The feast was introduced by Pope Pius XII by the encyclical “Ad Caeli Reginam” (To the Queen of Heaven) issued on October 11, 1954, on the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Already during the First Vatican Council in 1869, French and Spanish bishops asked for this feast. During the First National Marian Congress in Lyon in France (1900) this request was repeated. The request was also repeated by international Marian congresses in Friborg (1902) and Einsiedeln (1904). Initially, the memory of Mary Queen was celebrated on May 31, but as a result of the post-conciliar reform of the liturgical calendar, it was moved to the octave of the Assumption of Mary – August 22. We remember the event of Mary’s crowning in the fifth glorious mystery of the Rosary.
Totus Tuus
Saint John Paul II understood it perfectly, who was Totus Tuus – “I am all Yours and all mine is Yours, glorious Virgin, blessed above all.” When a man does this, he will not be deceived; he can be sure that Mary will not let him die. The Polish Pope experienced this in a tangible way, especially on May 13, 1981. After the assassination attempt, he said: “You have always been a Mother to me, and especially on May 13, 1981, when I felt Your protective presence with me. In everything that happened, I saw – and I will repeat ever again – Mary’s special maternal protection. Through the intercession of the Mother of God, my life was given to me again. I understood that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the path to God.” That is the reason why he appealed to all to entrust ourselves to the Mother of God. “The dramatic moment that humanity is experiencing today should lead us to turn with ever greater trust to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that She may ask each of us and for all of us the saving power of God’s grace.”
