22 August: Liturgical memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Not a distant sovereign, but a tender Mother who is close to us

“From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen”. With these words in the Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam, of 11 October 1954, Pius XII instituted the liturgical feast day of the “Queenship of the Blessed Virgin”.

The feast day falls on 22 August, in the octave of the Solemnity of the Assumption. The celebration had been inserted into the liturgical calendar on 31 May, by Pius XII at the conclusion of the Marian month. With the Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio, Mysterii Paschalis, with which he approved the general norms for the liturgical year and the new Roman calendar, Paul VI moved the feast day to 22 August, eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into heaven in her body and her soul, the glorious epilogue of the Mother of God, seated beside the King in brilliance like a Queen, as the Antiphon of the day says, “At your right stands the queen in robes of gold” (Cf. Ps 45:10-14).

Throughout the course of the centuries, the faithful have turned to Mary and to her powerful intercession with God for protection, support and comfort. Entire peoples and nations have consecrated themselves to her. Think of France, where Louis XIII entrusted his kingdom to her and on Assumption day, acknowledged her as Patron Saint. Or Colombia – In a radio message at the conclusion of the national Marian Congress of Bogotà on 6 July 1946, Pius XII referred to Columbia as “Tierra de la Virgen; Colombia, Jardín mariano!” Or Africa, when during a pastoral visit in Benin, Uganda and Khartoum, at the Angelus in the Shrine of the of the Martyrs of Uganda in Namugongo, on Sunday, 7 February 1993, Saint John Paul II prayed “Mary, Queen of Africa! Lead all people into the Lord’s Kingdom of holiness, truth and life. You who freely said “yes” to God and became the Virgin Mother of his only Son, remain ever close to your children in Uganda. May they be reborn in hope, and may God’s saving plan be fulfilled in them. Through them, may all Africa come to know and love the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour”.

Or think of “Celeste Castellana d’Italia”, the Marian title with which Mary is venerated ever since the Middle Ages. In his discourse to the new Ambassador of Italy to the Holy See, on Thursday, 4 October, Benedict XVI entrusted the Italian people to her maternal protection. Or Poland. In a video message to Polish pilgrims in Częstochowa to celebrate 300 years since the coronation of the image of Mary, Queen of Poland, Pope Francis made the following reflection: “It is a great honour to have a Queen as Mother, the same Queen of the Angels and of the Saints, who reigns glorious in heaven. But it gives even greater joy to know we have a Mother as Queen, to love as a Mother the one whom you call Our Lady. Indeed, the sacred image shows that Mary is not a distant Queen seated on a throne, but rather the Mother who embraces her Son and, with Him, all of us, her children. She is a true Mother, whose face is lined, a Mother who suffers because she truly takes to heart the problems of our life. She is a Mother who is close to us, who never lets us out of her sight; she is a tender Mother, who takes us by the hand on our daily journey”.

Sister Theresa of Lisieux said the same: “Mary is more Mother than Queen”, which does not diminish her value as Mother of God, but highlights that her intercession is maternal not an expression of dominion.

It is important to note that the Queenship of Mary is not of the worldly kind. For Mary, to reign means to serve her Son and in him, all of humanity. She participates in the royalty of Christ because she is his mother. The Gospel depicts Mary as simple, small and close to her children, the perfect disciple of the Son. In her, one discovers the privilege of poverty and the smallness that marks Christ’s entire earthly life. Poverty and smallness that for Saint Francis became a reason for living, as he wrote in his last wishes to Saint Clare: “I, little Brother Francis, wish to follow the life and poverty of our Most High Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother”.

Indeed, the Acts of the Apostles recount that after the Assumption, Mary was with the disciples in prayer, but she did not lead the group. Peter did. However, Mary’s role as a link between the Risen Son and his disciples on earth, cannot be substituted. This is why Mary’s Queenship is one of intercession, as Saint Paul VI wrote in the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, “The Solemnity of the Assumption is prolonged in the celebration of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which occurs seven days later. On this occasion we contemplate her who, seated beside the King of ages, shines forth as Queen and intercedes as Mother” (6).

The theological basis for her Queenship is derived from her special participation in the Redemption fulfilled by her Son: “Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace (Lumen Gentium, 61).

Over the centuries, the Church has dedicated many hymns to Mary, in which her Queenship is venerated, among them, Salve Regina, Regina coeli, Ave Regina cœlorum. She is also praised as Queen in the Lauretan Litanies.

In these days marked by a third world war being fought piecemeal, as Pope Francis has underlined, among the many titles with which we venerate Mary, it is perhaps right to pray to her as Queen of peace. In his Apostolic Exhortation, Marialis Cultus, Paul VI wrote that the Solemnity of the Mother of God, “is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the ‘holy Mother...through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of life.’ It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk. 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace” (5).