Background for Mary as the Queen

By Tim Trainor

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082220.cfm
Ezekiel 43:1-7
Matthew 23:1-12

To me, one of the most beautiful and universal titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary is her title as “Queen,” honored on the August 22nd feast of the Queenship of Mary, which is the octave day of the feast of her Assumption. What does this mean, and what is the Church tradition on this doctrine in the Catholic Faith? Here is a short presentation on the profound spiritual mystery behind this Marian title.

I'm going to be linking into Steve's last-week Reflection and building onto it as my Presentation is also on the same subject – Mary. Her Assumption (which Steve spoke on) differs in several ways with Her Queenship which I will point out as we go along.

Let's begin with a quick review of Steve's reflection.

In general, he said that doctrine is ALL Church teaching in matters of faith and morals. Dogma is more narrowly defined as that part of doctrine which has been divinely revealed and which the Church has formally defined and declared to be believed as revealed.

Dogma, as Steve told us last week - does not require quotable scripture and thus he found it ODD when the gospel was certainly focused on Mary, the mother of Jesus, but didn’t go into any details on the Assumption – the MAIN TOPIC of the Soleminity. Do You REMEMBER - That seemed odd to him and caused him to dig deeper! Thus leading him onward into the content of what he learned (which you can re-visit at our website).

As you recall, he told us that the Catechism of The Catholic Church teaches the following: Assumption - The dogma which recognizes the Blessed Virgin Mary's singular participation in her Son's Resurrection by which she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory when the course of her earthly life was finished.

There’s a hint there he said of something new and different, the word 'dogma.' From the glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, he found 'dogma' defined as, "a solemn declaration by an ecumenical council or by the Pope that a doctrine is revealed by God and must be believed by the universal Church." Such definitions are called infallible and must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.

Note, he said, that there is not a requirement for scriptural or historical facts for such a solemn declaration of “settled opinion,” though there is generally a history of belief and tradition that leads to a dogmatic declaration. If the Pope or ecumenical council declares something as dogma, it must be believed by the universal Church (that’s you and me) and the declaration is infallible (you can’t question it). That’s why dogma is only used in the rarest of declarations from the church hierarchy.

The dogma of Mary:

Mary, Steve found, was the subject of four of the Church’s dogmatic definitions:

• Mother of God
  
• Perpetual virginity
  
• Immaculate Conception
  
• Assumption
  

Note the ABSENCE of Mary's Queenship! If The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary is NOT dogma – what is it? That's the question before us this morning and therefore the focus of my reflection. Let's begin.

As there is more “evidence” supporting the Queenship of Mary (both in the Old and New Testament), the Church did not feel the need to include it within its dogmatic definitions on dogma of Mary as there was evidence of it in Scripture, plus early Church Tradition and Church Father's writings.

One biblical theme sheds light on these questions and serves as a key for unlocking the mystery of Mary's Queenship — the Old Testament tradition of the “queen mother” in the Davidic kingdom.

In the monarchy of King David, as well as in other ancient kingdoms of the Near East, the mother of the ruling king held an important office in the royal court and played a key part in the process of dynastic succession. The king’s 'mother' ruled as queen, not his wife. Why, do you ask?

The great pre-eminence of the king’s mother may seem odd from our modern Western perspective, in which we think of a queen as being the wife of a king. However, recall that most ancient Near-Eastern kings practiced polygamy. King Solomon had seven hundred wives (1 Kgs. 11:3). Imagine the chaos in the royal court if all seven hundred were awarded the queenship! But since each king had one and only one mother, one can see the practical wisdom in bestowing the queenship upon her.

So, in the Old Testament, under most Davidic kings, the "Great Lady", was usually the Mother of the King, who held great power as an advocate to the king. In 1 Kings 2:20, Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba, seated on a throne at his right, "Make your request, Mother, for I will not refuse you." 

Many see here a sort of type of Mary and these words, remind me, of the results that Mary got from son Jesus at the Wedding Feast at Cana when she said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

In my book, only a Mother (acting like a Queen Mother) could give those orders that lead to His first Miracle!

In the New Testament, the Catechism points out that the title has several biblical sources. At the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel announces that [Jesus] "... will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end."(Luke 1:32) The biblical precedent in ancient Israel is that the mother of the king becomes the queen mother. Mary's queenship is therefore a share in Jesus’ kingship.

For supporting scripture, the doctrine of the Queenship of Mary is based in part on a vision given to St. John the Apostle (the disciple given to the care of Mary after Our Lord's death) in the Book of Revelation 12:1-5. That text reads:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne.

The woman in this passage is Mary, and the child is her Son, Jesus Christ. Notice that in this passage Mary is wearing a crown of twelve stars, which is representative of the twelve tribes of Israel (her ancestry - in Israel's history, as you recall, it was the mother of the king who reigned as queen) and the twelve Apostles (the foundation of the Church, who regarded her as Mother).

This biblical evidence, combined with other bible passages speak of Mary's special place in God's plan of salvation (Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, Mary as the new Eve, Mary as the Mother of the Church) is foundational to the understanding of her coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth in Church Tradition.

The Queenship of Mary is very closely associated with the dogma of her Assumption into heaven. Catholic Tradition holds that once Mary the Mother of God was assumed into heaven at the end of her earthy life she was then crowned as Queen of both Heaven and Earth to reign alongside her Son, the King. This is why these two events in Mary's life (Her Assumption & Coronation ) are side by side in the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

What impact and meaning do Mary's Queenship hold for us? Pope John Paul II, writes of this Glorious Mystery of her Coronation as Queen of Heaven:

Mary's glory in heaven is a picture or foreshadowing for all Christians of the similar heavenly glory meant for those who share in her Son's passion, death, and resurrection. She received first, and in the most perfect way, that which is destined for all of us.

There is a long tradition among the Church Fathers on the Queenship of Mary. St. Ephrem (4th century) referred to Mary as “Lady” and “Queen.” St. John Damascene (7th century) spoke beautifully of Mary in a sermon: 

“We, too, approach thee to-day, O Queen; and again, I say, O Queen, O Virgin Mother of God, staying our souls with our trust in thee, as with a strong anchor.

Lifting mind, soul, and body, and all ourselves to thee, rejoicing in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles, we reach through the One who is beyond our reach on account of His Majesty.

If, as the divine Word made flesh taught us, honor shown to servants, is honor shown to our common Lord, how can honor shown to thee, His Mother, be slighted? How is it not most desirable? Art thou not honored as the very breath of life?

Thus shall we best show our service to our Lord Himself . . . . Watch over us, O Queen, the dwelling-place of our Lord. Lead and govern all our ways as thou wilt. Save us from our sins.

Lead us into the calm harbor of the divine will. Make us worthy of future happiness through the sweet and face-to-face vision of the Word made flesh through thee. With Him, glory, praise, power, and majesty be to the Father and to the holy and life-giving Spirit, now and forever. Amen."

Hopefully, this short primer on the Queenship of Mary will encourage you to regard Mary as your Queen too!

Let us conclude by saying the prayer which has been used by Christians down through the centuries to honor our Heavenly Queen. And as we do so, hold present in our minds the memory of our recently deceased OMG member, Chuck August.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.