+(Intro) Today we celebrate the queenship of Mary. It is her closeness to her Son, that gave rise to this feast so let us be mindful of times we have failed to live from the grace with which she was filled and offended her beloved Son.
Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, he points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, … and because of her intercessory power.
Mary’s queenship has roots in the NT text we just heard. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, she is closely associated with Jesus, her queenship a sharing in Christ’s Kingship.
In the fourth century Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven.”
Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22; Luke 1:26-38