The Queenship of Mary

Hail Holy Queen

Rooted in Sacred Scripture and professed in prayers and hymns, the Catholic Church considers the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The Old Testament kings made their mothers the queen, instead of their wives. The angel Gabriel announced that Jesus would reign on the throne of David forever and Elizabeth addressed Mary as the mother of the Lord.

King Solomon’s mother even had a throne at his right hand and wore a crown. The mother of our Savior should be honored at least that much.

She is highly honored in a special way, more than any other saint, but although she is our queen, Mary is never the subject of our worship or adoration. 

Mary’s coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth is meditated on as the Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary.

Although the Catholic Church has acknowledged Mary’s queenship as a share of her Son’s kingship since its earliest days, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Queenship of Mary and established a feast in 1954.

The Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary each year on August 22, on the Octave of her Assumption into Heaven.

Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth:

Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network – USA

A unique role in salvation history:

Fr. Dan O’Reilly Online

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Revelation 12: 1

A woman in Heaven wearing a crown of twelve stars:

Catholic Productions

The queen mother in the midst of a great battle:

Bishop Robert Barron

The child is Jesus and the woman is Mary:

Pints with Aquinas

“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 966

The queen is the mother of the king:

Divine Mercy

Mary, full of grace, also exerts a fullness of royal power:

St. Paul Center

The mother of Jesus must play a role:

The Coming Home Network International

In Mark’s Gospel, we read that on the day of the Ascension the Lord Jesus “was taken up into Heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God”. In biblical language “to sit at the right hand of God” means sharing his sovereign power. Sitting “at the right hand of the Father”, He establishes his Kingdom, God’s Kingdom. Taken up into Heaven, Mary is associated with the power of her Son and is dedicated to the extension of the Kingdom, sharing in the diffusion of divine grace in the world. In looking at the analogy between Christ’s Ascension and Mary’s Assumption, we can conclude that Mary, in dependence on Christ, is the Queen who possesses and exercises over the universe a sovereignty granted to her by her Son.

Pope John Paul II, General Audience, 23 July 1997

Exercising her queenship through obedience to God:

Catholic News Service

The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church

Why would a Protestant become Catholic:

The Conversion to Rome

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