Return to The Reign of Mary No. 196
The Reign of Mary
No. 196: Letter from the Editor
June 24, 2025
Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Dear friends in Our Lady,
Praised be Jesus and Mary. I realize that this second issue of our magazine for the current year is very late, and for that I apologize. We are determined, however, to catch up and get another issue to you before the end of the summer. How the time flies!
Being busy doing God’s work is not only beneficial — it is necessary. For “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” Time is so precious, and we must be careful not to waste it. Yet how many there are, perhaps even among faithful Catholics, who waste copious amounts of time on social media, the news, entertainment, etc. Let us be careful that we do not fall into the devil’s trap of wasting the time God gives us. For soon, time for us will be no more.
St. Benedict gave his monks the motto Orare et Laborare — to pray and to work. This would be the recipe by which his monks would sanctify themselves and thus assure their salvation. Our forebears in the Faith would find it strange to see the amount of time the people of today spend in entertainment. We, on the contrary, ought to spend our free time in prayer, spiritual reading, works of charity, etc. Yes, recreation and relaxation have their place, but they must not predominate.
And so, even in the summer, we religious of Mary Immaculate Queen keep ourselves busy. Of utmost importance is our annual retreat. After a school year spent in the dedicated work of teaching youth, it is critical that we take the time to examine, review and rekindle our dedication to the principles of the religious life. In addition to retreat, there also are the youth camps, conducted by our priests and religious in various places around the country. We also relish the time we can spend with our spiritual family, strengthening the fraternal bonds that unite us with one another. And yes, there will be adequate time for relaxation and rejuvenation.
You have likely expected that I would comment on the new “pope” recently elected. Actually, we spend little time examining the news of the Conciliar Church, having long ago come to the conclusion that it is not the same Catholic Church that Jesus Christ founded. That said, I will simply say concerning Leo XIV that there is every reason to believe that he will continue the path of Francis. For sure, don’t expect him to come out against Vatican II and the Novus Ordo! At the same time, we must never cease to pray for those who have been deceived by the devil into accepting this new religion of Vatican II. Above all, thank God and Our Lady every day for the grace to understand the truth in this age of apostasy.
In the service of Jesus and Mary,
Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI (Email)