"The Mother of Christ is glorified as universal Queen. The one who at the Annunciation defined herself as the handmaid of the Lord was throughout her earthly life faithful to what this name expresses, thus confirming that she was a true "disciple" of Christ, who strongly emphasized the service character of her own mission: the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mt 20:28). For this reason Mary was the first among those who, "serving Christ also in others, lead their brothers and sisters in humility and patience to the King, whose service is tantamount to reigning" (Const. Lumen Gentium, 36), and she fully achieved that "state of royal freedom" proper to Christ's disciples: to serve means to reign! (...). The glory of serving does not cease to be his royal exaltation; he is assumed into heaven, and this does not end his salvific service... "1.
The dogma of the Assumption, which we celebrated last week, leads us naturally to the feast we are celebrating today, the Royalty of Mary. Our Lady ascended to heaven in body and soul to be crowned by the Blessed Trinity as Queen and Lady of Creation: "when the course of her earthly life was ended, she was assumed in body and soul into glory and was exalted by the Lord as universal Queen so that she might more fully resemble her Son, Lord of lords (cf. Rev 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death. "2 This truth has been affirmed since very ancient times by the piety of the faithful and taught by the Church's Magisterium. St. Ephrem puts on Mary's lips these beautiful words: "Heaven holds me in its arms, because I am more honored than it is itself. For heaven was only your throne, not your mother. How much more worthy of honor and veneration is the King's Mother than his throne!
It was very frequent to express this title of Mary by the custom of crowning the images of the Blessed Virgin in a canonical manner, by express concession of the Popes.5 Christian art, since the first centuries, has represented Mary as Queen and Empress, sitting on a royal throne, with the insignia of royalty and surrounded by angels. Sometimes she is represented at the moment of being crowned by her Son. And the faithful have had recourse to her with these prayers: Salve Regina, Ave Regina caelorum, Regina coeli laetare... so many times repeated.
On many occasions we have had recourse to her by reminding her of this beautiful title of her royalty, and we have considered it in the fifth glorious mystery of the Holy Rosary. Today, in our prayer and throughout the day, we do so in a special way. "You are all beautiful, and there is no stain on you. You are a closed garden, my sister, a bride, a closed garden, a sealed spring. Come: coronaberis. Come: you shall be crowned (Song 4, 7, 12 and 8).
"If you and I had had power, we would have made her also Queen and Lady of all creation.
"A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman with a crown of twelve stars on her head. Dressed in the sun. The moon at her feet (Rev 12:1) . The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit crown her as Empress who is of the Universe.
"And the angels and the patriarchs and the prophets and the apostles... and the martyrs and the confessors and the virgins and all the saints... and all sinners and you and I, pay homage to her as vassals.