Saint of the day, August 22

Aug. 22: Feast of the Queenship of Mary

On Aug. 22, the Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The biblical foundation for Mary’s queenship appears at the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel tells her that “the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father” (Luke 1:32). Because Jesus reigns as the divine King in the line of David, the Church honors His mother as Queen. In the Old Testament kingdom of Judah, the king’s mother held the honored position of queen mother and could intercede with the king. Likewise, Mary reigns beside her Son and intercedes for the faithful.

The Church celebrates Mary’s queenship eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption, emphasizing the connection between her assumption into heaven and her exaltation as Queen. Pope Pius XII established the observance in 1954 and originally assigned it to May 31. The Church moved it to August 22 during the post-Vatican II revision of the liturgical calendar. In his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, which established the observance, Pius XII wrote:

"From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. … And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God."

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us!

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