Mary, Queen of Prophets.
During class last week the lecturer was referring to Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) as an example in the topic of the Prophetic Call Narrative. I was disturb and confuse on why Mary was referred to as an example here. I know that at the BVM's litany there is a title for Mary as Queen of Prophets but never did it occur to me as the use of Mary in the example given by my professor. So, I questioned and asked for clarification. My professor felt that it was a good reflection and asked me to reflect further on my question. I had some classmates who gave their thoughts. But I was not satisfied, was still hungry to know more on this topic of Mary, Queen of Prophets. Thank God my professor had the wisdom to make me to go and reflect on it further. So here is what I found that explains so well on this whole topic of Mary, Queen of Prophets.
It is from Rev. Eamon R. Carroll, O. Carm - Our Lady's Digest, March-April 1978.
“Queen of prophets” is one of the titles of our Lady in the Litany of
Loreto. For many Catholics calling Mary “queen of prophets” is a
reminder that the prophets of the Old Testament looked ahead to the
Mother of the Messiah as well as the Messiah himself. In early Christian
understanding, however, our Lady was herself also regarded as a
prophet. There had been no prophets in Israel for some centuries before
Christ, and the revival of prophecy was expected as a sign of the coming
of messianic times. The gift of prophecy was given Mary of Nazareth in
her role of preparing for the Messiah; that she is a prophet is part of
the Gospel portrait of the Virgin Mother of Jesus.
The famous early author, St. Irenaeus, born in Asia Minor (modern
Turkey), who became bishop of Lyons in France (died about 202) wrote
that in her Magnificat Mary prophesied in the name of the Church. The
word St. Irenaeus used for ‘prophesied’ is the same word used in the New
Testament for ‘crying out in the power of the Holy Spirit’, as in St.
Paul’s letters to the Romans (8,15) and to the Galatians (4, 6: ‘we cry
out in the Spirit, Abba, Father’).
Other early writers considered Mary along with the Old Testament
prophets; she was the greatest of the prophets because she prophesied
the Savior, that is, she proclaimed the mystery of God’s becoming man. A
friend of St. Ambrose, St. Gaudentius of Brescia (d. ab. 406) said that
at Cana Mary asked for wine in the name of the Church, in the name of
all mankind. The abundant wine Jesus provided for the wedding feast at
Mary’s request, the best saved till the last, is a sign of the
superabundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the young Church, the
first Christians, at Pentecost.
