Concilium - Ireland
May Allocutio 2026
27 May 2026
Mary, Queen of the May, Queen of Peace
Fr. Paul Churchill, Concilium Spiritual Director
We all know about Our Lady’s apparition at Fatima, as recounted by the three children. It occurred during the First World War. It was reported that she said that the current War would end but that a worse war would come if people did not pray and do penance. I also note that even before Our Lady appeared, the very first apparition to the children was by the Angel of Peace and that later, at one stage, Our Lady is reported as saying about the upcoming visit on October 13th, “St. Joseph too will come with the Holy Child to bring peace to the world”. One thing that these events show is that Heaven is concerned about peace on earth. Nothing has changed since the day Jesus was born, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!”
In recent years, as I listened to the Ukraine conflict, the 7 October 2023 attacks and the subsequent raising of Gaza to the ground and the recent outbreaks of war between the US and Iran, and also not excluding the other forgotten wars, I have been praying to Our Lady, in her Role as Queen of Peace, for peace in the world. And maybe the recent attempts to refrain from attacks may be a sign of our prayers working. But the call to prayer and penance remains constant.
I invite all then in the Legon of Mary to turn constantly to Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and let us offer an unceasing stream of prayer to her asking her intercession for peace in our world. But we must also pray and ask the help of the Holy Spirit, who caused her to conceive the King of Peace. for current and future leaders, that the Holy Spirit of Peace may touch their inner selves, because so often leaders make the wrong decisions. They think a quick war will sort something out. And then it gets bogged down when they should first have asked God for help in choosing the best path. Weeping over Jerusalem, Jesus said, “If only you knew what makes for peace”. So many do not know that. But Jesus knew, he taught it, he displayed it supremely on the Cross. As Peter said, “He was reviled but did not revile in return”. And once he rose from the dead his first word to the disciples in the Upper Room, “Peace!”
Jesus said at the Last Supper, “Peace I leave you; my peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). The world thinks of peace in terms of the absence of war and the conditions that allow profit-making at the expense of the vulnerable. But Jeus sees it as something deep in our inner selves that makes us citizens of our future Heaven, even if we do suffer, like him, from unjust decisions, treatment and violence. The greatest peace comes from knowing God’s will and doing it, knowing that we are on the road to Heaven.
In the letter to the Hebrews we read, “We have not here a lasting city but seek one that is to come” (Heb 13:14). It also helps us understand Our Lady’s words to Bernadette, “I do not promise you happiness in this world but in the next”. The new Jerusalem is the city of Peace, where no potential trouble-makers are allowed. But what is it that makes for that peace that the world cannot give?
The peace of God is about doing God’s will in complete trust in a God who loves us and will stand by us. Peace also comes from knowing that Jesus has forgiven us. God asks us to love one another as he loved us. Jesus did us no wrong, indeed did so much good, and bore patiently all our shortcomings and forgave us. He asks us to do that and belong to his Kingdom. The reward is Heaven. There no evil doer is allowed, no one can enter there who would disturb its peace. That is why many still have to undergo Purgatory so that the last remnants of a disturbed soul are fully cleansed and healed before being admitted. Heaven is the guaranteed world of peace. But it can only be for souls who know what makes for peace.
The Prayer Make me a channel of your Peace is attributed to St. Francis. But we can only be channels of Peace if we first form a soul in ourselves which is fully in harmony with Jesus and Mary. Many of the problems in life come from disturbed souls who are anxious or suffering insecurity. When people of jealousy and paranoia and fears about the future are in charge the risk of local and bigger tensions increases. But if souls can have deep peace in their depths, it can have its effects in boardrooms and cabinet tables and not least in family life and in relationships. As the Hymn says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me”. So we should all ask Our Lady to be people of deep inner peace, of goodwill to all men and allow the King of Peace to reign through us..
And if by any chance there are people in the Legion of Mary surrounded by conflict, at logger-heads with each other or causing tension at meetings, you have an obligation before Our Lady to ask her help, to be even ready to step out of your officership if that helps so that someone else, who can bring peace to the community, can take charge. And this is the way it should be even if you are not at fault. After all Our Lord went to the humiliation of the Cross to reconcile us to God, innocent as he was. The ways of the King and Queen of Peace must be our way in the Legion.