Being the Mother of the King of Kings, she is the first Lady in Heaven.  And just as on this earthly plane the first lady in the land here in the United Kingdom is Queen Elizabeth, so we rightly regard and honour Our Lady as Queen of Heaven, for no one has a position so exalted as hers.  This truth is depicted in famous paintings of the ‘Coronation of the Virgin’; for example, that by Rubens.

The honour which we give to Our Lady is no different, except in degree, from that which we give to any other human being.  We do not commit the idolatry of giving her that adoration which belongs to God alone.  We just acknowledge that she has a greater claim to be honoured and revered than has any human being.  In the words of John Keble’s hymn,

“Ave Maria! thou whose name
all but adoring love may claim…”. (3)

The best known and most widely used prayer to Our Lady is, of course, the Hail Mary, based on two passages from St Luke’s Gospel.  The first passage (Luke 1:28) is the Archangel Gabriel’s own salutation.  The second (Luke 1:42) is Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death”.

This prayer is also very popular in the Latin version, “Ave Maria”, which we hear sung on the radio or television by well-known stars to the familiar Bach-Gounod setting.