The celebration of the queenship of Mary is significantly related to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Assumption is a dogma instituted by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950. It asserted as truth that the Immaculate Mother of God, after her life on Earth, was taken up, body and soul, to heaven and crowned Queen of heaven and Earth, which, “fully conformed to her son the King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Relation 19:16).
Woman clothed with the sun
Saint Alphonsus de Liquori, on bestowing the title queen to Mary, said, “Raising the Virgin Mary to such a lofty dignity is a title she rightfully deserves as ‘mother of the King of Kings.’”
Her queenship is based on the vision of Saint John the Evangelist.
“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 12 stars” (Revelation 12:1).
The institution of the feast was first requested five decades earlier during the Marian Congress in Lyons in 1900, then in Fribourg in1902, Einsredeln in 1906 and on the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.
In the centenary year of the Immaculate Conception in 1954, Pope Pius XII made the feast of the Queenship of Mary a reality in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (Queenship of Mary).
Mary, the Queen
If Christ is King, the Marian title Queen Mother has a basis. In Judaic history, the mother of King David was the queen mother. Even if Kings David, Solomon and some successors had several wives, not one of them was honored with the title queen. It belongs only to the King’s Mother.
Fr. Nil Guillemete in Cedars of Lebanon explained: “As soon as the crown prince ascended the throne and became king, the Great Lady could also be called the Mother of My Lord. She remained Great Lady even after the death of her son if she happened to outlive him.
“Thus, in the traditional doctrine of the Blessed Mother’s queenship, let all approach with greater confidence more than before the throne of mercy and grace of our Queen and Mother to beg help in difficulty, light in darkness, and solace in trouble and sorrow; and let them strive to free themselves from the servitude of sin.”
Theotokos
Mary is indeed queen of all because she is Theotokos, or God bearer. In the “Apostles Creed,” that Jesus is born of the Virgin Mary is professed as an article of faith.
In the Council of Ephesus, the title Theotokos was defined in 431 AD that the Virgin Mary is mother incarnate of the Son of God. The title does not glorify the Blessed Mother but help Christians understand that Jesus, the Lord, was Word made flesh, thus, is both human and divine.
In biblical history, specifically in the infancy narrative, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, “Saint John, who was in her womb, leaped.” Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice, “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the Mother of My Lord should come to me” (Luke 1:41-53).
Litany of Loreto
Since the earliest centuries of the church, Christians have implored her prayers and protection, addressing her with hymns and praises. “For she is considered the queen of the universe who will reign in the house of Jacob forever” (Luke 1:32).
The Litany to the Blessed Mother, also known as Litany of Loreto, originated in the Loreto Shrine in Italy and was approved by Pope Sixtus V on 1587, although it was recorded to be recited as early as 1558.
This homage to the Blessed Mother include: 12 invocations as the mother of God, six as the virgin and 13 as queen.
There are 13 invocations derived from the Old Testament for her help and protection. In 1980 Pope John Paul II added Mother of the Church, and in December 31, 1995, Queen of Families. The Queenship of Mary is celebrated on August 22.
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Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.