Very few things spark a fun, but potentially heated, debate than going up to a group of protestants and declaring Mary to be the Queen of Heaven. It is quite possible that this title, along with most other Marian doctrines, causes more rejection of the true faith than any other topic.
I cannot count the number of times I have heard something to the effect that “Mary was the last concept I had to come to terms with before I could convert to Catholicism" or “Mary is the only Catholic doctrine that I haven’t been able to accept” or “Catholic devotion to Mary is the reason I am not Catholic.”
At the same time, Mary as the Queen of Heaven is probably one of the more straight forward images in all of Scripture.
As with many theological concepts, we can start with the Old Testament. In this case, the first book of Kings. Bathsheba, who is a prototype of Mary, sits on a throne at the right hand of the King. Anytime we see a “throne” or “sitting at the right hand”, we should automatically think “position of authority”.
In his first encyclical, Peter talks about Jesus in heaven, at the right hand of God, having the authority of God. This is the same context within which we see Bathsheba. She is seated at the right hand of the king, in a position of authority. We can say the same of Mary.
Further, the way monarchies work is that the mother of the king is known as the queen mother. A recent queen mother that many of us may remember is Queen Elizabeth of the UK. She was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of King George VI, she continued to rule at the side of Queen Elizebeth II until her death in 2002. This included dozens of official visits on behalf of the royal crown.
Perhaps this feels a bit familiar to Catholics as we consider the many visits of Mary (through her apparitions) on behalf of the heavenly Crown.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah gives us an image of a Son to be born with dominion resting on His shoulders, the King of the Universe. Earlier in this prophecy, Isaiah refers to the child as Emmanuel. This prophecy of Isaiah not only speaks to the kingship of the Son to be born, but necessarily then speaks also to the queenship of the pregnant, young woman who is the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother who, as we read in the book of Revelation gives “birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.”
The visit of the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew also points to this reality of the Queen Mother. When the Magi entered the grotto, they saw the Child with His mother. There is no reason to mention Mary in this narrative (especially considering Joseph isn’t mentioned), unless of course, Matthew is referencing a greater reality. A greater reality that the first century Jew would have picked up immediately on through the context of the Davidic kingdom and the prophecy of Isaiah. The child, Emmanuel, the King of the Jews, with His mother, Mary, the Queen Mother.
Non-Catholics can, and will, reject the truth, but facts remain facts. This King is Jesus. This Queen Mother is Mary. Together, they are the new Adam and the new Eve in the new creation of the Kingdom of God, which of course is the Sacramental life of His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
In his encyclical Redemptor Hominis, Pope Saint John Paul II said: “We can say that the mystery of the Redemption took shape beneath the heart of the Virgin of Nazareth when she pronounced her ‘fiat’ (which we heard in our Gospel today). From then on, under the special influence of the Holy Spirit, this heart, the heart of both a virgin and a mother, has always followed the work of her Son and has gone out to all those whom Christ has embraced and continues to embrace with inexhaustible love ... The Church, which looks to her with altogether special love and hope, wishes to make this mystery her own in an ever deeper manner.”
As we celebrate the Queenship of Mary today, we remind ourselves that we too have been made kings and queens through our baptisms and are therefore called to follow her Son. We too are called to embrace those called by Christ with an inexhaustible love. We too are called to spread love and hope into the world around us. We too are called to echo the response of the Queen Mother, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Through our “fiat”, the name of the Lord will be blessed forever.
Thanks be to God!
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