Why love the Virgin Mary and pray her Rosary? Because she leads us directly to her Son, the King of Kings. We celebrate Christ the King on the very last Sunday of the liturgical year, at the end of November, because Jesus is the Omega, the Ultimate, the One in whom the whole universe is recapitulated. And what if this Kingship of Christ were soon to be recognized by all? The stakes are high for our world!

The Kingship of Christ is so important that it is announced at the very beginning of the Bible

“Kingship shall not depart from Judah, nor commandment from his descendants, until He comes to whom power belongs, to whom the peoples will obey“, prophesied the patriarch Jacob in the very first book of the Bible. (Gn 49, 10)
Then the prophets announced it too: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will give David a righteous seed: he will reign as a true King, he will act with understanding, he will exercise justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer 23:5).

… even in the Gospels and the Book of Revelation:

Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that “God will give [her Son] the throne of David, and his reign will have no end” (Luke 1).
Jesus was acclaimed as King on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21).
He himself stated: “My Kingship is not of this world” (Jn 18:36).
And in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, Christ is seated on the throne of God: “For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will lead them to the living waters of the fountains” (Rev. 7:17).

An immense privilege and a heavy responsibility for France: Jesus is her King!

From the very foundation of France, with Saint Rémi, Charlemagne, Saint Louis, Charles VII who gave the kingdom of France to Jesus, all affirmed with Joan of Arc:
“Long live Christ who is the King of France!“
Jesus himself asked Louis XIV, through Saint Marguerite Marie:
“I want to reign in his palace, to be painted on his standards“.
Then in 1843, Jesus reminded the nun Marie Lataste:
“The first King, the first sovereign of France, is Me.”
What an immense responsibility for France… fraught with consequences..

The surprising sanctuary of Christ the King

In 1926, shortly after Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King, Christ appeared to a young French nun, Sister Marie du Christ Roi, and asked her to build a large sanctuary in Paris in honor of His Kingship. A new sanctuary in the 20th century, right in the heart of Paris – what an extraordinary project! It was to be built on the city’s most important Christian site: the hill of Sainte Geneviève, where the convent of the Benedictine nuns of the Blessed Sacrament is located…

Jesus gave miraculous proof of his request to the convent’s superior, including this: While the convent was very poor and the nuns had decided to sell their land and buildings to pay off their heavy debt to the State, little Sister Mary of Christ the King conveyed to them these words from Jesus: “Above all, don’t sell anything, neither the land nor the buildings.” Jesus promised to send them the large sum of money needed to ensure that this blessed place escape death… And some time later, an unknown person came to bring precisely the sum due, to the penny!

A shrine built by all nations

Jesus asked that this shrine, to be built on the grounds of the Benedictine Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, be raised like a throne, under his motto:

And to build the edifice of His Royalty, Jesus asked that all the peoples of the earth participate in this work, which concerns them to the utmost! So He sent the little sister Mary of Christ the King to collect the money needed for the construction. In the midst of great hardship, the nun appealed to many countries… And the money came from all over the world: 33 nations! One of them was particularly generous, thanks to its President: Ireland, which was spared during the second World War.

Through France, Jesus wants to become King of all countries

“If Christ the King wants a sanctuary to be built for His Kingship, then it will be done,” said Cardinal Dubois, then Archbishop of Paris. Well, yes, Christ willed it, for the foundation stone was laid in 1935, and the faithful from all over the world were able to come and pay homage to Christ the King from 1956, when the grandiose sanctuary was inaugurated!

Jesus had said to Christ the King’s little sister Mary: “O my child, if you only knew how much my heart yearns to be accepted as King by all nations! I am King of love, King of hearts, King of souls.”

And Jesus made this wonderful promise to those who will come to worship Him in His Kingship: “There will be miracles of peace, love, light, union, mercy.” And from this sanctuary in the center of Paris, rays of peace will spread to all the nations of the world.

A mysterious destiny

The sanctuary of Christ the King, Prince of Peace, Master of Nations, a masterpiece requested by Christ and blessed by 4 archbishops of Paris, was destroyed barely 21 years after its construction! It’s unimaginable, and yet it’s the sad truth. The Enemy of God wanted to keep the nations under his thumb… A fallacious pretext was found, and no civil or religious authority defended the cause of Christ the King. So in 1977, the demolishers razed everything to the ground, and built in its place, to outrage him… the Pantheon buildings!

As early as 1946, Sister Marie du Christ Roi had foretold this tragic destruction, the consequences of which were likely to be so painful for France and for all other countries…

But let us remain hopeful, for Jesus said “This place belongs to me until the end of the world“, and He affirmed, through His little messenger, that the sanctuary would one day be rebuilt, “the palace of the King of Kings, worthy of Him and of all those who will come from all countries to prostrate themselves before the Divine Majesty, to ask for peace for the world, for their families and for all countries.”

Let us pray that on this Feast of Christ the King, prayers of praise, adoration and love for the King of Kings will rise up from all nations!

International Rosary Relay for the world
on
Hozana