In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put the whole world under the special protection of our Saviour’s Mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 22, octave day of the Assumption. This is not a new devotion. In the 17th century, St John Eudes and then in the 19th century, Pius VII and Pius IX preached and celebrated thePure Heart of Mary close to the feast the Sacred Heart.
Our Lady is intimately associated with the redemptive work of her Son, mediating all graces. At all times, the Christian people have recognized the royal dignity of the mother of the “King of kings and Lord of lords”. Pius XII, responding to the unanimous wish of the faithful and pastors, instituted the feast of Mary Queen in 1954. He thus sanctioned the worship rendered by all to the sovereign of heaven and earth.
“O Mary, ever Virgin, who because of thy great worth, God set up as Queen of the whole world, pray for our peace and salvation, for Thou hast brought forth Christ the Lord, the Savior of us all.”