A Call to Make the Queenship of Mary a Holy Day of Obligation

On August 22nd we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. 

Different days in the liturgical year have different ranks.

The Queenship of Mary is ranked a memorial.  (This ranking is found in the Liturgical Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States of America, 2025.)

“Pius XII, by his encyclical letter of October 11, 1954, granted the unanimous desire of the faithful and their pastors and instituted the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary, giving sanction thus to a devotion that was already paid by the faithful throughout the world to the sovereign Mother of heaven and earth.” (Catholic Culture.)

A memorial is the lowest rank between a solemnity, feast, and memorial (Catholic Answers).

On a memorial, the Gloria is not done (Catholic Answers).  Not glorious!

I think the Queenship of Mary deserves an upgrade.  I argue for it being a holy day of obligation and a solemnity.

The memorial was set by Pope Pius XII for 8 days after the Assumption, so there is an octave (EWTN).

An octave is “eight days of rejoicing in which we celebrate each day as though it were the feast day itself.” (Get Fed.)  Octaves are assigned for the Church’s most important feast days (Get Fed.)

On the day of her Queenship we remember and recognize Mary as Queen of heaven and earth.

We remember and recognize her as

·       assumed into heaven body and soul because her body was not fit for the grave. 

·       Mother of the Son of God, mother of the apostles, and mother of all creation.

·       seated on her throne in heaven wearing a crown dressed in majesty with her scepter.

A holy day of obligation is a principal feast day “on which, in addition to Sundays, Catholics are obliged by Church law to participate in the Eucharist” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, pg. 882).

A solemnity is the highest rank of celebration (Catholic Answers).  “The Gloria and Creed are always said on such days.  Solemnities are like Sundays, though most of them are not days of obligation.” (Catholic Answers.)

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States of America have made the Assumption of Mary a holy day of obligation for Latin Rite Catholics (USCCB).

The Queenship of Mary should also be a holy day of obligation.

It incorporates and fulfills the Assumption.

Asking Catholics to go to mass again is not too much.

It is a honor and privilege to celebrate her Queenship.

The Church year reaches its high point with Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  After this solemnity, the year ends and a new one begins.

We should give more esteem and reverence to the Queenship of Mary.  The more we esteem and revere her, the more she can help us.

The Hail, Holy Queen prayer is instructive.  She is truly “our life, our sweetness, and our hope.”.  It is her that shows us “the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus” after our exile.

No Mary equals no Jesus and no end to the exile.

We should give her the attention she deserves.  She is waiting for us!