Our Lady, the One Who Protects Us Against the Devil

Homily of H.E., Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines

May 29, 2026 | Pontifical Coronation of Nuestra Señora de Fatima de Urduja

Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Fatima - Urduja

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

For me as the Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines, it gives me a lot of joy and a lot of happiness to be with all of you this evening, here in this beautiful Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Urduja Village here in Caloocan City, in the Diocese of Novaliches.

I want to greet in a very special way, His Excellency the Most Rev. Roberto O. Gaa, the Bishop of Novaliches, who invited me to be with you tonight for this beautiful celebration. I greet the other bishops who have come to be with us tonight. I thank your beloved rector and parish priest, that is the Rev. Fr. Aristeo de Leon, for having organized everything.

So tonight we will have the Rite of Pontifical Coronation of this beautiful image of Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Fatima of Urduja, here in the Diocese of Novaliches. 

Ipsa Conteret Caput Tuum

When we think about Our Lady of Fatima, we think first of all about the first reading (Genesis 3:9-15, 20) that we heard tonight, which is from the Book of Genesis. Genesis, let's remember, is the first book of the Bible, the very first book of the Bible, and the reading that we heard talks about what happened after Adam and Eve had sinned, had turned away from God, having been tricked, having been deceived by the devil. The devil deceives Adam and Eve, he tricks them, they eat the fruit of the tree. Sin enters the world, and sadness, and death.

Then the Lord then talks to the devil in the book of Genesis. The Lord says (and we heard these words in the first reading), “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

So, the Lord is talking to the devil. The devil has just deceived, tricked Adam and Eve into disobedience, into sin, into alienating themselves from God; and God says to the serpent, to the snake, “I will put enmity between you and the woman,” that means between you, the snake, which is the devil, Satan, and Eve, our first mother. “He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel.”

Now, in the original first translation of this reading, it didn't say that when the Lord spoke to the devil, he didn't say, “He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel.” Instead, the first translation, which was used in the Catholic Church for many centuries, said, “I will put enmity,” that means “I will make enemies between you and the woman.” That means between the devil and Eve. It says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers.” Then it says, “She shall crush your head, and you will strike at her heel” (“ipsa conteret caput tuum” = “she shall crush thy head”).

So, in the original translation it was feminine, now it's masculine. So we have this idea of the devil, after having deceived Adam and Eve, being confronted by God, and God says, “I’m going to make you enemies, you and Eve, and her offspring will strike at your head, will crush your head,” and as we heard, as I said, it's in the masculine, “He”, and that, of course, is Jesus, will strike the head of the serpent; but it's also in the feminine, it's Our Lady, Mary, she will crush the head of the serpent. She will crush the head of Satan. That's why we have so many images of Mary with her foot on the head of the snake. The snake is a symbol of the devil, a symbol of Satan, and Mary is the one who crushes his head. Mary is the one who is triumphant over the devil. That is why we have to love Our Lady and be close to her.

So, that is what happened in the first book of the Bible. If we go to the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, at the other end of the Bible, we see another confrontation between the woman and Satan. At the end of the Bible, we have the woman and the dragon. Satan is no longer portrayed as a snake, as a serpent, but as a horrible red dragon.

The Book of Revelation (12:1-3) says “A great sign” (“signum magnum” in Latin). “A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and crying out as she was giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven, a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns…and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth” (Revelation 12:1-4). So, with the themes, the first book of the Bible and the last book of the Bible, the confrontation between Our Lady, the woman clothed with the sun, and the devil.

All of us are children of Eve, our first mother by our human nature. Each and every one of us were descended from Adam and Eve; but we, as Catholic Christians, are children of another Eve, of Our Lady, our blessed Mother, Mama Mary. That's what we call her, “Mama Mary”. Mary is our mother. She is our queen. She is the one who protects us against the dragon, against the serpent. Mary is our mother. That is what we celebrate this evening.

Mater Ecclesia

Mary, our Mother, we will crown her in a moment with a beautiful crown. When we do that, we think about Our Lady in heaven right now, she's watching all of us with great love, great affection, like any mother. You know? When little children bring a gift to their mother, their mother always smiles. Those of you who are mothers here know that experience. When your child gives you a small gift, even something very simple, the child is showing he loves you. We say that to all mothers.

What is a pontifical coronation? It's us, as a children of Mary giving her a sign of our love. We can be sure that Mary looks at us tonight and smiles on us. Mary smiles on us. Let's remember that we are children of Mary. Mary, we call her the “Mother of the Church”. All of us are the Church. The Church is the people of God. Mary is the Mother of the Church. She protects us against the devil.

We pray to Our Lady of Fatima. She had such an important role in the history of the last century. We remember, of course, how she appeared to the shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. We also remember how on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square, the devil, we can say, the serpent influenced a man to shoot to try to assassinate Pope John Paul II, to try to kill him. It was a confrontation between evil and good, between the serpent and Our Lady. The bullet that was headed towards the Pope, as Pope John Paul II told us, was somehow diverted. It entered him, but it didn't kill him.

Left: Nuestra Señora de Fatima de Urduja [photo by DZRV 846]; and right: Mater Ecclesiae Mosaic located at the facade of building, located between the San Damaso courtyard and St Peter’s Square [https://www.vatican.va/]

After that experience, Pope John Paul II, being saved by Our Lady of Fatima on her feast day, May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II put in St. Peter's Square, in the center of the church above St. Peter's Square. An image of Our Lady with a crown, crowning Our Lady in a beautiful mosaic. If you ever go to Rome, you're in St. Peter's Square, looking at St. Peter's Basilica. If you look up to your right, you will see this image, this mosaic of Mary, and underneath it it's written “Mater Ecclesia”. What does that mean? “Mother of the Church.” She is the mother of the Church, protecting us. She protected Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, she protects us when we come to her, when we pray to her.

That's why this diocesan shrine and parish is so important, because people can come here and pray to Our Lady of Fatima, receive her protection, receive her love, feel yourselves as children of Mary, as her children, and she will take care of you, because she loves you, and she is our mother.

Conclusion

So, when we think about all of these things tonight, for me, as a representative, Pope Leo XIV, our Holy Father in Rome, it gives me a lot of joy to be with you. 

I thank you for the invitation. I've come from Taft Avenue in Manila with the Counsellor of the Apostolic Nunciature, Monsignor Giuseppe Trentadue, and on behalf of him, I say, thank you for inviting us. We're delighted to be with you this evening for this wonderful celebration, this Pontifical, Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Fatima of Urduja.

May God bless you!

Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo

Photos by DZRV 846 (Ang Radyo ng Simbahan)