The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of All Saints

Of all the titles given to the Blessed Mother as tokens of devotion, the title “Queen of All Saints” ranks among the most important.

St. Aelred has a tribute to Our Lady that is like a poem: "The Spouse of Our Lord is surely Our Lady; the Spouse of Our King is surely Our Queen." The title "Queen of All Saints" ought to have a special appeal to us all, for it is by this title that She is, in anticipation, our very own Queen, since, by the grace of God, we hope to be numbered among the saints in Heaven one day. Hidden saints, hidden to the world, but known to God and Mary.

The first in that throng of created beings, angels or men, is Mary, so immeasurably above them all that She is, as it were, a distinct creation. St. Anselm says: "O Lady, nothing equals Thee: for all is either above Thee, and this is God alone, or beneath Thee, and this is all that is not God." We have already discussed in many places Mary's holiness, that supremacy of sanctity which is greater than the holiness of all the angels and saints taken together. It is that holiness, given to Her because She is the Mother of God, which makes Her Queen of All Saints, the immeasurably greatest of all the saints. That is the prime meaning of the title, the proclamation of Her personal holiness.

The secondary meaning of this title has a very special interest for us. It is that the saints in Heaven regard Her and venerate Her as their Queen, not only because of Her dignity as Mother of God and Her personal sanctity, but because, if they are saints at all, they owe it, after God, to Her intercession. We have but to recall what we said before about Mary being our Mediatrix, that all graces given to men are dispersed by God through Her hands. Even those who do not know Her, those who ignore Her, belittle Her in their ignorance, receive whatever actual graces they get through Her hands. More so because She is not a mere instrument, but our Intercessor, "our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope." The saints know that well enough. They did not have to reach Heaven to discover that. They realized it on earth, and that is why they are in Heaven today. The saints have been Mary's greatest glorifiers. Their sanctity began when they recognized Her supreme sanctity. Mary is sometimes likened to the moon among lesser stars (“Velut inter stellas luna minores”), meaning that she is the greatest among lesser saints, exceeding all other saints in holiness.

Mary is called the Queen of All Saints because she made the most diligent use of the rich treasure of grace given to her by God and excelled in every virtue much more than every other saint.  All the traits of Jesus were expressed in her as faithfully as they could be expressed in any creature. As she surpasses all saints in choosing a virtuous and meritorious life, so Mary stands higher than all the faithful in receiving glory and reward.  After God there is no greater bliss for the blessed in heaven than to behold her, their glorious Queen.

We should pray to the Queen of All Saints for the grace to remember that God has created us to live a life of holiness in this world and to become saints in heaven.  God will give us enough grace to do this if only we have an earnest desire for holiness just as Mary did.  Holiness does not consist in heroic deeds, but in doing the will of God perfectly, loving God with all our heart and our neighbor for God’s sake, keeping our soul from sin, and being united with God through prayer and the sacraments.  We should pray to Mary to obtain for us the grace to imitate her holiness in this world and enjoy the vision of God and her presence for all eternity in heaven.