Mary's Queenship
by Fr. William G. Most
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 Fathers of the Church soon picked up these implications. A text probably
coming from Origen (died c. 254: cf.
Marian Studies 4, 1953, 87) gives
her the title
domina, the feminine form of Latin dominus, Lord. That same
title also appears in many other early writers, e.g. , St. Ephrem, St. Jerome,
St. Peter Chrysologus (cf.
Marian Studies 4. 87-91). The word "Queen"
appears abut the sixth century, and is common thereafter (
Marian Studies,
4, 91-94).
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 Radiomessage 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."
We notice that there are two titles for the kingship of Christ: divine
nature, and "right of conquest", i.e., the Redemption. She is Queen "through
Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him." The qualifications are obvious, and need
no explanation. Her Queenship is basically a sharing in the royalty of her Son.
We do not think of two powers, one infinite, the other finite. No, she and her
Son are inseparable, and operate as a unit.
Of the four titles Pius XII gave for her Queenship, we notice that two are
closely parallel to those of Jesus:
(1) He is king by nature, as God; she is Queen by "divine relationship" that
is, by being the Mother of God. In fact her relation to her Son is greater than
that of ordinary Mothers of Kings. For she is the Mother of Him who is King by
very nature, from all eternity, and the relationship is exclusive, for He had no
human father. Still further, the ordinary queen-mother gives birth to a child
who later will become king. The son of Mary is, as we said, eternally king, by
His very nature. (2) He is king by right of conquest. She too is Queen by right
of conquest. We already saw that this title for Him means that He redeemed us
from the captivity of satan. She shared in the struggle and victory. Since the
Pope expressed her dependence on Him in a threefold way--something we would have
known anyway--then it is clear that he did not have in mind any other
restriction which he did not express. So, maintaining this subordination, "by
right of conquest" means the same for her as it does for Him.
The other two titles: (3) She is Queen by grace. She is full of grace, the
highest in the category of grace besides her Son. (4) She is Queen by singular
choice of the Father. A mere human can become King or Queen by choice of the
people. How much greater a title is the choice of the Father Himself!
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 sort of type of Our Lady.
Excerpted and adapted from Theology 523: Our Lady in Doctrine and Devotion,
by Father William G. Most.
Copyright (c) 1994 William G. Most
Electronic text (c) Copyright EWTN 1996. All rights reserved.
....
Taken from:
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya6.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment