The Queenship and the Kingship
One of the most beautiful things about the Coronation of Mary is the emphasis on her queenship. She is crowned Queen of Heaven. Huzzah!
But, by doing so, that emphasizes His Kingship as well. The only reason why she is queen is because He is King. And, because He is King, she must be a queen.
Looking through the scripture passages of the bible, this becomes crystal clear. For instance! These are the scripture readings that I chose to go along with the mystery of the Coronation of Mary:
NABRE
Luke 1
26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 38Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
And this reading…
NABRE
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. 2She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 4Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
When she gives her fiat, she knows full well that, by doing so, her son will be king. The angel tells her son. And, by doing so, she adopts the role as queen mother. Even though on Earth, she was very poor (and you can tell that the Holy Family was poor, since they gave two turtle doves at the Presentation, which was an offering that poor people could make) she still lived a holy and virtuous life.
The book of Revelation further emphasizes this kingship of her son, while at the same time emphasizing her own important role in salvation history as queen mother. Indeed, in Revelation, she is even described as being crowned with twelve stars! Twelve was an important number in Judaism, as there were twelve tribes of Israel. To have her wear a crown of twelve stars was to use symbolism indicating that she was the queen mother who would redeem Israel, and indeed the whole world.
And so, I loved this picture of the Coronation of Mary:
In it, Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven by Jesus! Angels flock around and Heaven is painted in gold to indicate the richness of the place.
But take a look at what is on top of Jesus’s head! A crown! This picture particularly emphasizes the Kingship of Jesus and makes it absolutely clear that it is He who reigns. He is the one who holds the rod indicating that He is King.
Yet, He shares the glory with her anyway, out of love for her. And all of Heaven rejoices!
And, honestly, I don’t blame Him… wouldn’t you share with your beloved mother?
—
This blog is the last part of a blog series about meditations of the Rosary, in honor for October, which is the month dedicated to the Rosary! This artwork, as well as many others, are available in my book, The Glorious Mysteries, which allows you to pray the Rosary prayer by prayer, with each prayer illustrated with gorgeous religious art. If you would like to learn more about the books, click here!
