Queenship of Mary Part 1

Why do we Catholics pray, "Hail, holy Queen"?  Because the Bible teaches us that Mary is Queen Mother of the King of kings!  To understand this, we must go back to the Old Testament....

King David was a great warrior and leader who became king of Israel about a thousand years before Christ.  He established a long line of kings who ruled from Jerusalem, David's capital city.  His son and successor, Solomon built a beautiful temple that became the center of worship for the Jewish people.  Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, was instrumental in her son's being named David's successor.  Soon after Solomon was enthroned, Bathsheba came to ask a favor.  Solomon, rose, bowed down to her, and provided a throne for her on his right.  In doing so, Solomon established an institution known as the "queen mother" (1 Kings 1-2). 

The queen mother became an essential part of Judah's kingship, the "house of David."  Each queen mother was listed in the succession records of the kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:21; 15:13; 2 Kings 12:1; 14:2; 15;2).  For almost four hundred years, the institution of the queen mother was a fact of life in Judah.  The king succeeded to the throne through his mother.  The queen mother was counselor to the king, and in one case ruled for a time after the son died (2 Kings 11:1-3).  When the Jewish people thought of the house of David, therefore, they would picture the king on his throne, and at his right, the queen mother on her throne.

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. and most of the people were led into exile.  Eventually, they were allowed to return home, but one nation after another kept the Jews under subjugation.  It appeared that the House of David was extinct.

But appearances were wrong.  God sent his son, Jesus, who was born of Mary, of the family of David.  His foster father, Joseph, was also of David's family.  When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he said: "And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus...and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:31-32)."  Since God gave Jesus "the throne of his ancestor David, " Jesus, like Solomon, would be expected to set up a throne at his right hand and seat his Queen Mother upon it.
by Father Oscar Lukefahr, C.M.