Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. I think non Catholics don't understand this at all. I think In the United States where we don't have Queens this is a particular confusing part of the Catholic Faith
I wish to explain this a tad. Who knows if you are in Louisiana and run for public office some political party might make TV ads saying you are for the monarchy. So lets look at this.
Firsts one of my favorite bloggers ,Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill has a little bit of scripture on this that is important here in her post Who Is Mary? Or How The Old Testament Instructs Catholics About Mary. .
3. Mary is the Queen Mother. In many respects, the Old Testament kings prefigured Jesus who is called the King of Kings (Revelation 19:16) in the NT. Even the imperfect kings in David's line especially prefigure Jesus' perfect Kingship.
In 1 Kings 2:19-20 we see the importance of the King's mother:
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. "There is one small favor I would ask of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." "Ask it, my mother," the king said to her, "for I will not refuse 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. "There is one small favor I would ask of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." "Ask it, my mother," the king said to her, "for I will not refuse you."
The king's mother, not his wife, had an official position in Israel. We know this from historical records, but we also see it reflected in 1 Kings 15:13.
He also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made an outrageous object for Asherah. Asa cut down this object and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
NT Jewish Christians who understood Jesus to be the promised King of the Jews would naturally have understood Mary to be the Queen Mother. The typology Mary as Queen Mother would have led them to seek her intercession with the King just as we see Adonijah do. We see this reinforced at the Wedding of Cana where Mary's intercession is sought. And finally we see in Revelation 11 & 12 the culmination of the OT, the Gospels, with Mary as the Queen of heaven. She is the Ark of the Covenant in 11:19 who gives birth to the son who will "rule all nations" and together they defeat the serpent. She is crowned with 12 stars giving further credence to her as Queen of Heaven.
The cultural expectation of the Jews and the teaching of the typology of Sacred Scripture makes what were formerly shadows to me as a non-Catholic, explicit statements statements indeed about Mary and her role. When you combine what Sacred Scripture teaches us through the typology of Jesus and Mary in the Old Testament with the other implicit statements of Sacred Scripture (and I will get to those on another day) what the Catholic Church teaches about Mary becomes quite clear. In fact, rather than say that Sacred Scripture, doesn't say something explicitly enough I am left with the expectation that unless Jesus or the New Testament writers gave an explicit exception to the typology that the only appropriate understanding of implicit statements is that which fully harmonizes with the typology of the Old Testament.
I think she does a excellent job of showing that Typology. But what did the early Christian's believe.
For More resources to the links below and what see what her Queenship means to Catholics in our daily lives:
Mary's Queenship (EWTN)
Mary, Queen of Heaven. (SJM) Biblical proof of Mary's queenship!
I think those links provide excellent background
Also as always if you have questions about this- LEAVE a COMMENT!!!!! I would love to help people learn and grow to love our Blessed Mother even more.
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