The Heavenly Queen Mother
why this title for Mary just makes sense
Catholics are often criticized for their beliefs about Mary, but I’ve discovered that everything taught about Mary reveals more about God. All of His creatures and creation can help us learn more about Him. Mary, especially, reflects His glory.
There are three parts to Mary’s title of “the Heavenly Queen Mother”: Mary is in Heaven, Mary is the Queen of Heaven, and Mary is the Mother of God. I will use the Bible as my primary source in explaining all three of these truths about Mary. I’ll include some Biblical Typology in parts of this piece. "Biblical typology refers to when a person, event, thing, etc.—usually from Old Testament times—foreshadows someone or something or event, etc., in the New Testament/New Covenant era."1
Mary is in Heaven
Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is in Heaven (Revelation 11:19). Therefore, Mary is in Heaven.
The Ark contained the Ten Commandments, the staff of Aaron, and the manna (Hebrews 9:4). The Ten Commandments are the Word of God. The beginning of the Gospel of John state that the Word is God:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” - John 1:1
Aaron was a high priest, but Jesus is the true high priest. The manna fed the Israelites in the desert, but Jesus is the bread of eternal Life. To sum these thoughts up: “Mary is the sacred vessel for the ‘word’ made flesh, the ‘Bread of Life’, and the true ‘high priest’” - Brant Pitre in Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary
Further evidence that Mary is in Heaven is in Revelation 12.
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. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. - Revelation 12:1-5, emphasis added
The male child is clearly Jesus in this passage; therefore, the woman has to be Mary.
“The passage from the Book of Revelation also indicates another important aspect of Mary’s reality. As the living Ark of the Covenant, she has an extraordinary destiny of glory because she is so closely united to the Son whom she welcomed in faith and generated in the flesh, as to share fully in his glory in Heaven. This is what the words we have heard suggest: ‘A great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun…’ (Revelation 12:1) … Mary, Mother of God, full of grace, fully docile to the action of the Holy Spirit, already lives in God’s Heaven with her whole being, body and soul.” - Benedict XVI*
Queen of Heaven
We can look in the Old Testament to see why this title for Mary is, in fact, Biblical. In ancient Israel, it was not the wife of the king that was considered queen, but the mother of the king:
Say to the king and to the queen mother: come down from your throne; From your head your splendid crowns will fall. -Jeremiah 13:18
In 1 Kings, Bathsheba, the mother of king Soloman (1 Kings 1:11), receives requests to bring to the king (1 Kings 2:17-18). King Solomon pays her homage and provides her a throne to his right (1 Kings 2:19). Then he states how he will not refuse her (1 Kings 2:20).
“David was king over Israel for forty years: he was king seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingship was established. Adonijah, son of Haggith, came to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. ‘Do you come in peace?’ she asked. ‘In peace,’ he answered, and he added, ‘I have something to say to you.’ She replied, ‘Speak.’ So he said: ‘You know that the kingship was mine, and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingship passed me by and went to my brother; by the LORD’s will it went to him. But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.’ And she said, ‘Speak on.’ He said, ‘Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite to be my wife.’ Bathsheba replied, ‘Very well, I will speak to the king for you.’ Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right. She said, ‘There is one small favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me.’ The king said to her, ‘Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.’” - 1 Kings 2:11-20 (emphasis added)
We bring our requests to Mary like Adonijah brought his request to Bathsheba. Mary brings our requests to Jesus, our king! What is his Kingdom? Heaven! She is the Heavenly Queen Mother.
Mother of God
Mary was the mother of Jesus. Jesus was fully God & fully man. Therefore, Mary is the Mother of God (aka Theotokos). One cannot deny that Mary is the Mother of God without also denying the Incarnation. She couldn't have birthed only the human nature of Jesus because women do not birth natures, they birth a person. Jesus, one person of the Trinity, had two inseparable natures: human & Divine.
“The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God.” - St. Irenaeus of Lyons in A.D. 189
What I’ve written here is just a small snippet of what we can learn about Mary through the Bible & the early Church. If you want to learn more, read Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary by Brant Pitre. This book deepened my appreciation and awe of Sacred Scripture. Every word, every phrase, every sentence is important!
*Said during the “Homily Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” August 15, 2011
It blew my mind when I first realised this. Not sure how as a protestant I completely overlooked the reference to Mary in Revelation 12. Wonderful work putting together such a clear and compelling case for the reverence owed to the mother of our Lord!
Stepping into the FULLNESS of the Story of Salvation is crucial to setting the stage for fully acknowledging and receiving Mary's role as a gift to The Church. Thank you for sharing your succinct and clear thoughts on a topic which causes so much contention. It was my own inability to speak so succinctly to an attack on our Mother that launched me into a fuller understanding!