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MARY: Role as Queen Mother

By Sean Martin
John Paul II Generation

How can we call Mary our Queen Mother?

The Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is the masterpiece of God’s creation. She is the pinnacle of all of creation. Mary is the most beautiful and holy woman to have ever been created. She truly is the Queen Mother of the entire Universe. “Finally, the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all guilt of original sin, on the completion of her earthly sojourn, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully confirmed to her Son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death” (Lumen Gentium 59).

Almighty God is Lord and King over the entire universe. He is sovereign over the whole universe and everything in it. Mary’s Universal Queenship is a share in the Divine Kingship. The very reason why Mary is the Universal Queen Mother is because she is the Mother of God and has uniquely cooperated in the work of redemption (Pope John Paul II A Catechesis on Mary 210). Mary’s mission as Universal Queen Mother is specifically found in her roles as Mediatrix of all Graces and Advocate. St. Bernard of Clairvaux testifies to this when he refers to Mary’s three titles in one encompassing statement as the Lady (Domina), Mediatrix, and Advocate: "Our Lady, our Mediatrix, our Advocate, reconcile us to your Son, commend us to your Son, represent us to your Son" (Miravalle Theological Foundations 309).

What is Mary’s role as Queen Mother?

The Universal Queen Mother is the Mediatrix of all Graces. She distributes all the graces to humanity that were won on Calvary. “Mary gave the Redeemer, the Source of all graces, to the world, and in this way she is the channel of all graces. Since Mary’s Assumption into Heaven no grace is conferred on man without her actual intercessory co-operation” (Ott Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma 212). St. Maximilian Kolbe stated that all graces flow from God the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit and through Mary’s intercession to humanity, and the needs and petitions of humanity flow to Mary in the Holy Spirit through Christ the Son back to God the Father. (Manteau-Bonamy The Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit 39)

Mary Queen Mother is Advocate for all humanity. St. Irenaeus taught that Mary was the Advocate even for Eve when he stated "and whereas Eve had disobeyed God, Mary was persuaded to obey God, that the Virgin Mary might become advocate (advocata) of the virgin Eve" (Theological Foundations 308). The Latin word for advocate, advocare, means to speak to or speak on behalf of another. Mary’s task as Queen Advocate of the human family is to intercede before the throne of God for the sake of the salvation of all humanity. The Queen Mother offers the needs of humanity to the King. “It is as if a poor peasant, wishing to win the friendship and favour of the king, were to go the queen and give her an apple - his only possession - for her to offer it to the king. The queen, accepting the peasant's humble gift, puts it on a beautiful golden dish and presents it to the king on behalf of the peasant. The apple in itself would not be a gift worthy of a king, but presented by the queen in person on a dish of gold, it becomes fit for any king” (Montfort True Devotion to Mary 147).