“Oportet Illum Regnare!”

“Oportet Illum Regnare!” “He must reign!” (I Cor. 15:25). This powerful triumphant cry of St. Paul is this year’s motto for St. Mary’s Academy. The students and faculty will be encouraged to meditate on this wonderful truth of the Kingship of Christ and its implications for their personal lives and their families, as well as their city, parish, and school. The world is in its current dire state for one reason: the reign of Christ is not acknowledged. We hope to bring the students to a deeper awareness of this reality, as well as to teach them how to put Christ back in His rightful place as King and center of all hearts.

Directly connected to Christ’s Kingship is the beautiful mystery of Mary our heavenly Queen. As Mother of God and the most blessed of all women, She must reign alongside Her Son. We hope to witness this academic year the crowning of the cupola of the magnificent new Immaculata with Our Lady’s statue, as She protects under Her mantle the city which has the honor of bearing Her name. This statue will be a prominent visible reminder of how She so strongly and sweetly reigns over us all.

Lastly, we may also partake in this reign with Christ and Our Lady if here and now we allow them to reign in our souls through a joyful spirit of service and suffering, such that we will one day reign with them in heaven. “To serve Him is to reign” we read in the Postcommunion from the Mass of St. Irenaeus, and St. Paul tells us, “If we suffer [with Him], we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Christ reigns from the wooden throne of His Cross and asks us to follow and to imitate Him. So, it is by serving Christ in our neighbor, by enduring the hardships and trials of every day, embracing them in a spirit of charity and generosity with our Crucified Savior and our Mother of Sorrow, that Christ’s reign will flourish in our souls. Day by day we will become ever more faithful servants, until we hear that inexpressibly joyous invitation to share the glory and beatitude of the heavenly banquet: “Well done, good and faithful servant. . .enter into the joy of your Lord” (Mt. 25:23).

[Special thanks to our friends at The Catholic Art Company for the image on the front of the holy card! Visit catholicartcompany.com]