Hail Holy Queen

 
I. How Great Should Our Confidence Be in Mary, the Queen of Mercy

As the glorious Virgin Mary has been raised to the dignity of Mother of the King of kings, it is no wonder that the Church honors her and wishes every Christian heart to reverence her under the royal title of Queen.

“If the Son is a King,” says St. Athanasius, “then the Mother who gave Him birth is rightly and truly considered a Queen and Sovereign.”
“No sooner had Mary,” adds St. Bernardine of Siena, “consented to be the Mother of the Eternal Word, than she merited by that very consent to be made Queen of the world and of all creatures.”

St. Bernardine concludes beautifully:

“As many creatures as there are who serve God, so many are there who serve Mary; for as angels and men, and all things in heaven and on earth, are subject to the empire of God, so they are also under the dominion of Mary.”

Mary, then, is a Queen—but for our comfort, she is a Queen whose very nature is sweetness and mercy. The Church, knowing she longs to help us in our miseries, teaches us to salute her as the Queen of Mercy.

St. Albert the Great explains that the title of queen differs from that of empress: empires carry severity and rigor, while queenship is marked by compassion and gentleness toward the poor and suffering.

Seneca wrote that the greatness of kings “consists in relieving the wretched.” Any ruler who cares for the misery of the lowly carries the true heart of a king. How much more Mary, who reigns only to show mercy.

At a king’s consecration, he is anointed with oil—a sign of mercy—to remind him how essential compassion is in ruling. He must be just, yes, but he must also be merciful to those who fall into sin.

Mary, though truly a Queen, is not a queen of stern justice. She is not intent on punishing the guilty, but on pardoning and welcoming the repentant. For this the Church calls her the Queen of Mercy.

It is as if Christ, the King of Justice and Mercy, reserved justice to Himself while giving nearly all mercy to His Mother. Christ will return in justice on the Last Day, but Mary, anointed with the oil of gladness, shows only tenderness in her intercession.

St. Albert beautifully compares her to Queen Esther. When the king had decreed death to the Jews, Esther entered his presence and pleaded: “If I have found favor with you, O King, give me my people.”

The king, moved by love for Esther, granted salvation to her people.

How then could God refuse the prayers of Mary—loving her far more than Ahasuerus loved Esther—when she pleads for us, His poor, miserable children? Mary knows she is beloved by the Holy Trinity. Each of her prayers is, in a way, a holy law upon God’s own heart: that He must show mercy to all for whom she intercedes.

St. Bernard asks: Why does the Church call Mary the Queen of Mercy?

He replies: “Because we believe that she opens the abyss of God’s mercy to whomever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills; so that there is no sinner, however lost, for whom her prayers cannot obtain mercy.”

Pope St. Gregory VII adds: “The holier she is, the greater is her sweetness and compassion toward sinners who seek her help.”

And St. Bernard reminds us: “Why should human frailty fear to go to Mary? In her there is nothing austere. It is all sweetness, offering support to all.”

Even the Emperor Titus once said he preferred to grant a favor rather than send a petitioner away disappointed. If an earthly king felt such compassion, how much greater must be the mercy of our heavenly Queen!

Mary cannot deceive. She can obtain all that she asks for her children. When a repentant sinner approaches her, he may be sure he will be heard. St. Bonaventure tells us:

“Who are the subjects of mercy, if not the miserable? Have pity, then, on us, O Queen of Mercy, and help us along the way of salvation.”

St. George of Nicomedia exclaims:

“Say not, O holy Virgin, that you cannot help us because of the number of our sins. Your power and compassion outweigh them all. Nothing resists your power, for the Creator Himself honors you as His Mother and fulfills your petitions as though He were paying a debt.”

Though Mary is under infinite obligation to her Son for being chosen as His Mother, it is just as true that He is under obligation to her for having taken His human nature from her. And so Jesus delights to honor her by granting all her requests.

How great, then, should be our confidence in this Queen—knowing her power with God and her overflowing mercy! There is not a single soul on earth who cannot share in her compassion and favor.

Our Blessed Lady herself revealed to St. Bridget:

“I am the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Mercy. I am the joy of the just and the door through which sinners are brought to God. There is no sinner on earth so accursed as to be deprived of my mercy.”

PRAYER

O Mother of my God and my Lady Mary, just as a beggar presents himself before a great queen, so I come before you—Queen of Heaven and Earth. From your lofty throne, do not hesitate to look upon me.

God has made you rich so that you may help the poor, and He has made you the Mother of Mercy so that you may help the miserable.

I know I merit nothing. I know I deserve to be deprived of help because I have been ungrateful for God’s graces. Yet in your mercy, take me into your service and help me to be one of your most loving and faithful servants.

O exalted Virgin, Queen of the Universe, help me in this desire to serve you more faithfully.