Before dying on the Cross on Mt. Calvary, Jesus carefully entrusted His Sorrowful Mother to Disciple John.  This proves to all mankind how great is the love and respect of the God the Son for His  Mother.  Thus She became the Queen of Apostles.  It is but proper that we also love and respect Her since She has important roles in our life.

 Foremost, we must honor Her and thank Her for giving birth to our Redeemer.  Thus, more than any saint, She is intercedes for us most effectively when we ask God for blessings and mercy.  She is our passport to salvation – the real destination in our life’s journey; our eternal happiness in the kingdom of God.  If we want to live a fruitful life, we must  pray the rosary everyday because She is the Mediatrix for all graces.   We must encourage every member of our family to be devoted to this Holy Mother.   She is the hope of the human race, not only of Christians. 

What is the proper way of honoring our Blessed Mother?  The Banquet of Mary,  endorsed by His Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin, in celebrating the bi-millennium of Her Nativity, gave us the formula: COR. 

C stands for Conversion or transformation.  Transformation must start from within each one of us – our leaders and every member of our society.  If we continue with our  selfish pursuit of material gain, power-seeking and pleasure-loving, we may self-destruct as a nation. But with the guidance of our Holy Mother, we can redirect our ways  towards true transformation dedicated to the common good. 

O stands for Offering.  We can show our conversion to God, our consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, only with love offering.  Mary gave us an example of this during the Annunciation: “Let it be done unto me according to thy Word.” We in turn can offer  God our material possessions, even our loved ones, all of which came from Him in the first place.    

R stands  Reparation.  When we commit sins, Divine love is wounded.  It could only be restored by acts of reparation: 1)  Eucharistic Healing or offering a Sacrifice of the Mass.  2) Prayer – not only for our own selves but also for others.  3) Penance or self-denial or  fasting from food and other pleasures. 4) Charitable deeds: feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, instructing the ignorant with good news, saving the children and the unborn, employing the unemployed, etc. 

In the photo, even the soldier,  who is the epitome of strength and courage,  is caring for the icon of the Blessed Mother to show his great dependence on Her.  He believes that there is a Heavenly Mother who protects him as he performs his official duty as the government’s protector of lives and properties, as well as frontrunner in national defense.  To this soldier,  Blessed Mother’s mantle is better than any armor or shield in the battlefield.  She is the Queen of Peace.