Canonical coronation

Development of the rite

The enactment of the rite of the coronation of a venerated image became widely popular in the Papal States prior to 1800, when approximately 300 coronation ceremonies were performed. On 29 March 1897, an official rite titled Ordo Servandus in Tradendis Coronis Aureis Quæ Donantur a Reverendisimi Capitulo Sancti Petri de Urbe Sacris imaginibus Beatæ Mariæ Virginis was included in the Roman Pontifical, for which a plenary indulgence was also conceded to the faithful who participated in such rites.

• The first Marian image ceremoniously crowned without direct papal approbation was performed by Cardinal Orazio Spinola for the Madonna of the Vineyards venerated at the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Vigne in Genoa on 5 April 1616. Pope Benedict XV later granted a decree of coronation titled Quae Civitatis Istius on 1 November 1920, signed and executed by the Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Tommaso Pio Boggiani in honor of the Pope's native birthplace.
• The first image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was pontifically crowned was Lippo Memmi's painting of La Madonna della Febbre in the sacristy of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on 27 May 1631, by Pope Urban VIII through the Vatican Chapter.
• The first Marian image pontifically crowned outside of Rome was the Our Lady of Trsat of Croatia on 8 September 1715 by Pope Clement XI.
• The first Marian image personally crowned by a pope himself was the Madonna del Popolo on 3 June 1782 by Pope Pius VI at the Cesena Cathedral.
• The first image of Christ granted a decree of canonical coronation was granted by Pope Leo XII for the Infant Jesus of Prague on 24 September 1824. The image is now enshrined at the Carmelite Church of Our Lady of Victories in Prague, Czech Republic.
• The first image of Saint Joseph that granted a decree of canonical coronation by Pope Pius VI was for the Sanctuary of Saint Joseph in Kalisz, Poland on 15 May 1796. Pope John XXIII gifted the venerated image his personal ring, accompanied with an "epistle of consecration" in 1963. Accordingly, its paired Madonna and Child ensemble merited their own separate pontifical decrees in 1984 under the auspices of Pope John Paul II.

Enshrinement of the rite

An earlier reference to the coronation of Marian images is decreed in the 1973 apostolic brief Pluries Decursu Temporis. The solemn rite of crowning images is contained in the Ordo Coronandi Imaginem Beatae Mariae Virginis, published by the Holy Office on 25 May 1981. Prior to 1989, papal bulls authorising canonical coronations were inscribed manually on parchment. After 1989, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments began issuing the authorisations, thereby authorising a papal legate to perform the coronation of the approved devotional image on behalf of the pope via an expressed decree of letters patent.

References

References

1. "Mensaje con motivo del 50 aniversario de la coronación de la imagen de la Virgen del Camino (19 de octubre de 1980) - Juan Pablo II".
2. "Radiomensaje a los fieles mexicanos con ocasión del 50 aniversario de la coronación canónica de la Virgen de Guadalupe (12 de octubre de 1945) - PIUS XII".
3. (1 November 1908). "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Bulls and Briefs". Newadvent.org.
4. "Canonical Coronation of La Virgen de la Esperanza Macarena | Hermandad de la Macarena". Hermandaddelamacarena.es.
5. "De coronatione imaginum B.V. Mariae".
6. "Address to members of the Vatican Chapter". Vatican.va.
7. ''Relazione della incoronazione della prodigiosa imagine della SS.ma Vergine detta Delle Grazie di Montepulciano'', Ottavio Puccinelli, Rom 1742
8. Juan Carrero Rodríguez. (2019). "La Virgen de los Reyes". Editorial Almuzara, Colección Andalucía.
9. (1842). "Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri …".
10. Roman Ritual: Blessings, Praenotanda num. 28, ''Ritual coronation of an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary'', nos. 10 and 14.