Mary's Queenship
Scripture for
meditation: Luke 1:31-33
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule
over the house Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Scripture for
reflection: 1 Kings 2:20
Then she said, "I am making one small request of
you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Ask, my mother,
for I will not refuse you."
Fr. William G.
Most tells us: The beginning of the concept that Mary is a Queen is found
in the annunciation narrative. For the angel tells her that her Son will be
King over the house of Jacob forever. So she, His Mother, would be a Queen. The titles "king" and "queen" are
often used loosely, for those beings that excel in some way. Thus we call the
lion the king of beasts, the rose the queen of flowers. Surely Our Lady
deserves the title richly for such reasons. But there is much more. Some inadequate reasons have been suggested: She is the
daughter of David. But not every child of a king becomes a king or queen.
Others have pointed out that she was free from original sin. Then, since Adam
and Eve had a dominion over all things (Genesis 1. 26) she should have
similar dominion. But the problem is that the royalty of Adam and Eve was
largely metaphorical. The solidly theological reasons for her title of Queen
are expressed splendidly by Pius XII, in his Radio message to Fatima, Bendito
seja (AAS 38. 266): "He, the Son of God, reflects on His
heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty and the dominion of His kingship, for,
having been associated to the King of Martyrs in the unspeakable work of human
Redemption as Mother and cooperator, she remains forever associated to Him,
with a practically unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which
flow from the Redemption. 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
choice [of the Father]. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God,
since nothing is excluded from her dominion."…
Pius XII added that "nothing is excluded from her dominion."
As Mediatrix of all graces, who shared in earning all graces, she is, as
Benedict XV said, "Suppliant omnipotence": she, united with her Son,
can obtain by her intercession anything that the all-powerful God can do by His
own inherent power.
In the Old Testament, under some Davidic kings, the gebirah,
the "Great Lady", usually the Mother of the King, held great power as
advocate with the king. Cf. 1 Kings 2:20, where Solomon said to his Mother Bathsheba,
seated on a throne at his right: "Make your request, Mother, for I will
not refuse you." Here is a prototype of Our Lady. http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya6.htm
Prayer: Hail, Holy
queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we
cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs mourning
and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, thine
eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the fruit of
thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us, O Holy Mother
of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.
My thoughts: I
love the passage in the Bible referred to as “The Wedding Feast at Cana.” Mary
tells Jesus that the wine is gone. Jesus tells Mary that He can’t do anything
about it at this time. Mary turns to the servants and tells them to “Do
whatever He tells you.” That is the action of a Queen Mother. We all know the result of this conversation:
Jesus changes water into wine. Out of complete love for her, He answered her
request. That is how it is with us. Once Jesus gave Mary to us as our mother,
she became our personal intercessor. She pleads our case before her Son, asking
Him to be merciful and not judgmental in His dealings with us. A queen has the
ear of the king, and our queen will intercede for us if we but ask. Turn to Mary in times
of trouble, and ask her to have her Son change your troubled heart into a
peaceful one. Mary, Queen of the Universe,
pray for us.
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