The Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on August 22, celebrates Mary as Queen of heaven and earth, crowned by her Son. It falls a week after the Assumption, whose joy it completes: Mary, taken body and soul into heaven, reigns with Christ the King as mother and queen. Catholics meditate on it in the fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, the Coronation of Mary, and greet her as queen in the Hail, Holy Queen and the Regina Caeli. In 2027 the memorial falls on a Sunday, so it is not celebrated at Mass that year. Below are the meaning of Mary’s queenship, its roots in Scripture, the history of the feast and prayers.
Why Catholics call Mary Queen
Mary is queen because she is the mother of the King. When the angel announced Christ’s birth, he promised that “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever” (Luke 1:32–33). The mother of a king shares in his dignity, and Mary, more closely united to her Son than any other creature, shares in his kingship in a unique way. Her queenship is not power for its own sake but a queenship of love and service: she intercedes for her children and leads them to her Son.
The queen mother in Scripture
In the kingdom of David, the honored queen was not the king’s wife but his mother, the gebirah or “great lady.” When Bathsheba came to her son King Solomon:
Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand.
Christians have seen in this scene a figure of Mary seated at the right hand of Christ the King. The Book of Revelation describes a woman crowned in heaven, whom the Church has long read as Mary as well as the people of God:
And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars:
History of the feast
Christians have called Mary “Queen” since the early centuries, in hymns like the Salve Regina, the Regina Caeli and the Ave Regina Caelorum, and in the Litany of Loreto, which salutes her as Queen of Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs and all Saints, Queen of Peace and more. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Queenship of Mary in 1954, at the close of a Marian Year, with his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam, setting it on May 31. In the 1969 calendar reform it was moved to August 22, the octave day of the Assumption, linking Mary’s crowning to her Assumption into heaven.
Prayers to Mary, Queen
The Church’s greatest prayer to Mary as Queen is the Hail, Holy Queen (Salve Regina). In the Easter season it is replaced by the Regina Caeli, and the Marian antiphons greet her as Queen throughout the year.
A prayer for the feast, written for this page:
Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, crowned by your Son,
you reign not by power but by love.
Rule over my heart, my home and my work,
and lead me, through all the struggles of this life,
to share one day in the joy of your Son’s kingdom.
Queen of Peace, pray for us and for the whole world. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Queenship of Mary?
August 22, a week after the Assumption. In 2027 August 22 is a Sunday, so the memorial is not celebrated that year.
Which mystery of the Rosary is the Queenship of Mary?
The fifth Glorious Mystery, the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. See the mysteries of the Rosary.
Is Mary’s queenship in the Bible?
Not in so many words, but it is grounded in Scripture: Mary is the mother of the Messiah-King (Luke 1:32–33), the queen mother of the Davidic kingdom foreshadows her (3 Kings 2:19), and the crowned woman of Revelation 12 is read as Mary.
More Marian pages
- Assumption of Mary
- Hail, Holy Queen
- Marian feast days
- Christ the King
- Litany of Loreto
- Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above
Texts and sources
- Luke 1:32–33, 3 Kings 2:19 and Apocalypse 12:1 (Douay-Rheims).
- Pius XII, encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (1954), described, not quoted.