The Queenship of Mary

Eight days after the Assumption of Mary, she was crowned Queen of Heaven. Her son is King and Lord, and He declared His mother as Queen.

This declaration in no way requires worship on the part of the faithful. There is but one God in Three Persons. This is an undisputed fact. The Nicene Creed, recited by Catholics world-wide each Sunday as a part of our Mass, is very clear on the subject of belief.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. 

Mary has never been worshiped by Catholics. I don’t know if the idea of worship stems from a misunderstanding on the part of a non-Catholics, or if the false teaching was a part of a campaign to discredit Catholics by those who had broken away from the Church. After all, if there is one thing all Christians agree upon, it’s the idea of but one God. To declare anything else would cause an uprising indeed.

I’m not here to debate the concept of Mary’s Queenship. Even among Catholics, it is not necessarily a concrete fact of faith. I will paraphrase what the Church has said on this controversial subject.

God created Adam and Eve. They fell from God’s graces. In order to reconcile the world, there needed to be a new Adam and a new Eve. God himself came down from heaven, and made the ultimate sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin. This new covenant needed a new Eve; and so God created the Immaculate Conception, Mary, the Mother of God.

Four years after the proclamation of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII instituted the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary with his encyclical letter, Ad Caeli Reginam (The Queen of Heaven). In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the date from October 11 to August 22, eight days after the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In large part, this was done to create an octave of anticipation and to show that the Assumption necessarily results in the Mother of God being also the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth.

As Queen, Mother Mary not only intercedes on our behalf, she also acts as her Son’s mediator. From her heavenly throne, the Queen Mother of Heaven and Earth is entrusted with the grace of God. She is not the source, but she is privileged to be the instrument of distribution. As a loving mother, nothing pleases her more than to lavish every good thing upon her children on earth. She longs to gather all of God’s children together in Heaven, in the presence of her divine Son. And so it is that Catholics acknowledge the Mother of God as our Heavenly Queen.

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Apple Crumb Cake Muffins
Streusel
5 tablespoons Butter
1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Place butter in the freezer, freeze for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer, dice into small pieces.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the flour with the brown sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal; continue mixing the streusel until very small clumps form

Transfer the streusel to a large plate and refrigerate until it is well chilled, about 10 minutes.

Crumb Cake Muffins
8 tablespoons Butter
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 large Egg, beaten
1-1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1-1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
3/4 cup Sour Cream

Heat the oven to 350-degrees. Line 6 jumbo-size muffin cups with paper liners. Spray the liners with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Place butter in the freezer, freeze for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer, dice into small pieces. Peel and finely dice the apple, set aside. Lightly beat egg in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour with the sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and beat at low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and beaten egg; beat until the batter is smooth. Add the diced apple and fold just until incorporated.

Fill the muffin cups halfway with the crumb cake batter. Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle on top. Bake the crumb cakes muffins in the center of the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until risen, golden and springy to the touch; rotate the pans halfway through baking. Let the crumb cake muffins cool for about 5 minutes in the tin before serving.

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You have but one Father in heaven;
you have but one master, the Christ.