Memorial of the Queenship of Mary: August 22

Page 42 in "Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church"

Catherine Fournier and Peter Fournier

Four years after he defined the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, Pope Pius XII, in the encyclical letter Ad Caeli Reginam, decreed and instituted the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He thus acknowledged and made formal a long-standing Church 

tradition. From the earliest centuries of the Church, belief in Mary's Queenship in heaven had been part of the Christian faith. Though nothing is said directly 

about either Mary's Assumption or her Coronation in the Bible, these beliefs are based on both scriptural references and tradition. 

First, if Jesus is our Lord and King, then surely His Mother Mary is a Queen. "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. ...Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God" (Lk 1:31-35). 

Mary is our Mother and Queen inasmuch as "the Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born [Lord and Savior] among many brethren (Rom 8:29), that is, the faithful, in whose generation and formation she cooperates with a mother's love" (Lumen Gentium, no. 63). 

Mary is the Queen of Heaven inasmuch as, being the new Eve, the one who obeyed, she IS the "woman" described in Revelation: "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" (12:1). 

By first carrying her to heaven, then crowning her in the sight of all the angels and saints, God richly rewarded his most faithful of servants. Mary's own prophecy was fulfilled: "Truly all people shall call me blessed, for the Lord has done great things for me." 

The text and music of this song are based on the Latin prayer Salve Regina. This is the common English version of the song. 

Hail! holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria!
Hail! Mother of Mercy and of love, O Maria!

Refrain: 

Triumph, all ye cherubim,
Sing with us, ye seraphim.
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn.
Salve, salve, salve Regina!

Our life, our sweetness here below, O Maria!
Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria!

  Refrain

To thee we cry, poor sons of Eve, O Maria!
To thee we sigh, we mourn, we grieve, O Maria!

  Refrain

This earth is but a vale of tears, O Maria!
A place of banishment, of fears, O Maria!

  Refrain

Turn then, most gracious advocate, O Maria!
Toward us thine eyes compassionate, O Maria!

  Refrain

When this our exile is complete, O Maria!
Show us thy Son, our Jesus sweet, O Maria!

  Refrain

O clement, gracious, Mother sweet, O Maria!
O Virgin Mary, we entreat, O Maria!

Refrain