Regina is the Latin word for Queen. When Barbara and Paul Henkels founded the first Regina Academy in 2003, they named the school Regina Coeli Academy after Our Lady’s title Queen of Heaven.
Since then, other schools have followed:
We have also partnered with an archdiocesan high school to establish the Regina Chesterton Program at Cardinal O’Hara High School.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is ancient in the Roman Catholic Church. From the moment that Our Lord, Jesus Christ, spoke from the cross telling St. John “Behold your mother,” and to his mother, “Woman, behold your son,” (Jn 19:26, 27) Christians have seen in Mary a mother, an intercessor, a guide, and a patroness. Her many titles prayed in the Litany of Loreto petition Mary as the Mother of God, Mother of Divine Grace, Cause of our Joy, Mirror of Justice, Refuge of Sinners, Health of the Sick, Star of the Sea, etc. It is only appropriate that students that attend a Regina Academy learn who their mother is and how to venerate her in the tradition of the Roman Catholic faith.
To that end, students in our schools dedicate each year of their education to learning about the Blessed Virgin.
Students in the first three grades learn about Mary as their Mother, the Mother of God, and the Mother of the Church. In the years devoted to American history, Our Lady of the Americas, Virgin of the Navigators, and Mary the Immaculate is their guide. In ancient history, Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, and the virgin in prophecy is woven into the curriculum and ultimately as students reach their 7th and 8th-grade years, they focus on Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary and her appearances at Lourdes and Fatima.
The capstone of Marian devotion at the Regina Academies is the voluntary consecration to Mary that can be made toward the end of the 8th-grade year.
St. Louis de Montfort coined a beautiful Latin phrase, “Ad Jesus, per Mariam” – To Jesus through Mary. At the Regina Academies, our students learn that their sure and certain guide to Jesus is through his mother. Our wish is that during times of trial, moments of darkness, occupational challenges, family joys, the Blessed Virgin will remain a constant guide to Jesus and a trusted confidant, friend, and mother of our children.