February 23, 2024

Mary, Queen of Peace

Jude Missa

Our king is Our Lord Jesus Christ. The King of all creation, the King of all kings, and the Prince of Peace. While His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the Queen of Heaven and Earth. If her Son is the Prince of Peace, she is the Queen of Peace. The Church promotes Our Lady of Peace since 1482 and it was promoted again during World War I when Pope Benedict XV added Our Lady of Peace to the Litany of Loreto. This title was utilized once more in the Philippines as Mary, Queen of Peace. Let’s revisit history.

The Martial Law under President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Martial Law was declared by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 during his Second Term to expand his rule. It gained public approval in its early years, but the following years slowly enter the dark times of the country. Where there have been extensive human rights violations. Thousands of people were arrested, detained, tortured, and many women were raped, forcibly disappeared, or killed. Among these victims are media people, teachers, human rights activists, priests, seminarians, and religious people. He also undermined press freedom, resulting in the truth being never published in newspapers, televisions, and radios. Marcos also allied with the Communist Party of China, where he and Mao Zedong became friends. It was 17 years ago when Our Lady warned about China in Lipa.

The People-Power Revolution

The People of the Philippines start to revolt against the Marcos Regime, when the opposition leader, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated at Manila, National Airport on August 21, 1983. Marcos called for a snap election against the widow of Ninoy Aquino, Corazon ‘Cory’ Aquino. Marcos cheated and won in the COMELEC results, while Cory won in the NAMFREL results. The people’s anger led to the revolt in EDSA, which was led by Catholic Bishops, Priests, and Nuns. Instead of causing bloodshed, the Catholic faithful gathered at EDSA without weapons and brought their rosaries, Crucifixes, and images of the saints, Santo Nino and the Blessed Virgin Mary, food, flowers and prayed to God with the intercession of the Blessed Mother. That year is also the 2000th anniversary of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary

President Marcos sent a full army with tanks and armored vehicles. He planned to stop the revolt even if that brings chaos to the people. As the soldiers advanced, they saw up in the sky what appeared to be a cross-like figure but it did not hinder them as they continued to press forward to the crowd but the people still continuous praying the Holy Rosary. Then what happened next change the hearts of the soldiers. While preparing for an assault, they saw a beautiful woman dressed as a Nun who became visible in front of the tanks. This beautiful woman dressed in blue with heavenly eyes as she appeared in front of the soldiers and extended her arms outward and spoke in a voice that was clearly audible to everyone:

“Dear soldiers, stop! Do not proceed. Do not harm my children.
I am the Queen of this land.”

The Soldiers dropped their weapons and join the people to fight against the Dictator. The television station that covering the event prompted “Mother Mary is with us”. Marcos’ central command gave the order to fire on the people but the soldiers just made excuses like machine malfunctioned and the canons are not working. The people won, the dictator was removed to his position and declared Corazon Aquino as the new president. To commemorate the victory of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Edsa Revolution and to thank God for freeing the Filipino people from the dictator, a shrine was built in EDSA with the large image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is called the Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace (Our Lady of Edsa).

What is the reason for some people and social media content claiming that Marcos is not a dictator?

Supporters of the son of the late dictator created these social media videos and pages to help him prepare for his presidential candidacy. This content is false. Other individuals have stated that they did not experience Marcos’ tyranny when they were young. There are two explanations for this individual. Either they are too young to care about what happened around them during the time of Martial Law or they are living in a province that was not affected by Martial Law. Let me tell you a story. There is a man who was born one year after the People’s Power Revolution. He asked his grandfather if it is true that many people died during Marcos’ Martial Law. His grandfather stated that such an event has not occurred. Then he told his mother who is an adult at the time of Martial Law and People Power revolution, that his grandfather said that there’s no killings at the time of Martial Law. His mother replies: ‘The killings during Martial Law are true. Your grandfather is not aware of it because he lives in a province that is not affected by Martial Law.

Is another People Power revolution in the future still effective?

The Success of the People Power Revolution (Edsa Revolution) was due to the Help of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Without her help, you have a high chance of failing if you try to do it again. For an example is the Tiananmen Square Protest in China. China is not a country that follows Catholicism like the Philippines. They protest and copy the People Power Revolution. Instead of an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they created a statue of what they called the Goddess of Democracy. But their protest resulted in a bloody massacre. And the statue of their Goddess of Democracy was destroyed.

What about the Christian persecution during the reign of Nero to Diocletian? Why did some Christians still die even though they had faith in our Lord?

This event is different from the Edsa Revolution or in Tianamen. The Edsa Revolution aims to put an end to Marcos’ regime and his Martial Law. While Christians in the early centuries of Christianity were persecuted because of their faith. They were given a choice between making a sacrifice to the Pagan gods or dying by worshipping Christ. They choose Christ and sacrifice their lives for Him.

Brethren, the Mother of our Lord is always willing to lend a hand. She is our Queen and the person who intercedes with our Lord the most. It’s important to ask for our help without hesitation. It’s important not to forget the assistance she gave us, just like how she stopped the soldiers during the EDSA revolution. We should not ignore the fact that our Lord gave her to us or our mother.

The devil will do everything in his power to cause us to forget about God, our Lord, and also the Blessed Virgin Mary. And one of his works is to change our knowledge about history. If we fail to remember our faith and God, we will also forget about the devil who is hidden and waiting to attack. It is important to distinguish between truth and falsehood. It’s important to remember our past because it offers valuable lessons. If we choose to forget what really happened during the Martial Law, we are ignoring the suffering of the victims and deaths of the innocents and those who fight for good. If we neglect the significance of the People Power Revolution, we also neglect the fact that our Lord Jesus, our God and King, listened to our prayers and provided us with assistance. We should not overlook the kindness of our Heavenly Mother, Queen, who protects our country from the Marcos Regime. We should pray the Holy Rosary and ask our Blessed Mother and Saints to aid us in discerning truth. As stated by the Lord: