Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God

by Scott Hahn

Book Overview

Essential reading for all Catholics! Bestselling author, Scott Hahn illuminates a fresh and enlightening perspective on Mary, Mother of God, and her central importance in the Christian faith.

In The Lamb's Supper, Hahn explored the relationship between the Book of Revelation and the Roman Catholic Mass, deftly clarifying the most subtle of theological points with analogies and anecdotes from everyday life. In Hail,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385501692
• ISBN13: 9780385501699
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Image
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Gift for Mom

My mom was super glad for this. The book was in great condition despite being used, and it made her Christmas.

Fantastic!

I purchased this book because I wanted a Biblical foundation to the Catholic Church's understanding of Mary, mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Scott Hahn provided just that. He provides biblical references and explains in an easy-to-understand manner. I recommend this to anyone who is confused and even hostile to the Church's view on Mary. In "Rome Sweet Home", Scott & Kimberly Hahn's conversion story, you read that Scott Hahn was once a Presbyterian pastor and even broke a Rosary on purpose. You can rest assured that you will gain a deeper understanding of Mary from Biblical backing.

If you don't get "the Mary thing"...

Read this. I was almost 98% of the way to Rome, but I just couldn't wrap my head around "the Mary thing". This book explains it so clearly that my final objections were blown away. I'm RC now.

If I could give this book six stars, I would!

Dr. Scott W. Hahn writes like he speaks. He uses wit and an engaging style to drive home essential teachings of the Christian faith. His ability to hold and enlighten an audience is similar to that of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen of a generation or two ago. Likewise blessed with a strong intellect and good judgment in his use of entertainment, Scott Hahn is living proof that dogma need not be presented as dull or overbearing. Hahn's "Hail, Holy Queen" is an important and lively book. It is important because it presents the ancient and once-universally-accepted Christian teachings on the person and role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In AD 431, at the Council of Ephesus (the third of the generally accepted early ecumenical councils; the seventh was in AD 787), Mary was acknowledged by the proper title "Theotokos" or "Mother of God" (literally: "birth-giver of God"). Christian theology was still very much in flux and the bishops at Ephesus saw in this affirmation an important piece of the puzzle of how Jesus' divine nature integrated fully with the human in the one divine Second Person of the Holy Trinity. In his book, Hahn teleports the reader back to the fifth century, to a time of rejoicing over this breakthrough insight into the mystery of Christ's Incarnation. Hahn delivers this and much more in "Hail, Holy Queen." God is not a slave driver but wants us to be in His family, as brothers and sisters "from the same womb" (cf. Greek "adelphos"), through a covenant of persons. Mary has a motherly role in this family, a role that is relationally derived from being the mother of Jesus Christ. She is of course a creature, but a most excellent one at that. Hahn makes all of this very clear -- and very encouraging for the reader who is willing to accept it! And Hahn's effort is lively, because he does it with panache. Not in the least deadly dull, Hahn mixes in a dash of humor here and there to make his points. I especially enjoyed his chapter and section headings: "Cutting the Unbiblical Cord," "Maternity Warred," "Venerators of the Lost Ark," etc. I thought the Hahn couple's book "Rome Sweet Home" was really good, because I can empathize with it, but this one is even better. As they say in some circles, "It doesn't get any better than this!" Keep up the great work, Scott! Rev. Dennis J. Mercieri

Excellent way to understand how Mary fits into Christianity

For any Christian trying to understand the importance of Mary in their devotion to Jesus, this is an excellent study. Not only does this book explain what Catholics mean by honoring (not worshipping) Mary, it also explains why it should fit into the lives of all Christians as an ecumenical factor. This book will answer many bilblical questions about Mary. Hahn has put an excellent theological study at the fingertips of every common person. It is easy to read and understand.

Hail Mary Full of Grace...

There is no issue that tends to divide Catholics and Protestants more than the veneration of Our Blessed Mother Mary. Protestants just can't understand this devotion to Mary, while Catholics can't understand it's absence. Scott Hahn, one of the leading defenders of the Catholic faith has taken on the subject in this book and has tried to explain in simple terms why Catholics venerate the Virgin Mary. Hahn comes at this subject in a different way than most Catholic authors because he is a former Presbyterian minister. As such, he is able to grasp Protestant objections to Marian devotions and is able to present his information in a way that counters all possible objections. Furthermore, even though Hahn is a seminary graduate, he presents his information in a manner that will allow anyone to grasp what he is saying. This book will be especially valuable to new Catholics, those thinking about conversion, or any non-Catholic who wants to know more about the Catholic Church. It will also be valuable however to the so-called cradle Catholics who will find much information about Mary that they may have never been exposed to and any Catholic will be moved toward a greater devotion to Mary after reading this book. Anyone who is not familiar with the dogma of the Catholic Church will find one problem however. Hahn defends the Assumption of Mary in a very understandable way but it is never explained. Those unfamiliar with the Faith will come away convinced that the Assumption happened but still will not know the story of this event. The author does suggest a book on the subject in sort of an afterthought, but the book he suggests is by his own admission, out of print. This oversight, while important, still does not detract from the overall effectiveness of this book. The evidence is presented in a clear and well-written manner and will not be over most people's head. It will however, be best understood if the reader keeps a Bible handy to further investigate the author's references. For Catholic readers, this book is imprinted with a Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur and therefore does not express any opinion contrary to Church doctrine. This book, although short, is bursting at the seams with information and should be on the reading list of all Catholics, possible converts, and any serious student of theology.

No wonder all generations call her blessed, and now I do too

I didn't want to read this book. I became a born-again believer fifteen years ago, and left the catholic church to join a local independent Reformed Baptist Fellowship. I found Jesus and the Bible. My wife did too. And then she started "backsliding," as Pastor White put it. It started when our catholic neighbors got us to listen to some of Scott Hahn's tapes. They called themselves bible-believing catholics! That didn't make sense to us. So we made a deal. We would listen to Hahn if they agreed to listen to our pastor's sermons on tape. I thought they would see the light for sure. Then a funny thing happened on the way to Cape Cod last summer. That's when we listened to Hahn's "Answering Common Objections", five tapes all the way through. The next morning I found her on the beach reading the Hahn's book, "Rome Sweet Home". I also found a copy of Hahn's other book, "The Lamb's Supper" in her beach bag. It turns out that our catholic neighbors were more generous than I thought, not just with tapes but books too. She finished them both in less than four days. Some vacation.That's when I tried to call a halt to all the catholic nonsense. By then it was too late. My wife enrolled in RCIA in the fall and joined the catholic church last month at Easter... but not before she agreed to one more deal, this time with me. I gave her my well-worn copy of Dave Hunt's book, "A Woman Rides the Beast", which tries to prove that the catholic church is the "Whore of Babylon" in Revelation. In exchange, I agreed to read Hahn's new book, "Hail, Holy Queen", as soon as it came out. A slam dunk, right? Wrong.For one thing, she had no trouble ripping Hunt's case to shreds, with the help of Karl Keating and Catholic Answers. On the other hand, I had no trouble seeing how the catholic church's teaching about Mary comes straight from the Bible, the WHOLE Bible, not just the New Testament, but the Old. As Baptists, we had always used the New Testament alone. Hahn shows convincingly that the only way to really understand what Jesus says and does in the New Testament, is by rooting it in the Old Testament. Then he applies it to Mary, to show why the early church fathers all saw her as the New Eve, the Ark of the new covenant, and the Queen Mother of the son of David. The bottom line, Mary really is Christ's masterpiece. Mary takes nothing away from her Son and Savior, since all her glory is His gift. It makes so much sense, and it is both true and beautiful.The story has a happy ending. After much prayer and study, I've decided to join my wife by rejoining the catholic church next month at pentecost. Thank you Lord, and Dr Hahn too.