Queen of Martyrs

Martyrdom is the act of sacrificing one's life for Christ. This obviously is the greatest proof that we can give of our love for God. 'Greater love than this no man hath, that he lay down his life for his friends' (John 15:13). Indeed our life is the most precious thing we possess, its sacrifice the greatest we can make. To save it we willingly sacrifice everything else, money, pleasure, comfort. Very rarely can we be obliged to sacrifice it, even for the sake of charity or religion. As the obligation is rare, the name and fame of those who expose their lives for a great cause give them the outstanding title of heroes. God's heroes are the martyrs. 

The title of hero is generally the reward of some praiseworthy act, as in the case of those who risk their lives for their country. Such an act, although heroic, is nevertheless transient. In consequence a man may be a hero for a time or on a particular occasion, and then fall short of the high standard he had set himself. This cannot happen to the martyrs, because actual death sets its seal upon the heroic charity which led them to offer their lives, and thus gives them the exceptional privilege of dying in the very act of offering to God the greatest possible proof of their love. 

But although actual death is usually necessary in order to obtain the crown of martyrdom on account of man's difficulty of persevering in his heroic love for God, yet it is not essential to martyrdom as such. A martyr's title is not so much the reward of his death, as that of the love which made him endure it. And so, just as long and persevering endurance is a sufficient title to human heroism, so it can also merit the crown of martyrdom.

Now Mary, confirmed in grace, was far from ever relaxing the fervor of her charity; there was therefore no need for death to set its seal upon the heroicity of her suffering. And since the love which prompted each one of Mary's sufferings exceeded in intensity all the martyrs' love in their brief torments, and as her sufferings were greater, more prolonged and more numerous than theirs, Mary is really and truly not only a martyr, but more than a martyr, the Queen of all martyrs. She offered to God a greater sacrifice than they did, and she offered it with more love. The protracted martyrdom she endured for many years was beyond the power of other martyrs to sustain; death itself would have been less painful to her.

The title of Queen is generally a token of glory and happiness; the title of Queen of martyrs is a token of incomparable sorrow and bitterness.

'To what shall I equal thee, O Virgin, daughter of Sion? Because great as the sea is thy affliction' (Lam. 2:13).