The Gebirah: Our Advocating Queen Mother

The "Advocate" in light of Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium

Sacred Tradition

Now let us turn our focus to the "Advocate" in light of Catholic tradition and the writings of the Magisterium. From the Early Church we see Mary as Advocate clearly in the writings of St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and Tertullian. ¹ There are other Early Church Fathers and writers, but these will suffice for this paper. St. Justin Martyr speaks of Eve in a letter as the virgin who "conceived the word of the serpent" and "brought forth disobedience and death." It is through Mary's faith and obedience to God that she destroys the serpent and sin. ² Tertullian says in De Carne Christi, "Eve believed the serpent and conceived the Devils word; whereas Mary believed the angel and conceived in her womb the Word of God." ³ Even though these writers make profound statements on Mary, it's St. Irenaeus that corners the market on her advocacy and how she relates to Eve --

And if the former [Eve] did disobey God, yet the latter [Mary] was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate [Latin: advocata] of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so it is rescued by a Virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. ⁴

Furthermore, he continues to relate Mary as advocate to the virginal Eve in Proof of the

Apostolic Teachings when he writes,

And just as it was through a virgin who disobeyed that man was stricken and fell and died, so too it was through the Virgin who obeyed and the word of God that man, resuscitated by life, received life. For the Lord came to seek back the lost sheep, and it was man who was lost; and therefore he did not become some other formation, but likewise of her that was descended from Adam, preserved the likeness of formation; for, Adam had necessarily to be restored in Christ; that mortality be absorbed by immortality and Eve in Mary; that a Virgin became the advocate of a virgin should undo and destroy virginal disobedience by virginal obedience. ⁵

Throughout the centuries, many great Catholic theologians wrote about the advocacy of Mary: St. Ephraim writes about Mary as "the friendly advocate of sinners." ⁶ St. Germanus of Constantinople says about her role as advocate:

For, just as in your Son's presence you have a mother's boldness and strength, do you wish your prayers and intercessions save and rescue us from eternal punishment, for we have been condemned by our sins and do not care even to lift our eyes to heaven above. ⁷

St. Romanus the Singer writes, "Cease your lamentations, I shall be your advocate with my Son" to describe Mary's relationship with Adam and Eve. ⁸St. Bernard of Clairvaux writes about the advocacy role of Mary by saying, "You wish to have an advocate with him [Christ]? . . . Have recourse to Mary" and during an Advent homily he says, "Our Lady, our Mediatrix, our Advocate, reconcile us to your Son, commend us to your Son, represent us before you Son." ⁹

Magisterial Writings

The Popes began referring to Mary as the "Advocate" in the 16^th century. The Popes who used the advocacy title are: Leo X (1520), Sixtus V (1587), Clement IX (1667) and Clement XI (1708). Pope Pius X writes a prayer (Virgine Sanctissima) and says, "Ah! Do thou, our Blessed Mother, Our Queen and Advocate..."¹⁰ Pope Pius XI speaks of Mary as Advocate when he writes, "the advocate of sinners and dispenser and mediatrix of his grace." ¹¹ Along with the Popes, the Vatican II Council document, Lumen Gentium uses the title of Advocate in paragraph 62: "Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." ¹²Finally, John Paul II quotes St. Irenaeus and Lumen Gentium when speaks of Mary, the Advocate caring for her children and working in union with the second and third persons of Blessed Trinity:

Mary exercises her role as "Advocate" by cooperating both with the Spirit (the Paraclete) and with the one who interceded on the Cross for his persecutors (cf. Lk 23:24), whom John calls our "advocate with the Father" (1 Jn 2:1). As a mother, Mary defends her children and protects them from the harm caused by their own sins. ¹³

The Queen Mother in light of Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium

Sacred Tradition

Since we have extensively examined the "Advocate" role of Mary in light of Sacred Tradition and the magisterial teachings, let us now focus and examine the queen mother in the same light as above. In regards to the Early Church, there are not many precise and transparent accounts of the Mary as our Queen. However, beginning in the 8^th century and continuing to the 20^th century, the writings increase dramatically from the Church Fathers and other scholastic authors and theologians. ¹⁴ The Fathers and theologians that speak of Mary as our Queen are:

St. Andrew of Crete (d. c. 727) - refers to Mary as "Regina universorum hominum" ¹⁵, St. Germain of Constantinople (d. 733), St. John Damascene (d. 749) - says Mary is the "Mother of the Creator" ¹⁶and Eadmer of Canterbury (d. 1124) frequently style Mary "Queen of the universe," "Queen of the human race," etc. In the Middle Ages one of the most articulate champions of Mary's royal dominion was unquestionably St. Bernadine of Siena (d. 1444). [Bernadine of Siena taught that Mary reigned over all creatures, including souls on earth, in purgatory, and in heaven, and even all devils. In her title of "Queen of Mercy", she protects and intercedes. ¹⁷

Beginning in the 17^th century, we find not only the explicit and frequent statement of the doctrine, but also its theological elaboration. The most important names in this connection are F. Suarez, S.J. (d. 1617), C de Vega, S.J. (d. 1672), and especially the Augustinian Bartholomew de los Rios (d. 1652) - "Mary's queenship as a real dominion." ¹⁸ In the 20^th century several Marian Congresses and an imposing number of bishops have only endorsed the thesis while urging the Holy See to honor Mary's Queenship with a liturgical feast similar to that of Christ the King. ¹⁹

Furthermore, St. Alphonsus Liguori gives a majestic account on the doctrine of the Queenship of Mary. St. Alphonsus thinks the Church honors Mary through her dignity as Mother of the King of Kings. She is our Queen. The King of the Universe is Jesus; therefore, the Queen is Mary. ²⁰St. Alphonsus' doctrine of Mary lies heavily in her title as "Queen of Mercy." He writes that Mary...

...is not a queen of justice, intent on the punishment of the wicked, but a queen of mercy, intent on commiserating and pardoning sinners. And this is the reason for which the Church requires that we should expressly call her 'the Queen of Mercy.'...St. Bernard asks why the Church calls Mary 'the Queen of Mercy'? And he replied, that 'it is because we believe that she opens the abyss of the mercy of God to whomsoever she wills, when she wills, and as she wills; so that there is no sinner, however good, who is lost if Mary protects him.'...Let us, then, fly, fly always, to the feet of this most sweet Queen, if we would be certain of salvation; and if we are alarmed and disheartened at the sight of our sins, let us remember that it is in order to save the greatest and most abandoned sinners, who recommend themselves to her, that Mary is made the Queen of Mercy. ²¹

Magisterial Writings

J.B. Carol states that Mary, the Blessed Lady, has been declared as "Queen" by nearly fourteen different popes. This of course has increased to probably eighteen Popes since Carol's Fundamentals of Mariology was published in 1956. He states that Gregory II (715-731) was the first to declare Mary as Queen in his papal documents. ²²Since there is such a great number of Popes who have mentioned Mary as Queen in their magisterial writings, I will only quote a few.

Pope Sixtus V speaks of Mary in Cum Praecelsa (1477) as "the Queen of Heaven, the glorious Virgin Mother of God, raised upon her heavenly throne." ²³ In his papal work, Ad Diem Illum (1904), Pope St. Pius X, writes that is through the redemptive work of Christ, Mary shares and participates in her role as Queen. ²⁴And finally, Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation, Marialis Cultus, he demonstrates the connection of Mary's queenship and her Assumption into Heaven, specifically the Solemnity of the Assumption that is celebrated on August 15. He continues to show that being an intercessory for us, to her son, Jesus Christ, our King, fulfills her queenship. In paragraph 6, he says, "On this occasion we contemplate her who, seated beside the King of ages, shines forth as Queen and intercedes as Mother." ²⁵

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have looked extensively at Mary as Queen Mother and as the Advocate who works in cooperation with Jesus, our Savior. Beginning in the Old Testament scriptures we examined the Gebirah - the Great Lady who sits at the right hand of her son. Calling to mind that this Great Lady will look to Mary in the New Covenant and in the Kingdom of God. We showed that this title has its origins in the Gentile kingdoms as well as in the Davidic kingdom. We looked briefly at the importance of Isaiah 7:14 - the prophecy of Emmanuel. Extensively, we examined the roles of Queen and Advocate in the New Testament scriptures, with the climax of these roles being fulfilled at the Wedding at Cana. Here Mary is our Co-Redemptrix with Christ. Lastly, we demonstrated by means of Sacred Tradition and the magisterial documents of the Popes as well as the writings of the early church fathers, scholastic authors, and theologians come to understand Mary as Advocate and Queen, specifically citing St. Alphonsus Ligouri and his thoughts on Mary as the "Queen of Mercy."

So how as Christians should we come to Mary? We should come to her as children seeking salvation and longing to be held in our motherly arms of love and mercy. She is our not only our queen and advocate, but she is also our Mother. We need to sprint into her loving arms for it is through her that we receive Christ. The words of John 19 come to mind - "Woman, behold your Son" and "Behold, your Mother." We as Christians must be like John who took Mary into his home. We are to bring her not just into our physical home, but also into the home, which is our heart. Mary is our Gebirah who intercedes for us as our advocating queen mother.