WITHOUT STOPPING TO think or look it up, about how many times do you think that England’s Royal Family was in the news since the beginning of the year?
One hundred? Five hundred? A thousand?
As one of the most highly covered monarchies in the world, there have been tens of thousands of dedicated segments and news articles in less than eight months. From where does this fascination with royalty come from? Could it be from fairy tales listened to in childhood? Perhaps from an abundance of princess movies? Has it merely seeped into our collective consciousness over the nearly five thousand years since King En-Men-Barage-Si, the earliest recorded monarch, reigned around 2600 BCE in Mesopotamia?
No matter the origin of this fascination, nor the innumerable kings and queens since then, none can begin to compare with the Queen of the World par excellence.
There is only one Queen of Heaven and Earth, and that is Mary, the mother of Jesus and our mother. We celebrate her queenship on Aug. 22, eight days after the feast of the Assumption, to show the close connection between her bodily assumption and her coronation. As the mother of Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings, Mary, the Queen Mother, has the role of greatest influence with him. In ancient times, when it was customary for kings to have many wives, it was the mother of the king who had the greatest influence on him, rather than one of his wives. Therefore, oftentimes one wishing to obtain a favor from the king would first go to his mother, asking her to “put in a good word” for him. As baptized Christians, we can go directly to Jesus, the King of Kings, instead of taking such a circuitous route. However, recalling Jesus’ dying words “Behold your son … behold your mother” (John 19:25-27) it is good to know that the greatest of all queens is also our loving mother, always helping and protecting us. This feast has its roots in Scripture. When Angel Gabriel came to Mary at the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38), she was informed that her son was to receive the throne of David and that his kingdom would be everlasting. Afterwards, as soon as Mary arrived to visit her aged cousin, Elizabeth called her “mother of my Lord.” (Lk. 1:3 to 9-45) From the moment of the Incarnation, Mary was always closely associated with Jesus, and therefore it is fitting that, through her queenship, she would share in his kingship.
For Your Family:
■ Aug. 22 is the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Attend Mass together and afterwards stop for a special treat.
■ Pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, giving special attention to the Fifth Mystery, The Crowing of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
■ Bake and decorate a cake in honor of Mary, our Queen and Mother, and pray the “Hail Holy Queen” prayer before enjoying it.
■ Prepare a shrine for Mary by painting and decorating a shoe box; stand it upright with a statue of Mary inside; then place a crown on her head which you can make using fresh or tissue paper flowers.
■ Read 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.” Draw a picture portraying this.
■ Choose one of the many online crafts found by searching for Catholic children’s crafts for the Queenship of Mary, and do together