The Crowning of Mary
Queen of Heaven:
Definition of Terms:
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Mary, Queen of Heaven: Biblical Roots and Theological Development
I. What Catholics Mean by “Queen of Heaven”
Catholics call Mary Queen of Heaven not because she shares God’s sovereignty, but because:
- She is the mother of the King (Jesus, the Son of David).
- In the Davidic kingdom (which foreshadows Christ’s reign), the queen was the king’s mother, not his wife.
- Christ’s exaltation includes raising His Mother to a place of unique honor and intercessory dignity.
Mary’s queenship is therefore Christological.
Her dignity comes entirely from her Son:
“Her Queenship is a sharing — in a unique way — in the Kingship of Christ.”
(Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam)
II. The Gebirah: The Queen Mother in the Old Testament
The Hebrew Scriptures describe the gebirah (“Great Lady,” queen mother), who held a recognized office in the Davidic monarchy.
A. Scriptural Characteristics of the Gebirah
Feature | Scripture |
She sat at the king’s right hand | 1 Kings 2:19 |
She interceded for the people | 1 Kings 2:20 |
She received royal honor | 1 Kings 2:19 |
Her role linked to Davidic succession | 2 Kings 11:1-3; Jer 13:18 |
She bore the title “Lady” or “Mistress” | Jer 29:2 |
Example: Bathsheba and Solomon
“The king rose to meet her, bowed before her… and had a throne set for the king’s mother; she sat on his right.”
(1 Kings 2:19)
Her role was advisory and intercessory, not competitive with the king’s authority.
B. Theological Meaning
The Davidic kingdom was a type of the Messianic Kingdom.
If Jesus is the promised Son of David (Luke 1:32–33), then the pattern of the Davidic court helps explain Mary’s role:
- Christ is the King
- Mary, His mother, is the Queen Mother
III. Mary and the Gebirah Pattern in the New Testament
A. Mary as Mother of the Messianic King
Gabriel tells Mary:
“The Lord God will give Him the throne of David… and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
(Luke 1:32–33)
If Jesus reigns as Davidic King forever, then the mother of the King participates in the royal dignity associated with the gebirah.
B. Revelation 12: The Woman Crowned
“A woman clothed with the sun… and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
(Revelation 12:1)
The “woman” symbolizes Israel, the Church, and — in a personal and typological sense — Mary, the Mother of the Messiah.
Her crown signifies royal dignity, connected to her identity as the Mother of the King.
C. Intercessory Role Paralleled
Just as the gebirah interceded (1 Kings 2:20), Mary intercedes in Scripture:
“They have no wine.”
(John 2:3)
Her request brings Christ’s first sign, foreshadowing her maternal advocacy for the Church.
IV. Development of the Doctrine in Christian Tradition
The Church did not invent this doctrine suddenly; rather, it recognized and unfolded the implications of Mary’s divine maternity.
A. Early Liturgical and Devotional Language
From the earliest centuries, Christians addressed Mary as “Lady” and “Queen.”
The Sub Tuum Praesidium (3rd century) prays:
“We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God…”
Titles of dignity grew from the conviction that Mary stands uniquely in relation to the King.
B. The Fathers of the Church
1. St. Ephrem the Syrian (4th century)
“Let Heaven sustain me in awe as it beholds
how the Virgin has become the Mother of the Great King.”
(Hymns on the Nativity)
Ephrem repeatedly speaks of Mary as “Lady” and “Queen.”
2. St. Jerome (4th–5th century)
Jerome underscores Mary’s exalted dignity because of Christ:
“Death came through Eve; life came through Mary.”
(Epistle 22)
While less explicit about royal language, his theology of Mary’s unique role laid groundwork for her royal recognition.
3. St. Peter Chrysologus (5th century)
“The Virgin is chosen to be the Mother of the Lord,
and not merely the servant, but the Mother of the King.”
(Sermon 140)
He emphasizes both humility and exaltation — Mary is exalted by grace.
V. Medieval Reflection and Clarification
Medieval theologians deepened the Gebirah connection:
- The queen mother’s dignity derives entirely from the king.
- Since Christ reigns eternally, Mary’s maternal relationship has ongoing significance.
Mary’s coronation became a theme of art, liturgy, and devotion, always expressing Christ’s glory reflected in her.
VI. The Magisterial Affirmation
Pope Pius XII’s Ad Caeli Reginam (1954) articulated the doctrine clearly:
“She is Queen because she is the Mother of the Son of God,
who is Himself King of the eternal ages.”
The Church simply recognized formally what had been implicit in Scripture and tradition.
VII. Why Mary’s Queenship Matters
- It magnifies Christ’s Kingship.
Her dignity reflects His sovereignty. - It highlights our destiny.
Mary, fully redeemed and glorified, shows what grace intends for us. - It clarifies intercession.
Like the gebirah, Mary advocates — not as ruler over Christ, but as exalted Mother within His kingdom.
VIII. Conclusion
The title “Queen of Heaven” is not about giving Mary divine power.
It is about recognizing her unique relationship to the King and the continuity between the Davidic kingdom and Christ’s eternal reign.
Scripture provides the framework.
The early Church recognized the pattern.
The Fathers reflected on it.
The Church eventually defined it.
Mary’s queenship ultimately points us back to Christ the King, whose grace exalts the humble and whose kingdom has no end.
Select References
Scripture
- 1 Kings 2:19–20
- 2 Kings 11:1–3
- Jeremiah 13:18; 29:2
- Luke 1:32–33
- John 2:1–11
- Revelation 12:1–5
Fathers & Early Sources
- Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on the Nativity
- Jerome, Letters (Ep. 22)
- Peter Chrysologus, Sermons 136–142
- Sub Tuum Praesidium (3rd c.)
Magisterial
- Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam (1954)
Bible Verses:
1 Kings 1:16–17, 31 (NRSVCE):
“16 Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, ‘What do you wish?’ 17 She said to him, ‘My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying: Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit on my throne. 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and did obeisance to the king, and said, ‘May my lord King David live forever!'”
1 Kings 2:19–20 (NRSVCE):
“19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right. 20 Then she said, ‘I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.’ And the king said to her, ‘Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you.'”
Jeremiah 13:18, 20 (NRSVCE):
“18 Say to the king and the queen mother: ‘Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.’ 20 Lift up your eyes and behold those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?”
1 Kings 15:1-2 (NRSVCE):
“Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.”
2 Kings 8:25-26 (NRSVCE):
“In the twelfth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Ahaziah son of King Jehoram of Judah began to reign. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel.”
2 Kings 12:1 (NRSVCE):
“In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.”
2 Kings 14:1-2 (NRSVCE):
“In the second year of King Joash son of Joahaz of Israel, King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem.”
2 Kings 15:1-2 (NRSVCE):
“In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, King Azariah son of Amaziah of Judah began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.”
2 Kings 18:1-2 (NRSVCE):
“In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah.”
2 Kings 22:1 (NRSVCE):
“Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.”
1 Kings 2:17-20 (NRSVCE):
“He said, ‘Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.’ Bathsheba said, ‘Very well; I will speak to the king on your behalf.'”
Luke 1:32 (NRSVCE):
“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.”
Isaiah 7:13–14 (NRSVCE):
“Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.'”
Matthew 1:23 (NRSVCE):
“‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.'”
Matthew 1:16 (NRSVCE):
“and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”
Luke 1:43 (NRSVCE):
“And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
Revelation 12:1–2 (NRSVCE):
“A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.”
Church Father Quotes:
Ephrem the Syrian
“…after the Mediator, you [Mary] are the mediatrix of the entire world. Full of grace, all in you rejoices: the whole creation rejoices in your honor, O most holy Virgin, glory of our race, and Queen of the whole human race.”-Hymns on the Nativity, 27, 26
“Majestic and heavenly Maid, Lady, Queen, protect and keep me under your wing, lest Satan, the sower of destruction, glory over me, lest my wicked foe be victorious against me.” –Hymns on the Blessed Virgin Mary, 4, 4
Jerome of Stridon
“Hail to you that are called a dove, that are the mother of peace, that are the new Eve, that are the Queen of the human race!” –Letter to Oceanus, 77
Caelius Sedulius (Died ca. 450 A.D.)
“Hail, O holy mother; you gave birth to the King who governs heaven and earth forever, whose Divinity and dominion embrace everything in one eternal realm and endure without end. In your blessed womb, you hold a mother’s joy, yet you enjoy the honor of virginity. No woman like you was seen before, nor did one appear after; you alone, without comparison, were the woman who pleased Christ.” –Carmen Paschale 2: 63-69
Peter Chrysologus
“The Virgin Mother… is always in the supreme dignity as Queen over all, on account of the Son whom she bore, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” –Sermon 142
“Even before the angel announced God’s plan, the Virgin’s dignity was announced by her name; for the Hebrew word Mary is rendered in Latin as Domina [“Lady”]. Hence the angel calls her Lady, so that the fear proper to servitude might leave her, the Mother of the Master. For her Son’s authority decreed and brought it about that she should be born and named Lady.” –Sermon 142:2 (Written in 432 A.D.)
“‘Blessed are you among women’ (Lk 1:42). The Virgin is truly blessed, for she possessed the splendor of virginity and achieved the dignity of motherhood. She is truly blessed, for she merited the grace of a heavenly conception and wore the crown of integrity. She is truly blessed, for she received the glory of the divine Son and is queen of all chastity.“ –Sermon 143:7 (Written in 432 A.D.)
Jacob of Serugh (451-521 A.D.)
“He bowed to the Virgin, the Mother of the King, and he spoke to her in speech of the country such as she was able to receive: ‘Peace be with you, full of divine splendour! Peace to you Mary, Mother of the Son of Justice!’” –Homily III on the Mother of God (ca 490 A.D.)
Modestus of Jerusalem (Died 630 A.D.)
“The bright spiritual dawn of the sun of justice, then, has gone to dwell and to shine in his brilliance; she is called there by the one who rose from her, and who gives light to all things. Through her, that overwhelming radiance pours the rays of his sunshine upon us, in mercy and compassion, rekindling the souls of the faithful to imitate, as far as they can, his divine kindness and goodness. For Christ our God, who put on living and intelligent flesh, which he took from the ever-virgin and the Holy Spirit, has called her to himself and invested her with an incorruptibility touching all her corporeal frame; he has glorified her beyond all measure of glory, so that she, his holy Mother, might share his inheritance, as the Psalmist says: “The queen stands at your right hand, wrapped in a golden robe woven with jewels” (Ps 44:9 [LXX]). That precious, holy vessel, most sacred of all things, she who became Mother of God, has taken up her “pearl of great price” (Mt 13:46); she is glorified with the splendor of his supernatural beauty, to whom “silver and gold belong” (Hag 2:9) and through whom “kings have their royal power” (Prov 8:15) he who has shone forth from heaven in her, and who received a body from her virgin womb, while she was still being tossed in the great sea of this life; he who came forth [from her], to give himself as the world’s ransom from slavery.” –Encomium on the Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady, Mary, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin, chap 5
Andrew of Crete (650-740 A.D.)
“Queen of the whole human race, truly faithful to the meaning of your name, you are above all things -except God!” -Homily 3 on the Dormition (Written ante A.D. 740)
John of Damascus
“When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature. She who bore the Creator in her womb has in her a dignity which is above all creation. For that which is born of God and Creator of all things must rule and reign.” – First Homily on the Dormition of Mary, 10
Non-Catholic Quotes:
Martin Luther, Father of the Protestant Reformation
“She, the Lady above heaven and earth, must…have a heart so humble that she might have no shame in washing the swaddling clothes or preparing a bath for St. John the Baptist, like a servant girl. What humility! It would surely have been more just to have arranged for her a golden coach, pulled by 4,000 horses, and to cry and proclaim as the carriage proceeded: ‘Here passes the woman who is raised far above all women, indeed above the whole human race.’” –Luther’s Works, 21:327. A sermon Luther preached on July 2, 1532, the Feast of the Visitation
“She was not filled with pride by this praise…this immense praise: ‘No woman is like unto thee! Thou art more than an empress or a queen…blessed above all nobility, wisdom, or saintliness!’” –Lutheran Works 36:208, 45:107.
“The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart.”-Sermon, September 1, 1522 [Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther’s Works].
“Is Christ only to be adored? Or is the holy Mother of God rather not to be honoured? This is the woman who crushed the Serpent’s head. Hear us. For your Son denies you nothing.” –Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther’s Works, English translation edited by J. Pelikan [Concordia: St. Louis], Volume 51, 128-129]. Luther made this statement in his last sermon at Wittenberg in January 1546.
“She is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ. ..She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.” –Sermon, Christmas, 1531
“No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity.” –Sermon, Feast of the Visitation. 1537
“One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God’s grace.. .Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ…Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.” –Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521
“It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is able to exult in such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother, Christ is his brother. God is his father.” –Sermon. Christmas, 1522
“Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees…If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.” –Sermon, Christmas, 1529
“Whoever possesses a good (firm) faith, says the Hail Mary without danger! Whoever is weak in faith can utter no Hail Mary without danger to his salvation.” –Sermon, March 11, 1523
“Our prayer should include the Mother of God.. .What the Hail Mary says is that all glory should be given to God, using these words: “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ. Amen!” You see that these words are not concerned with prayer but purely with giving praise and honor.. .We can use the Hail Mary as a meditation in which we recite what grace God has given her. Second, we should add a wish that everyone may know and respect her…He who has no faith is advised to refrain from saying the Hail Mary.” –Personal Prayer Book, 1522
Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss Protestant Reformer, Cranmer’s brother-in-law and Zwingli’s successor
“She can hardly be compared with any of the other saints, but should by rights be elevated above all of them.”(Quoted in Max Thurian, Mary, Mother of All Christians (New York: Herder and Herder, 1964), 89.)
“For this reason we believe that the Virgin Mary, Begetter of God, the most pure bed and temple of the Holy Spirit, that is, her most holy body, was carried to heaven by angels.” -Bullinger’s 1539 polemical treatise against idolatry, De origine erroris, Caput XVI (Chapter 16), p. 70
Danish Lutheran theologian K. E. Skydsgaard
“Mary’s name shall not disappear in anonymity, but shall be recalled in every age and praised as holy. Evangelical Protestantism must also learn to sing this song.” -K. E. Skydsgaard, One in Christ, Protestant and Catholic (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1957)
Norm Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie, Protestant theologians
“There are many things Catholics and Protestants hold in common on the doctrine of Mary. These include her being the most blessed among women, her virgin conception of Christ the God-man, and by virtue of that her being in this sense ‘the Mother of God.” –Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences