REGALITY OF MARY S.M.A. — This is the title indicating the social functions of the Virgin with regard to the Mystical Body and her relationship with the entire universe. The Fathers, the liturgy, the ordinary magisterium, and the entire teaching Church attribute this title to Mary (cf. G. Roschini [V. BIBLICA.]).
I. CONCEPT
The regalty of Mary cannot be conceived except in dependence upon that of Christ, of which it is a participation. The messianic prerogatives of Mary have a true likeness to the powers of Christ the Saviour, but they present specific characteristics. Christ communicates to His Mother a particular affinity, which renders her capable of collaborating with Him, of acting in union with Him, for the same ends, although with an efficacy that, in itself, would be insufficient. To the work of Christ the King, as to that of Christ the Redeemer, Mary brings a kind of complement, which the Father foresees, wills, and deigns to accept as intimately conjoined with the action, which alone is necessary, of the Saviour. Therefore, while participating in the regalty of Christ, that of Mary does not coincide perfectly with it, above all because of the character of subordination inherent in II. It would be to distort the genuine concept of the regalty of Mary if one saw in it only a primacy of excellence, founded on the gifts of nature and grace. Mary is the masterpiece of the universe, and by her perfections she towers above all men and angels; this moral primacy is affirmed in the litanies, where she is invoked as Queen of the Patriarchs, of the Prophets, of the Apostles, and of all the saints; but it does not constitute the regalty of Mary. Nor would one arrive at the essence of this regalty if one were to acknowledge in it only that universal dominion which St. Paul attributes to the Christian (1 Cor. 3:21-23). Union with Christ introduces the faithful into His rights, making them sons in Him who is the eternal Son. Mary too is, with singular excellence, a daughter of the Father, and shares, more than anyone, in the universal dominion of the adopted sons. But the regalty proper to the Mother of Jesus is of another order, immeasurably higher, inasmuch as it confers upon her an authority which exercises its influence upon the destiny of men and of the world.II. FOUNDATIONS AND NATURE
One must go beyond the sphere of realities; a queen-mother does not participate in the regal prerogatives of her son; from him she derives only a moral prestige. Entirely different is the case of the Mother of Jesus. Her dignity as Mother of the King of kings constitutes her a true queen, since her motherhood, by the will of God, is surrounded by particular privileges that raise her throne beside that of her Son. The bull of Pius IX, *Ineffabilis Deus* (v.), affirms that motherhood intimately associates Mary with her Son, rendering her a partaker of His messianic functions, which she exercises with Him, in dependence upon Him, and with certain restrictions arising from her condition as a woman. St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 3a, q. 27, a. 5 ad 3) emphasizes this aspect: “There is no doubt that the Blessed Virgin received excellently the gift of wisdom, the grace of miracles, and even the gift of prophecy, as Christ did. Nevertheless, she was not granted to exercise fully the activity of these gifts or of others analogous to them, as Christ did, but only in the measure that befitted her condition... For this reason she did not use her wisdom to teach, because that would not have been fitting for a woman.” The teaching of Pius IX is founded in Revelation. The Protoevangelium (Gen. 3:14-15), considered in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, announces the arising of a woman who will be a partaker of the messianicity of her Son and dependent upon Him. Like a new Eve, she must participate in the functions of a new Adam, who will be born of her and who will create for God a new people, redeeming it, sanctifying it, and governing it according to the eternal designs of mercy. The Gospel better delineated the features of the woman of the promise, and the living thought of the Church increasingly became aware of the place of such a woman in the economy of salvation. Now the woman of Genesis clearly appears in the plan of an intimate participation in the messianic prerogatives of her Son.This law of the “communicatio” of His salvific attributes made by Jesus to His Mother, for a cooperation most intimate, albeit subordinate, is the principle upon which rests the participation of the Virgin in the redemption of mankind and authorizes the proclamation of the regalty of Mary. With her assent, the Virgin, on the day of the Annunciation, gave in the person of Christ a head who was to guide all men of good will, in that organic company which is the Church, to the possession of the infinite Good. In this way, a new impulse toward the Father arose from the fiat of the Virgin. Mary, however, did not remain only at the beginning of this orientation. By her participation in the messianic prerogatives of the Son, all the redeemed are placed under her governance. The God-Man, born of Mary, is the King of the universe by absolute right, inseparable from His person (right by nature) and also by acquired right (right by title) through the new title of Redeemer (v. REGALITY OF JESUS CHRIST). Now since it is certain that the Virgin collaborated with the Redeemer in the salvation of the world, it must be held that she also participates in that regalty which her Son acquired by His blood. Coredemption is a new title to the universal regalty of Mary. The existence of Mary unfolded in parallel with that of Jesus, but modeled upon it and moving in the orbit of His Mysteries. It is in heaven, at the right hand of the Father, in the omnipotence of His glorified regalty, that Jesus is fully Christ and Lord. Similarly, from the moment of her presence beside her Son, in her Assumption, Mary, reaping the fruits of coredemption, exercises her universal regalty over the redeemed and over the world, whose destiny is bound up with that of souls (Rom. 8:19-22).
The work of objective redemption is finished. But Christ now applies redemption to individual souls in the Church (subjective redemption). The royal priesthood of Christ is in act because, through individual impulses of grace and, in a particular way, through the gift of perseverance, the faithful are led toward their supreme destiny. To designate this activity of salvation, the liturgy employs the verb *gubernare*, which emphasizes the regal character, that is, the impulse which it gives to souls so that they may attain their supernatural end (cf. Heb. 9:24; 7:25; 4:9). In her dignity as the new Eve, beside Christ, Mary reigns from on high over the redeemed. United to her Son, the Coredemptrix continues the work begun at the Cross; she completes her mediation: she obtains that the treasury of merits and graces acquired—and to which she added the supplication of her prayer and her tears—be distributed. Certainly, the distribution of any grace cannot be conceived without the intervention of the Most Holy Trinity and of Christ; only this intervention is absolutely indispensable, only it is sufficient. No one, however, can deny that God willed that Mary exercise her maternal influence in the distribution of grace. The Supreme Pontiffs, the theologians, the faithful subscribe to the affirmation of St. Bernard: “Everything comes to us through Mary” (cf. Pius XII, Discourse at the Coronation of the Madonna of Fatima, in AAS, 38 [1946], p. 266). The Virgin Mary, as Queen, guides the faithful toward heaven, and introduces them into it, inasmuch as she participates in the distribution of all graces and in a most particular way of that of final perseverance. Thus, at every subsequent moment of their lives, the faithful are governed by a tenderness and a regal authority, led surely, if they heed her favors, into eternal happiness.
Pius XI, in his encyclical *Ingravescentibus malis* of 29 September 1937, urged all the faithful to invoke the august Queen of Heaven against atheistic communism, which threatened Europe (AAS, 29 [1937], p. 380). He also blessed and approved the erection of a cathedral at Port Said and the plan to dedicate it to Mary as “Queen of the Universe,” sending a legate for its consecration and offering a gold-and-diamond necklace for the statue of Mary the Queen. He likewise permitted the insertion in the Litany of Port Said of the invocation: “Queen of the world, pray for us” (ibid., p. 373). Pius XII, in the solemn formula of consecration of the Church and of mankind to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, invoked the Blessed Virgin as “Queen of the world.” Liturgical texts continually apply to Mary the title of “Queen”: “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven, rejoice,” “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Glorious Queen of the world,” etc.
III. FUNCTIONS
It is now fitting to ask what part the Virgin may have in the legislative, judicial, or coercive power of Christ the King, and what contribution she can make to the exercise of these powers. The answer, with St Thomas, is that Mary can be invested with these powers without possessing their full exercise, which is conditioned by her state “secundum quod conveniebant conditioni ipsius” (Sum. Theol., 3ª, q. 27, a. 5 ad 3). Christ the King is the supreme legislator of the New Covenant; He is the source of the laws that form the substance of His spiritual kingdom. The Virgin Queen contributes to these laws insofar as they are destined for a people that is also her people. In reality she promulgates them together with her Son, approving them with the fullness of her wisdom and adhering to them with all the strength of her spirit. She obtains for the faithful the graces necessary to love the law effectively, to apply it to concrete situations, and to practice it without weakness. Hence the liturgy justly addresses to Mary the prayer: “Nuntia, corda tu dirigas.” Moreover, St Thomas teaches (Sum. Theol., 1ª-2ª, q. 108, a. 1) that the New Law consists principally in the grace of the Holy Spirit, and that all else is secondary—whether to dispose men to receive the interior law or to indicate how they must conform to all its demands. It follows that even if Mary were not involved in the promulgation of the precepts of the New Testament, the essential element of that law, which is a law of love acting inwardly, would belong fully to her, since every grace is hers and the interior law of love is the noblest and most necessary manifestation of the government that directs souls to their end. Thus is revealed the regal power of the Madonna in the share that belongs to her in giving birth to and developing the dynamic interior law that is the characteristic aspect of the New Testament.As for the judicial and coercive powers, it is not indispensable that they be found in the regal function of the Madonna. On the other hand, there seems to be no reason not to attribute them to her in their substantial reality. With regard to their actual exercise, it suffices—so as to safeguard the maternal character of her queenship—to invoke the principle enunciated by St Thomas concerning the restriction of the gifts truly possessed by the Virgin in relation to their use. Indeed, tradition, which acknowledges her as Mother of Mercy, does not appear to assign her any part in the exercise of the Son’s ministry of justice. With the Church we hail the Madonna as Queen of all mercy: “Salve Regina, mater misericordiae.” — Vedi tav. XXXI.