The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(August 23, 2010) The feast of the Queenship of Mary, is celebrated on the 22^nd of August, a week after the Feast of the assumption of Mary. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII established this feast in the year 1954 and announced that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power. But Mary’s Queenship has its roots in the Scripture. At the Annunciation, Angel Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of his ancestor David and his rule will remain forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “Mother of my Lord.” Pope Pius XII also says that from the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, have addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. Mary has shown her solicitude towards her children in their difficulties and hence the faith in the queen of heaven has not failed them nor has the hope wavered when her intercession is sought.
Mary has a radical right to universal Queenship by the fact of her divine motherhood, but the divine plan was that she should merit it also by her union with her suffering Son, and that she should not exercise it fully before being crowned queen of all creation in heaven. Her royalty is spiritual and supernatural rather than temporal and natural, though it extends in a secondary way to temporal affairs considered in their relation to salvation and sanctification. As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her Queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. In the fourth century St. Ephraim called Mary “Lady” and “Queen” and Church Fathers and Doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her Queenship. This feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast.
With the certainty of faith we know that Jesus Christ is king in the full, literal, and absolute sense of the word; for He is true God and true man. This does not, however, prevent Mary from sharing His royal prerogatives, though in a limited and analogous manner; for she was the Mother of Christ, and Christ is God. She shared in the work of the divine Redeemer, in His struggles against enemies and in the triumph He won over them all. From this union with Christ the King she assuredly obtains so eminent a status that she stands high above all created things; and upon this same union with Christ is based that royal privilege enabling her to distribute the treasures of the kingdom of the divine Redeemer. And lastly, this same union with Christ is the fountain of the inexhaustible efficacy of her motherly intercession in the presence of the Son and of the Father. Without doubt, then, Mary the Virgin Mother possesses a dignity that far transcends all other creatures. In the eyes of her Son she takes precedence over everyone else. In order to help us understand the pre-eminence that the Mother of God enjoys over all creation, it would help to remember that from the first moment of her conception the holy Virgin was filled with such a plenitude of grace as to surpass the graces enhancing all the saints.
The Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because of her exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation. St Paul tells us in the letter to the Ephesians that we are bought by his precious blood of Christ, and has made us sons in the Son. We belong not to ourselves now, since Christ has bought us 'at a great price'." Now, in the accomplishing of this work of redemption, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most closely associated with Christ; and so it is fitting to sing in the sacred liturgy: "Near the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ there stood, sorrowful, the Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World." Besides, the Blessed Virgin possessed, after Christ, not only the highest degree of excellence and perfection, but also a share in that influence by which He, her Son and our Redeemer, is rightly said to reign over the minds and wills of men. For if through His Humanity the divine Word performs miracles and gives graces, if He uses His Sacraments and Saints as instruments for the salvation of men, he will certainly make use of the role and work of His most holy Mother in imparting to us the fruits of redemption.
On May 13th 1955, in a radio message to Fatima, Pope Pius XII explained why Mary is entitled to be called Queen. In this address the Pontiff said: "Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest. Through Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular election." Mary is Queen by Grace: Even before the Incarnation of the Divine Son in the womb of Mary, the Angel Gabriel saluted her as "full of grace," a fullness that existed from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception. Of that fullness of grace Pope Pius IX wrote in his encyclical: "Wherefore far above all the angels and all the saints, so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of His divinity that this Mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in fully comprehending."
Mary is Queen by Divine Relationships: God the Father of whom Mary is the first adoptive daughter and the highest in grace, selected Mary to be the Mother of His Son, whom he sent into the world to redeem mankind. God the Son likewise chose Mary as His Mother, and by the foreseen merits of His passion and death endowed her with spiritual gifts and a fullness of grace beyond our power to comprehend. God the Holy Spirit chose her as His Virginal Spouse, infused into her soul the gifts of grace merited by the Son, and miraculously brought about the conception of the Divine Word in her womb. The unique relationship with all three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity establishes Mary at a level of dignity which is appropriately expressed by the title Queen. These relationships were established with a view of Christ’s Incarnation and birth as Son of Mary. We know that Christ is absolute ruler of the universe. Mary, who is the Mother of the King of Kings, is the Queen Mother and thus she properly reigns as Queen at the right hand of her Son.
Mary is Queen by Right of Conquest: As the new Eve, Mary was the helper of Christ in every phase of His work of redemption. Because she was the associate of Jesus on Calvary in winning all the graces of salvation, now as Queen of Heaven she is His associate in distributing those graces to mankind. She shares in His kingdom because she shared in His suffering for the human race. When the time came she stood at the foot of the Cross, where she freely and fully joined with her Son’s sacrifice of Himself. To such extent did Mary suffer that she sacrificed him, her beloved son, for the sake of the human race. Jesus Christ is King not only by natural right because of His divinity, but also by acquired right. He acquired that right as Man by his redeeming sacrifice on Calvary, where He freed us from the dominion of evil and offered to the Father satisfaction for the sins of the entire world, thus meriting sufficient graces for the salvation of all. Since we can truly say that Mary, along with Jesus, redeemed the human race, we can with equal truth say that she is Queen by right of conquest. She stood by her Son on Calvary, offered Him to the Father as a sacrifice for the salvation of mankind.
Mary is Queen by Singular Election: When we say that the Mother of Jesus is Queen by right of conquest that must be understood in the sense that the Church understands it. She did not merit in the same way that Christ did. The rewards which Christ, a Divine Person merited for mankind He merited in strict justice, for His acts were as valuable as the reward given for them. However, when a human person even one as holy as Mary merits a reward for herself or others, it is a "merit of suitability" not one of strict justice. Her acts deserve a reward, not because they are as valuable as the ultimate reward like the beatific vision, but because they are proportionate to it. Hence the ultimate reward of Mary is that share in the love, truth, goodness, beauty, wisdom, and power that is God. Even though Mary enjoyed all the supernatural gifts that Adam had before the fall, and a fullness of grace beyond our ability to comprehend, she could not have a strict right to the dignities and powers she now enjoys. They are hers because God, by a singular and special election, chose her to be Queen of Angels and men.
From what we have seen, it is clear that the Queenship of Mary is equally extensive as the Kingship of her divine Son, although in a way totally dependent on Him. It extends to all men and to all favours and graces granted to men. Not only do all graces come to us through Mary, as Pope Pius X stated in his encyclical "Ad Deum Illum," but all graces come to us because of her intercession. Theologians clarify Mary’s mediation of grace in this manner: "Her meditation is founded entirely on Christ’s. This does not mean that our redemption is partly the work of Christ and partly the work of Mary. Our redemption is entirely from God, the first cause of grace; it is entirely from Jesus, the principal and perfect mediator; and it is entirely from Mary, a mediator fully subordinated to Christ, an honour which gives her a share in the divine causality. Because Mary is the Mother of Him who is Eternal Wisdom and because of her key role in the divine plan of redemption, God has given her far-reaching knowledge of His eternal plan for the salvation of the human race. Jesus during his earthly life shared the mysteries of the kingdom with his disciples and more so will he reveal them to His Mother, whose position in that Kingdom was far more important than theirs. For in God’s plan it falls to her to distribute by her intercession all the graces that will establish the Kingdom of God in this world.
Again, since Mary is the Mother of the whole of mankind, she knows the needs of each and every soul on this earth far better than each individual knows his own needs. This is a comforting thought to have a Mother who knows better than we what is best for us, and has full power to obtain it from God. Whether we pray to Mary or not, every grace we receive from God comes only because she asked it for us. She prays for all her children, including those who do not know her, even those who ridicule devotion to her. In the divine plan of creation, especially manifest in the Mystical Body, God dispenses His gifts to the lower creatures through the higher. If every gift from God comes to us through Mary, God can give us His gifts through the prayer and merits of those who are in heaven or the prayers and merits of those on earth.
The Queen of Heaven is praised in the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), which is sung in the time from Trinity Sunday until the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the vernacular as a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Hail Holy Queen is the final prayer of the Rosary. A German Benedictine monk Hermann of Reichenau in the 11^th century had composed it, originally in Latin, the prevalent language of the Catholic Church till recent years. In the middle ages, Salve Regina offices were held every Saturday. In the 13th century, the custom developed, to greet the Queen of Heaven with the Salve Regina, which is considered the oldest of the four Marian antiphons. Several Protestant reformers strongly objected to the Salve and the title Queen of Heaven. As a part of the Catholic Reformation, the Salve Regina was prayed every Saturday by members of the Sodality of Our Lady, a Jesuit Marian congregation.
Mary's Queenship is one of service, rather than power. As Christ came to serve and submits fully to the will of the Father, so too does Mary. "For if the word of God performs miracles and gives grace through the Humanity He has assumed, if He employs the Sacraments and His Saints as instruments for the salvation of souls, why should He not use His mother's office and efforts to bring us the fruits of the Redemption." Mary's Queenship is universal, reaching out to all. Like the Kingship of Christ, there is nothing on earth or in heaven that she is not queen over. At the same tile Mary is called the Queen of the Angels. The Angels are but servants, whereas she is the Mother of God. She is as much above them as the word 'mother' surpasses the word 'servant.' She alone with the Father can say to Jesus: 'Thou art my Son, I have begotten thee.'" Venerable John Henry Newman also said that "this Great Title may be rightly connected with the maternity of Mary, that is, with the coming upon her of the Holy Spirit at Nazareth after the angel Gabriel's annunciation to her, and with the consequent birth of our Lord at Bethlehem."
She is invoked as the Queen of the Apostles. "After the Ascension of our Lord, the Apostles needed direction and counsel, and no one was better equipped than Mary to give it to them. She consoled them in their grief at the departure of Our Lord and she was with them when the Spirit came on them to guide them in their future task of evangelization. Mary is called Queen of Martyrs, the one who suffered throughout her life, had her soul would be pierced with a sword, and at Calvary faithfully stood by the cross experiencing the same sufferings of her son. Her fidelity to her son was strong at that moment, stronger and more ardent than in all the other martyrs. Our Lady is called the Queen of Confessors as she confessed faith in Jesus Christ, her Son, more than any other creature.
Today the church calls Mary, the Queen of Priests. A priest is a mediator between God and man and Mary assumed this role in her life. Now with Jesus she arouses priestly vocations and cultivates them. She knows that where there are no priests there is no Baptism or any other sacraments meaning no Christian life. Mary is also Queen of Virgins since she had the virtue of virginity in the most eminent degree and preserved it in the conception, birth, and after the birth of the Saviour. She teaches the church of today the value of virginity. The Blessed Mother is Queen of all these and many more. But most importantly, may she be the Queen of our hearts. Mary always directs our attention to our Lord and King, so that we always strive to imitate her perfect child-like faith, that we may give fiats of our own.
Pope Benedict XVI noted that Mary's acceptance of the divine will is the ultimate reason, she is Queen of Heaven. Because of her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth." We see now the exalted role of Mary in the Mystical Body of her Son, not only as Queen Mother of her divine Son, but as co-redemptrix with Him, and as the channel through which all graces flow to mankind. We see how the Queenship of Mary involves and explains her privilege as the Mediatrix of all grace. And finally we begin to understand why, when Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Queenship of Mary, in place of the feast of the Mediatrix of all Grace which is an implicit affirmation of the doctrine of her mediation. Mary our Mother and our Queen is concerned about our salvation, and most powerful in helping us to attain it if only we do not resist or ignore her admonitions and invitations. This should inspire us with greatest confidence to surrender our spiritual destiny in her hands through our consecration to her Immaculate Heart the inexhaustible source of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.