The Author
Charles D. Fraune was the founding Theology
teacher of Christ the King Catholic High School in Huntersville, NC and has
been a Theology teacher there for eight years.
In addition, he has taught nearly every grade level, from second grade
to adult, including on the college and Diocesan level. He spent three semesters in seminary with the
Diocese of Raleigh at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Pennsylvania. This completed a nine-year discernment of the
priesthood and religious life after which he discerned that Our Lord was not
calling him to the priesthood. He has a
Master of Arts in Theology from the Christendom College Graduate School, as
well as an Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma. His enjoyment of writing began over twenty
years ago, and finally culminated in his first completed book, Come Away By Yourselves. In addition to this, he has been working on
books related to various aspects of the Catholic Faith, and to the powerful
story of his return to the Catholic Faith after a time struggling with illness
and depression. Charles is also a
dedicated “backyard farmer.” He lives in the Diocese of Charlotte, NC with his
wife and three young children.You can now also find my articles on Catholic365.com!
http://catholic365.com/author/charles-fraune/
Charles,I haven't read your book yet but viewed your interview with Dr tally Taylor Marshall and was offended and bewildered that you said that the Virgen Mary was the queen of hell,I know you said you added that because a few saints in history had said that, but it's wrong,I don't care who said that it's wrong and offending, you as a catholic theologian should know better, she's the Queen of heaven. please don't offend her.i have a great devotion to the virgen of Guadalupe and will protect her honor. Paul Loya
ReplyDeleteDear Paul,
DeleteThank you for reaching out. I am happy to explain and clarify anything I said. In the interview, I did bring up that point, made by St. Alphonsus Liguori in his wonderful book, The Glories of Mary, which I think you would thoroughly enjoy. (St. Alphonsus is a Doctor of the Church.) After mentioning this in the interview, and seeing that Dr. Marshall was also not familiar with that title, I checked the source again and noted that St. Alphonsus actually says "Queen over hell" instead of "Queen of hell." In my writing of the book, I changed that without noticing. The use of the word "of" still implies the same theology and was not rejected by numerous theologians much smarter than I am. However, since most readers of the book are not theologians, the phrase needs to be as clear as possible. Thus, it would be better to use the term "over" instead of "of." I intend to update the book to reflect that.
I hope that helps clarify what is meant and is intended to be taught. The authority that Our Lady has in relation to Hell is the same kind of authority that Our Lord has in relation to Hell. Neither of them dwell there nor have any sort of fraternity or association with the dwellers in Hell. Our Lady, indeed, is the Queen of Heaven! She has authority over Hell, but is not their Queen in any sort of affiliation with them. I hope that helps.
Here is the paragraph from my book, just so you can see it as it currently is:
"Through her virtues, Mary obtained a victory over all the evil spirits. As such, St. Alphonsus labels her not only Queen of Heaven but also Queen of hell, a title also used by St. Bernadine of Sienna, among others. One Queenship by exaltation, another by conquest. St. Alphonsus adds that Mary “tames and crushes” the devils, and “snatches” souls from their grasp, presenting them to Her Son."
God bless you,
Charles