Queen of Hearts: Embracing Mary’s Reign in Our Lives

Fr. Scott Haynes

A Meditation on the feast of the Queenship of Mary: May 31

"She is more glorious than the sun, and being compared with the light, she is found before it."— Wisdom 7:29, Douay-Rheims

On this final day of the month of May, the Church fittingly crowns her Marian devotion by celebrating the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As flowers bloom and the world is clothed in beauty, so too does the Church contemplate the glory of the Queen of Heaven, radiant in grace, adorned with every virtue, and seated at the right hand of her divine Son.

Why This Feast? The Act of Pope Pius XII

The feast was instituted by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (October 11, 1954), a profound and tender act of papal devotion. Just four years after the solemn definition of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, the Holy Father turned the faithful’s eyes to the royal dignity of the Mother of God. Pius XII sought to remind the Church of the timeless truth that Mary, being Mother of the King of kings, possesses a participation in His kingship. Her queenship is not metaphorical nor poetic alone—it is a real dignity, flowing from her divine maternity, her unique cooperation in the plan of redemption, and her unrivaled holiness.

At a time when secularism, atheistic communism, and moral confusion were gaining ground, the Pope wished to turn the Church’s gaze to Mary as Queen and Protectress. In a world of rebellion and chaos, she reigns in humility and gentleness—a Queen whose crown was woven with sorrows, whose scepter is love, and whose throne is the pierced heart of her Son.

“If the Word of God is the King of the universe, then surely His Mother is rightly called and truly is Queen of the universe.”— Pope Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam¹

The Biblical Foundations of Her Queenship

Mary’s queenship is prefigured and proclaimed in Sacred Scripture. In the Old Testament, the mother of the king held a position of highest honor. In the Davidic kingdom, the gebirah (great lady or queen mother) sat enthroned beside the king, interceding and acting as a mediator for the people (cf. 1 Kings 2:19). This type finds its perfect fulfillment in Mary, Mother of the true Son of David.

In the Book of Revelation, we see a vision of “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). The Church Fathers and theologians have unanimously seen in this woman a representation of Mary, glorified and crowned in Heaven. Her royalty is the triumph of humility: she who was the handmaid of the Lord is now Queen of Angels and Saints.

Mary: Queen of All Hearts

Mary’s reign is not one of dominion by force, but of motherly authority. Her crown is won by perfect union with Christ. As St. Louis de Montfort teaches, Jesus came to us through Mary, and through Mary He wishes to reign in souls. Her queenship is a spiritual one—she reigns within the hearts of the faithful, molding them after the Heart of her Son.

“She is Queen of heaven and earth by grace, as Jesus is King by nature and by conquest.”— St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary²

This royal dignity makes her the mediatrix of all graces, ever attentive to the needs of her children. Her reign is tender, wise, and solicitous. She defends us from the attacks of the enemy, strengthens us in times of trial, and obtains for us the graces to rise from our falls. Like Esther before King Ahasuerus, she pleads for her people (cf. Esther 5:1–3), and unlike any earthly queen, her petitions are never refused by the King of Heaven.

A Crown of Suffering and Glory

Mary was not crowned with gold and jewels during her earthly life. Her crown was one of suffering—from the moment she heard Simeon’s prophecy that “a sword shall pierce thy own soul” (Luke 2:35), she walked the way of the Cross in union with her Son. She stood at the foot of Calvary, queenly in her silence, majestic in her sorrow, faithful unto the end.

And because she was faithful, God has exalted her. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully says,

“The Queen of Heaven reigns, yet reigns a virgin; she is mighty, yet she is mild; she is great, yet she is humble.”³

In Heaven, her queenship is now manifest. She who bore the King of Heaven is enthroned by His side, interceding for us in glory.

“O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon us… we are all thine and all we have is thine.”— Prayer of Pope Pius XII¹

Our Response to the Queen

To honor Mary as our Queen is to imitate her virtues, to entrust ourselves to her reign, and to strive for holiness under her gentle guidance. Let us crown her not with flowers only, but with acts of virtue, prayers from the heart, and a firm resolution to serve her Son.

As St. Alphonsus Liguori exhorts:

“To love Mary is the shortest, easiest, and most secure way to Jesus Christ.”⁴

Let us offer her our fears, our wounds, our hopes—knowing that no subject of her kingdom is ever abandoned, and no petition is left unheard.

May we daily renew our consecration to her, acknowledging her as Queen of our hearts, homes, and world. May she reign in our lives, that Christ may reign in the world.

Closing Prayer

O Mary, Virgin most powerful and Queen of Heaven,

Rule over us with thy maternal heart.

Turn our gaze always to Christ thy Son,

And make us faithful subjects of thy reign.

By thy intercession, crush the serpent’s head

And bring peace to the world,

That thy Immaculate Heart may triumph

To the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.

Amen.

Footnotes

1. Pope Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam, October 11, 1954, in Acta Apostolicae Sedis 46 (1954): 561–565.

2. St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary, trans. and ed. Father Frederick William Faber (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1993), 41.

3. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, Sermon 5, in The Works of St. Bernard, trans. John A. Redmond (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1971), 115.

4. St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, trans. Father Frederick Faber (Rockford, IL: TAN Books, 1993), 37.