Rome, no Christian city or center has ever claimed to possess the bodily
remains of the Virgin Mary. No doubt her relics would have been regarded
of greater value than those of other Apostles or Saints, so close was she to
Christ.
Of the Mother of God no relics were to remain. The Immaculate
Conception, formed by the Holy Spirit, and which formed the body of
Christ, would not be allowed to see corruption. In her Assumption the
Virgin Mary shows forth the fullness of redemption and is an example of
what will happen to all one day. After all, as God took her glorified body
into heaven, so will He take the glorified bodies of all the Just on the last
day.
Second objection: “The worship of Mary as Queen of Heaven is
another form of Catholic idolatry similar to what the Prophet
Jeremiah preached against before Jerusalem's destruction.”
What the Prophet Jeremiah was speaking against was the rampant idolatry
infecting Judah during the late seventh and early sixth century BC,
involving Baal worship and human sacrifice: “The children gather wood,
the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the
queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to
provoke me to anger”
(Jer. 7:18). There can be no comparison between
Catholic veneration given to the immaculate Mother of God and the
hideous sacrificial worship of the Canaanites.
The recognition of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven should not be
surprising when we consider the great dignity accorded the Queen-mother
in the Kingdom of Israel. Under the reign of the Davidic kings the Queen-
mother occupied the role of Giberah. In Hebrew, Giberah literally means
“great lady.” The Queen mother sat at the right hand of the king and
intercession was a natural part of her office. Solomon showed great
deference to his mother Bathsheba when she came to ask a favor of him (1
Kgs. 2:19-20) and the ritual that surrounded her intercession suggests that it
was a regular courtly event. In the later history of the Davidic dynasty the
importance of the Queen-mother is testified by the careful recording of her
name after the introduction of each new king (1 Kgs. 14:21; 15:2; 22:42; 2
Kgs. 8:26; 12:2; 14:1; 15:2; 18:2; 21:1; 22:1; 23:31) and by Jeremiah’s
remark, that the Queen-mother wears a diadem like the king (Jer. 13:18).
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