When most people think of Christmas, the first song that comes to mind is Mariah Carey’s 1994 classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” You hear the tune everywhere you go during the Christmas season. Earlier in December, the song became the first Christmas song to receive the Recording Industry Association of America’s Diamond Award.

Because of her song’s iconic status, many listeners have crowned Carey as the Queen of Christmas. Her holiday music may continue to break records, but Carey asserts that she never chose to call herself the Queen of Christmas because she knows someone more deserving of the title.

On “The Zoe Bell Breakfast Show” on BBC 2, Carey said that she’s someone who happens to love Christmas and was blessed enough to write “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” among other Christmas songs. Carey asserted that Mary, mother of Christ, is the true Queen of Christmas on the show.

Perhaps Carey feels that Mary is the true Christmas queen because there would be no Christmas or Jesus without Mary. Although her love songs tend to overshadow her faith, Carey is a professing Christian with the occasional gospel number on her vast music catalog.

On her 2014 album, “Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse,” the singer showcased “Heavenly,” a passionate gospel number that encouraged listeners not to give up. Listeners can also hear Carey singing Psalm 34:18, which says, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Carey heavily details her faith in her memoir and says it saved her after a breakdown in 2002. Reports indicated that after losing her deal with Virgin Records around that same time, Reverend Clarence Keaton helped Carey rebuild her life. In an interview with Cosmo Girl, Carey claimed she’d been born again in many ways. Her ex-husband Nick Cannon revealed that Carey was deep into the Bible, and she made him wait until marriage before having sex.

Christmas is a time that’s supposed to have cheer and goodwill toward men. However, the holiday’s commercialization tends to make it feel like just another holiday. Many people forget or overshadow Mary’s journey to becoming the mother of Christ. Mary was just a virgin who never imagined that she would give birth to the Son of God. She endured turmoil and undeserved judgment from those around her before she gave birth to Jesus. On top of the outward judgment, Mary received, imagine how she felt about herself and the emotional turmoil she went through.

She was a virgin about to become a mother and had no idea how her journey would turn out. Instead of cowering away from the challenge, she decided to step up to the plate. Mary knew that God had a plan, and He chose her for a reason. Mariah Carey could have easily used to moment to tap into her accolades and claim herself as the Queen of Christmas. Instead, she decided to use that moment to give Mary the credit she deserves. Instead of thinking of her fame first, she decided to put her faith first and give Mary her accolades.