you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:10, NW) Nor is even relative worship to be given by one bowing before her image. “You must not make for yourself a carved image . . . You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion.” “I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images.” When John bowed before even a living angel he was reproved: “Do not do that! . . . Worship God.”—Ex. 20:4, 5, NW; Isa. 42:8, AS; Rev. 19:10, NW.

In what way, then, is she pronounced happy? Is it because of being the “woman” spoken of prophetically in Genesis 3:15? No, for the woman that was to bring forth the serpent-bruising Seed, later promised to come through the line of Abraham, is identified in Galatians 4:26 as “Jerusalem above,” the universal organization of God.—Gen. 22:18.

Is she declared happy because of being the “woman” referred to in the symbolic account of Revelation chapter 12? Again, No. It could not possibly be discussing the human birth of Jesus. The Revelation was given to John in the year 96 (A.D.), years after the birth of Christ, and it is introduced with the clear statement that these events were yet future.—Rev. 1:1.

Is her joy, then, as Co-Redemptrix of the human race? St. Alphonsus Liguori ascribes that position to her by saying, “There is no one . . . who can be saved or redeemed but through thee, O Mother of God.” But the Bible firmly declares: “Jesus Christ the Nazarene, . . . there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” (Acts 4:10-12, NW) And Revelation 7:10 excludes Mary when it says: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”—NW.

May she be pronounced happy as the Mediatrix of mankind? Let God have the say as to the truth of the matter by accepting the statement in his Word: “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all.”—1 Tim. 2:5, 6, NW.

Certainly all will agree that Mary’s was a happy lot as the earthly mother of Jesus, but her lot as a disciple of Jesus was a source of even greater joy. When Jesus was on one occasion teaching a crowd, a woman raised her voice in sincere expression, saying, “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that you sucked!” That is to this day the feeling of many. But Jesus corrected the woman: “No, rather, Happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it!” It was in this that Mary found her greater happiness.—Luke 11:27, 28, NW.

“QUEEN OF HEAVEN”

Mary is much spoken of in Catholic groups as the “Queen of Heaven” and the “Queen of Peace.” This is not a new thought, for early apocryphal writings ascribed great honor to her as the “Mother of God.” But let us go back much before that, into ancient Babylon with its pagan religion, to find its beginning. “Under the name of the ‘Mother of the gods,’ the goddess queen of Babylon became an object of almost universal worship. ‘The Mother of the gods,’ says Clericus, ‘was worshipped by the Persians, the Syrians, and all the kings of Europe and Asia, with the most profound religious veneration.” How did the practice creep into the “Christian” world? “The worship of the goddess-mother with the child in her arms continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity entered. . . . With the generality it came only in name. Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess being cast out, in too many cases her name only was changed. She was called the Virgin Mary, and, with her child, was worshipped with the same idolatrous feeling by professing Christians, as formerly by open and avowed Pagans.”—The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop.

Note, too, the madonnas of Christendom. Until Raphael departed from the conventional, Mary was never painted with the Hebrew features of her people and with the dark eyes and hair so common to them. She, like most of the pagan madonnas, has usually been portrayed with golden hair and blue eyes, just as the goddess-queen of Babylon. “There is yet another remarkable characteristic of these pictures worthy of notice, and that is the nimbus or peculiar circle of light that frequently encompasses the head of the Roman Madonna. . . . The disk, and particularly the circle, were the well-known symbols of the Sun-divinity, and figured largely in the symbolism of the East. . . . The same was the case in Pagan Rome. Apollo, as the child of the Sun, was often thus represented.”—The Two Babylons, page 87.

In considering the work of St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, written about 1750 and pronounced without error by Popes Pius VII and Leo XIII, Charles Amlin draws a few rather pointed comparisons on the glory given to the Catholic “Queen of Heaven”: “In the Liguori book we read (p. 92): ‘All power is given to thee (Mary) in heaven and on earth, and nothing is impossible to thee.’ In the Catholic Bible we read (Matt. XXVIII:18): ‘And Jesus drew near and spoke to them, saying, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” In the Liguori book we read (p. 257): ‘Mary . . . is that throne of grace to which the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, exhorts to fly with confidence.’ In the Catholic Bible we read (Heb. IV:14-16): ‘Having therefore a great high priest . . . Jesus the Son of God . . . Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.’ . . . In the Liguori book, pronounced, as will be recalled, ‘without error’ by two popes, we read (p. 130): ‘The Holy Church . . . commands a worship peculiar to Mary.’”

On page 37 of this same work, Mary: Mother of Jesus or Queen of Heaven? the author quotes further from The Glories of Mary: “Of other saints we say that they are with God; but of Mary alone can it be said that she was so far favored as to be not only herself submissive to the will of God, but even that God was subject to her will.” And on page 49 Pope Pius IX is quoted as concluding his definition of the dogma of Mary’s immaculate conception with the words: “Let the children of the Roman Catholic Church . . . proceed to worship, invoke and pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary.” And so the worship of Mary, Queen of Heaven, has come to replace the worship of God in the lives of millions.

Just who is this “Queen of Heaven,” ascribed greater authority than Christ and of whom it is said that even “God was subject to her will”? Surely not the humble Mary who magnified Jehovah and was his willing servant. No, but she is the Babylonian queen of heaven of whom God himself says at Jeremiah 7:16-20 (AS): “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith Jehovah; do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces? Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.” Worship of a “Queen of Heaven” or a “Queen of Peace” is not the way to honor God, but recognition of the God of peace and of his appointed Prince of Peace is.

DISCIPLE OF JESUS

What a contrast there is between the humble mother and disciple of Jesus described in the Bible and the gold- and jewel-bedecked images of the “Queen of Heaven” adored and worshiped by men! Mary’s meekness, sincerity and love of righteousness fit her well as a devoted disciple of Jesus. Nowhere do we find her with a halo on her head and richly decked out as the glorified “Queen of Heaven.” After Jesus’ death she was not glorified in the Christian congregation. In fact, very little is said about her. The last mention of her in the Bible shows her with the other faithful followers of the Lord in an upper room giving her worship to God. (Acts 1:13, 14) When she died her body returned to the dust, and there she slept in death until God’s due time to raise her with other faithful ones to life as a spirit creature in heaven.—1 Cor. 15:44, 50; 2 Tim. 4:8.

The Chief Was Impressed

The district servant was busy overhauling the Society’s panel truck after arriving at the assembly site. It was out in “bush” country of Northern Rhodesia and the trip had been made over rough dirt roads. To keep any vehicle in good condition under these circumstances requires constant attention. So here he was, busy on the job, and not in exactly the kind of attire to receive a formal visit, when there appeared on the scene a small procession, a superior chief and his attendants, personal clerk, interpreter, etc.

After a few minutes of formal exchanges, the chief nodded to one of his attendants, who immediately presented the district servant with a dozen eggs—without doubt a friendly visit.

Along with many others, this chief has been undergoing a change of heart toward Jehovah’s witnesses. Just a few years ago he had no time for the witnesses, for he thought they were political troublemakers. Now he is an ardent backer and defender of Jehovah’s witnesses, finding them to be the greatest peacemakers ever to bless his district. Taking up the story the district servant writes:

“When the news trickled through to the chief that Jehovah’s witnesses were having their circuit assembly in his area, that was his cue to get busy. First he calmed the uneasiness of a European superior, who, not knowing the nature of the assembly, feared there might be trouble. Next, at every court hearing which he attended he commanded that the accused should be present at this assembly. Then he called in all the village headmen under him and in no mean terms told them that if they themselves failed to attend or if they did not notify the village people and encourage them to be present then he personally would see that they were charged with negligence of duty. As though this were not sufficient, he made a public decree that all the officials and officers and people of his own village must honor the assembly by their presence!

“Although not one of Jehovah’s witnesses, the chief talks highly of these cheerful peacemakers. And as he says, ‘Peacemakers are here to stay.’”

No doubt about it, the chief was impressed.