Crowned Miss Universe of all time
Mary was, is and always will be the most beautiful Lady there ever was and will be.
Our culture tries to define beauty as skin deep. True beauty is simply holiness. Mary was the holiest woman that ever existed, therefor she is the most beautiful. God created beauty and is the father of beauty and love. All that is sinful is ugly. The devil, the father of lies and hate fosters sin.
Our Lady's humility and sinlessness made her beautiful. God in her and acting through her make her beautiful, as God’s light and love radiate out of her. Everyone that has seen her describes her as the most beautiful lady they have ever seen! In Lourdes, France in 1858 when Bernadette saw “Our Lady” she described her as the most beautiful lady she had ever seen, not just physically, but her presence, her tenderness and love. “she was more beautiful than any other.” Our Lady of Lourdes.
In Fatima, Portugal in 1917 The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, appeared to three young peasant children: Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia; ages 10, 9 and 7. They described her as “a Lady all in white, more brilliant than the sun… indescribably beautiful,” In 1531 in modern day Mexico, Our Lady of Guadeloupe appeared to Juan Diego. He describer her as a beautiful lady.
Mary’s holiness, her friendship with God, makes her Satan’s number-one enemy in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. In the second reading at this Mass, we heard about the woman clothed with the sun. The woman of the Apocalypse reflects the radiance of God, the divine splendor. Light emanates from her, like in the apparition at Lourdes, because she is filled with God’s light, with her Son’s grace. She wears on her head a crown of 12 stars which represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, the entire people of God, the whole communion of saints. Remember she is our queen as well as our mother. At her feet is the moon, the image of death and mortality. The huge dragon in the book of Revelation is the ancient serpent in the book of Genesis, the devil returned. He tries to devour her newborn Son, but is unsuccessful. Mary successfully overcomes the devil because she is sinless.
Though the dragon has been defeated by Christ, he is far from harmless and is capable of making things very difficult for disciples of Jesus. We must battle against evil. The conflict between Satan and the human race continues throughout human history. The disciples of Jesus are still pursued by the dragon. We heard at the end of today’s reading: “Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.” Her message to all is a very simple messages of prayer, penance and conversion.
The ultimate judge, our Lord crowned her queen of heaven and earth. She is the true miss Universe of all time.