Mary is the queen of Martyrs, for her Martyrdom was longer and greater than
that of all the Martyrs.



Who can ever have a heart so hard that it will not melt on hearing the most
lamentable event that once occurred in the world? There was a noble and
holy mother who had an only son. This son was the most amiable that can be
imagined - innocent,  virtuous, beautiful, who loved his mother most
tenderly; so much so that he had never caused her  the least displeasure,
but had ever shown her all  respect, obedience, and affection; hence this
mother had placed her affections on earth in this son. Hear, then, what
happened. This son, through envy, was falsely accused by his enemies; and
though the judge knew, and himself confessed, that he was innocent, yet,
that he might not offend his enemies, he condemned him to the ignominious
death that they demanded. This poor mother had to suffer the grief of
seeing that amiable and beloved son unjustly snatched from her in the
flower of his age by a barbarous death; for, by dint of torments and
drained of all his blood, he was made to die on an infamous gibbet in a
public place of execution, and this before her own eyes. Devout souls, what
say you? Is not this event, and is not this unhappy mother, worthy of
compassion? You already understand of whom I speak. This son, so cruelly
executed, was our loving Redeemer Jesus; and this mother was the Blessed
Virgin Mary; who, for the love she bore us, was willing to see him
sacrificed to divine justice by the barbarity of men. This great torment
which Mary endured for us - a torment that was more than a thousand deaths
- deserves both our compassion and our gratitude. If we can make no other
return for so much love, at least let us give a few moments this day to
consider the greatness of the sufferings by which Mary became the Queen of
martyrs; for the sufferings of her great martyrdom exceeded those of all
the martyrs; being, in the first place, the longest in point of duration;
and in the second place, the greatest in point of intensity.

 From "Victories of the Martyrs"
By St. Alphonsus Liguori