Queenship of Mama Mary – August 22

“Hail holy Queen, mother of mercy.” Catholics recite this at the end of every Holy Rosary.

This invocation affirms that “we not only have a mother in Heaven, we also have a Queen Mother.”

The Feast of the Queenship of Mary of the Catholic Church is celebrated on the Octave Day of the Assumption. Allow us to share some notes about this Feast gathered from various sources.

To recall, in 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the dogma of the Assumption - “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

Four years after, on 11 October 1954, the Queenship of Mary was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (The Queen of Heaven) where he pointed 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, because of her preeminent perfection, and because of her intercessory power

“We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises.

“Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?”

Records note that this Feast of the Queenship of Mama Mary “was first assigned the date May 31, after the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is celebrated on the Saturday following the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.”

The same Pope Pius XII instituted the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the whole Church so as to obtain by her intercession "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue" (Decree of May 4, 1944).”

In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the date to August 22, eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mama Mary “to create an octave of anticipation and to show that the Assumption necessarily results in the Mother of God being also the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth.”

Sources note that Mama Mary’s queenship has roots in the Scripture.

This is the oft-quoted scriptural reference taken from Revelation 12:1: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

The Annunciation described in Luke 1: 31- 35 is also mentioned as an affirmation of Mama Mary’s queenship and as the mother of the Son of God.

“Don’t be afraid, Mary” said the angel to her. “You’re in favor with God.

“Listen: you will conceive in your womb and will have a son; and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be a great man, and he’ll be called the son of the Most High.

“The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never come to an end.

“The holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason the holy one who is born from you will be called God’s Son.”

During the Visitation, Elizabeth called Mama Mary the “mother of my Lord.”

Because she readily accepted and faithfully fulfilled her mission to be the mother of the Son of God, Mama Mary is “closely associated with Jesus: her queenship, a share in Jesus’ kingship. “

Through centuries and until now, many invocations continue to celebrate Mama Mary as Mother and Queen.