for now I am simply giving thanks for the graces of this weekend.

I found this article interesting--a timely and perceptive analysis of the connection between the Fatima message and the threat of communism. It's a 2-minute read in case you are interested. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/russia.-why-was-our-lady-of-fatima-so-concerned-about-russia

May the Blessed Virgin Mary guide and bless each of your families during this month of May!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari