Intro... Eight days ago, we were celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Today, we are commemorating another beautiful Marian Feast, that of the Queenship of Mary. This special Liturgical Feast was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954 through his Encyclical Letter "Ad Caeli Reginam." The Holy Catholic Church made this proclamation in view of the fact that throughout its history, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the faithful have continuously addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. Following the tremendous destruction that occurred during World War II and considering the reality that the threat of a similar catastrophe filled the faithful with a great anguish, the Church turned its eyes towards Mary, the Heavenly Queen, in the hope of her protection. Keeping in mind that worldwide devotion to Mary continued to be very popular, including in Fatima, to bring the Year of Mary to a happy and beneficial conclusion, and in response to petitions that were received in Rome from all over the world, the Church considered that it was appropriate to institute the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen. Through this proclamation, it was not the intent of the Church to proclaim a new truth.

With complete justice St. John Damascene could write: 'When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature. Reviewing Jewish history, it is learned that the institution of the "queen mother" was established during the reign of King Solomon. In the Old Testament, we find the following words, "King Solomon had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right." [1 Kgs 2:19] Many of the kings who succeeded King Solomon kept this practice. The mother of the king, through who the king received his throne, was trusted as a confident and advisor. So important was the function of the queen mothers in the days of the Old Testament that their names were listed in the succession records of the kings of Judah.

Considering the fact that Jesus was a descendant of the House of David in which it was the practice of the mother of the king to sit at the right hand of the king as the Queen mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, being the mother of Jesus, is entitled by tradition to sit at the right hand of the Lord Jesus in His eternal Kingdom, she rightfully having inherited the honour and title of Queen Mother as the mother of Jesus who is the Ki ng of kings and Lord of lords. This summarizes why we as Catholics proudly call the Blessed Virgin Mary our Queen and why the Holy Mother Church, in its inspired wisdom, has officially proclaimed this glorious honour.