When we speak of kings and queens, we are immediately drawn to think of husbands and wives, or something to that extent. However, the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not meant to be understood in that light.

Although she was married to Joseph, who was a descendant of King David, her Queenship is not a fruit of marriage, but of motherhood. Mary is honored as Queen, because her son Jesus, is King. It might seem strange at first, because we do not often thinks of the mother of a King, but this is something that is actually rooted in history.

In ancient Israel, the king’s mother was a queen. In the Old Testament, kings such as David often had more than one wife. That made it hard to pick a queen, so the queen’s mother naturally filled the role. Here we see that queenship stems also from the son. Queens were treated beautifully in ancient times, but to have a Queen Mother was something else entirely.

In fact, the Queen Mother often receives great honor. In 1 Kings 2:19, we hear about the mother of David’s son: “When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.” The Queen Mother was often treated with such high dignity, how much more for the Mother of the King of the Universe?

Now that we have established this fact, that Queenship is not necessarily a fruit of kings and queens being joined in Marriage, we now go on to speak of Mary’s Queenship. We know that it stems from the Kingship of Jesus Christ, but how is this not a mere assumption, and a Doctrinal Fact?

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) that he writes about 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.”

Catholic tradition sees the mysterious woman of Revelation 12 as representing both Mary and the Church (the people of God). These meanings are closely connected: Mary, the Mother of Christ, is also the preeminent member and image of the Church.

The twelve stars of her crown likewise carry rich biblical symbolism, calling to mind the twelve tribes of Israel and, in the New Covenant, the twelve Apostles.

Even from the first time we encounter Mary in scripture, we are already given a foretaste of what exactly she was to become. The Angel Gabriel refers to her as “full of grace”, and Elizabeth refers to her as “the Mother of my Lord”.

Even the Early Church referred to her as Queen. St. John Paul II reminds us that since the 5th Century, just as the Council of Ephesus refers to Mary as the Mother of God, the title of Queen also began to be attributed to her.

However, Mary’s queenship is not an avenue to deify her. The Early Church, acknowledging her important role, still saw her as someone below God. Her favor was not meant to place her on the same level as God, but it was to extol her above all creation. In the 300s, Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, wrote of Mary’s assumption saying, “death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a virginal one … she would shine gloriously among the martyrs … for by her, did light come to the world.” But he also said: “Mary should be honored, but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit should be worshiped; no one should worship Mary.”

This doctrine is closely related to the Dogma of the Assumption. It was Pope Pius XII, who declared the Assumption a dogma in 1950, and it was the same Pontiff who declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven through the encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, establishing her feast day on 22 August.

In the encyclical, he reminds us of Mary’s Queenship as something that stems from grace – from Divine Relationship. The documents of Vatican II also affirm this doctrine. We are reminded in Lumen Gentium that Mary is “exalted as she is in heaven above all the saints and angels.”

The Queenship of Mary for us Catholics is a reminder of God’s ever-abiding presence among us. As we honor Mary as Queen, we are reminded of the virtues that lifted her up – humility, patience, and perseverance – and are called to emulate these, so that one day, we may share in that glory, where Mary reigns as Queen, together with her Son Jesus, our King.