WHY DO CATHOLICS CALL MARY THE “QUEEN OF HEAVEN”?

In the Old Testament, the kings had many concubines but only one mother and a king’s mother was given honor. 

In 2 Kings 24:12 (NLT) “Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians…,” we could see that the mother of the king was called “queen mother.”

In 1 Kings 2:19-21 (NASB) “So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he had a throne set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right,” King Solomon himself gave his mother a royal treatment. He stood to meet her as she approached him, he bowed before her and even had a throne put at his right side for his mother to sit on. Bathsheba came to him to ask a favor for his brother Adonijah. The king listened but had a choice whether to grant the favor or not. Notice also that King Solomon sat on his throne first before the queen mother was given a throne to sit on. These meant that the queen mother was not higher than the king son because if she did, then the king would have obeyed her request and would have not sat before his mother had settled on her throne. 

Jesus came from the lineage of King David. He was the One being prophesied in Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NASB) who will restore the kingdom of David: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely. And do justice and righteousness in the land.  “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’

In the following passages, John, the Evangelist, saw a vision of heaven with Jesus, the Lamb, as King of all kings:

Revelation 19:16 (GNT)    On His robe and on His thigh was written the name: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Revelation 17:14 (GNT)  They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.”

John also saw a woman in heaven with a crown of twelve stars on her head:

Revelation 12:1-9 (GNT)  Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out.

Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born.  Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and His throne.  The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer.   The huge dragon was thrown out—that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

We believe that the woman was Mary. Why? Because it was indicated in the above passage that she gave birth to a Son who will rule over all nations and was taken to God and His throne. If He had a throne, that meant He was a King. The red dragon, which was fought by St. Michael and the angels, was Satan and he wanted to destroy the child as soon as He was born.

As we had mentioned, Jesus is the King of kings. He was the child Satan wanted to destroy but was taken to His throne to rule over all nations. He was born of His mother, who is Mary.

As a King from the lineage of King David, Jesus who perfectly obeys the Law, would definitely honor His mother much more than the kings to their queen mothers in the Old Testament. He would also follow the protocol of having a throne set on His right side for His Queen Mother to sit on. But as in King Solomon, this doesn't mean that Mary is higher than Jesus. He also has a choice to carry on or not the favors that His Mother will ask of Him.

Sources:  

- CatholicBridge.com  http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_queen_of_heaven_and_earth.htm

- Catholic Apologetics  http://www.sandersongs.com/apologetics/Mary.php

- defenders of the Catholic Faith by Stephen Ray  http://www.catholic-convert.com/2012/08/21/mary-queen-of-heaven/

- Catholic Bible Study and Apologetics  http://catholicbiblicalstudies.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-do-catholics-call-mary-queen-of.html

You may also want to read:

-Mary the "Mother of God," we call her this...Does this mean she is greater than God?
  http://iamacatholicbyheart.blogspot.com/2012/08/does-calling-mary-mother-of-god-make.html