(See also Pope Pius XII’s 1954 encyclical letter Ad Caeli Reginam.)

The Fifth Glorious Mystery has also been part of the Church’s Tradition since the earliest times, although Pope Pius XII added it to the Church’s liturgical calendar as a memorial (celebrated now on Aug. 22) only in 1954. That should not surprise us: Jesus was called a “king” already in his day, but the Solemnity of Christ the King became part of the Church calendar only in 1925. Once again, we see the importance of the Church’s Tradition in telling us about the Church’s faith.

But why these royal feasts? Fewer and fewer people — including fewer Catholics — today live in kingdoms. Aren’t these feasts a bit … well, outdated?

No.

First, these feasts remind us that we are not just citizens of the earthly city. Human government is real and even deserves our respect: “Let everyone be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God …” (Romans 13:1). While Jesus speaks of “things of God” and “things of Caesar,” that doesn’t mean that even Caesar got his “things” except from God. And even when Pilate tries to throw his authority around (“Do you not know that I have the power to release you and I have the power to crucify you?” —John 19:10), Jesus sets him straight: “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above” (v. 11).

So, yes, earthly power is real but it is limited. It answers to a higher authority. As do we.

Second, that higher authority is not founded “on the will of the governed.” It is founded on God, and God is not elected by man. It is established by God on truth and goodness because God is Truth (John 14:6) and the Supreme Good, neither of which is defined by man or constituted by his “choice.” Those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven do so because their will is good, but even those in hell are not free to overthrow God’s kingdom and set up an alternate regime. They would like to — “better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven,” wrote Milton — but even Satan’s failed state exists because God, in his Truth, cannot let evil masquerade as “good.”

The Resurrection made clear that God, not the devil nor sinful man, will have the last word in history. The Resurrection made clear that good, not evil, will triumph. So, the Kingdom of Heaven bears witness to that ultimate truth about the reality of human history, of the universe, and of all being. 

We human beings are invited to that Kingdom, and our response is a matter of our free will. But whether we choose to be for or against God doesn’t change the fact that God is God, we are not, and we are not going to redefine truth and goodness to suit our preferences.

Third, Mary shows us what it means to be a subject of that Kingdom. Her response to the Annunciation — to God’s plan for her life — was not, “Let me get back to you on that.” It was a recognition, in loving trust, of who God is and who she is, a recognition that culminated in the simple answer, “Fiat!” “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

Jesus let us in on the secret of his Kingdom: “The greatest among you must be the servant of the others” (Matthew 23:11). Mary’s answer was “I am the handmaid of the Lord.” That’s why she’s Queen of Heaven. Satan’s answer was “Non serviam” (“I will not serve”). That’s why he’s in the pit of Hell.

It’s not that God is vengeful. It’s that truth is truth, and cannot be remade to accommodate a lie. Ultimately, every person has to pick sides, sides not dependent on his choices but to whose allegiance his choices make him adhere.

Fourth, Mary is Queen of Heaven for several reasons:

She is the Mother of God, who bore Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Her role in human salvation is unique and irreplaceable. Notice the verb: “is.” Her irreplaceable role did not end when, “having completed the course of her earthly life,” she was assumed body and soul into heaven.

Mary still bears Jesus to us. She is our Mother, given that role in a privileged setting: by her Son as he hung dying on Calvary (John 19:27). She is Mother of the Church. She continues his work of salvation through her intercession: it’s why, in this Rosary, you repeatedly ask her prayers “now and at the hour of our death.” Salvation is not the business of loners: the saved are part of a family, part of a Kingdom. And families have mothers. That last idea should not be revolutionary.

God is just. No human person ever loved God more or followed him more faithfully than Mary. Why would we not expect her, then, to occupy the highest place in heaven? When he spoke of his Ascension, Jesus said “I am going away to prepare a place for you. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places” (John 14:2). In what other spot would Jesus have put his Mother?

Who else would we truly want as our Mother and Queen than she whose life fully revealed what a human life should look like? Besides God, with and under whom else would we want to spend eternity?

Today’s mystery is depicted in art by Democrito Bernardo Bitti, an artist and Jesuit priest who lived in the second half of the 16th century. Although he grew up and learned the artistic trade in what is today’s Italy, he applied his talents as a missionary in decorating churches in Peru (where this painting is to be found), then the seat of Spanish power in South America. He is usually called a “mannerist” artist, a development in Renaissance art that reacted against the rational styles and proportions of earlier compositions through a wild, sometimes exaggerated floridity. Look at the angels in this painting: they crowd in where they can, all over the place. Earlier Renaissance painting would have been marked by symmetries, balance and much more “proportion.”

Bitti’s “Coronation of the Virgin” dates from the late 1500s.  Note the year: clearly, the idea of Mary, Queen of Heaven, goes way back in the Church’s Tradition. The work contains many of the elements typical of “Coronation of Mary” art. Mary is always presented as being crowned, either by Jesus himself or, more typically, the entire Trinity. After all, Mary’s cooperation in the work of salvation is cooperation in the plans of the whole Trinity: the loving plan of the Father, realized through the Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary is daughter, mother and spouse.

Mary is always presented in her characteristic attitude: humility. “The Almighty has done great things for me,” not “high flying, adored.”

In this scene, the angels crowd around and witness the scene. The Archangel Gabriel had a prominent role in Mary’s life, so the angels are part of this event. But the angels are not just simply onlookers, curiosity-seekers trying to get into the “coronation of the year” (because it’s not one of the year but of eternity). No, the word “angel” itself means “messenger,” i.e., those who most directly serve God. The heavenly court is one of servants who love being where they’re at and are where they’re at because they love. That painting shows that. I especially note the musical angels on the bottom right and left: as Josef Pieper reminded us, “only the lover sings.” No doubt that event’s song was Te Deum Laudamus, to be repeated with still greater gusto at the end of time.