I saw stained glass in a Catholic church called “The coronation” and had a question about it …?
October 12, 2010 by refl
Filed under Church stained
It appeared to be Jesus placing a crown on the head of a woman. Underneath the picture it said, “The Coronation”. Was this attempting to portray Him crowning Mary? If so, what was He crowning her?
I am confused.
Thanks!
She was crowned the queen of angels and the queen of saints.
Ah, confusion: NO good.
http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12ac.htm
Also, that thing about the woman clothed in the sun (somewhere in Revelations) with a crown of 12 stars on her head. That’s her, baby.
That window represents the Fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary: the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
The mother of a King is a queen, so since Mary is the mother of the King of kings, it only stands to reason that she is a queen, herself. It has NOTHING to do with the “queen of heaven” mentioned in the Bible, who was the pagan goddess Ishtar.
It was Jesus crowning Mary.
When the Hebrews had Kings, the Queen was always the mother of the King, not the King’s wife. For instance, Solomon’s mother was considered the Queen, and had a throne next to her son. She wasn’t his equal, but she had a special advisory role and always had his ear. The reason this happened was because the Kings had multiple wives but only one mother. Choosing the mother as queen kept everything fair between the wives.
This tradition has continued in Heaven where Mary is Queen because she is the Mother of Jesus, who is the King.
Found an example:
http://www.radiantart.com/images/291_Coronation.jpg
http://www.sofc.org/CHROSARY/Windows/coronation.jpg
Very interesting. Thanks.
You are describing a portrayal of Jesus crowning Mary the Queen of Heaven.
The way I have reconciled myself to this title for Mary is to compare her to Britain’s late Queen Mother. The title of Queen Mother is given to the living mother of a reigning monarch when the mother has no personal claim to the throne. It is plausible that upon Mary’s arrival in Heaven, Jesus would have formally bestowed such a title on her, though unlike Catholics I do not consider it a certainty.
Some would argue that Mary is not living and so no such title would apply, but I don’t agree with this argument. For one thing, Catholics believe that Mary was assumed bodily into Heaven, and my response is that if it could happen to Enoch and Elijah, who am I to say that it couldn’t happen to Jesus’ own mother? But even if she did actually die, orthodox Christians do not believe in soul sleep, and so we can be confident that she is in Heaven with her Savior, awaiting the resurrection of her body. As such, she’s not *really* dead, is she?
Indeed it is the Coronation of the God-bearer. This is a high medieval period (11-13 th Century) way of describing the entrance of Mary into Heaven at her death.
It is a Western/European way of celebrating Mary’s entrance into Heaven as the “firstfruits of Christ’s Death and Resurrection.” (Oops! Christ is the firstfruits Himself–I think that is First Letter to the Corinthians–Well, she is the first result of His work for us, a sort of “secondfruits”)
Like all of the Orthodox and Roman doctrines about Mary, it says something about Our Lord –in this case, that His Resurrection is the cause and shaper of OUR eventual resurrection.
For Roman catholics, it is an extension doctrinally of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, and in the Rosary, follows the Assumption and is the last Glorious Mystery of the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary.
for Orthodox, it is conceptually part of the Dormition (“Falling asleep” in death at Ephesis) and celebrated in late summer with Easter-like Liturgy after a fast that imitates Lent.
I don’t want to disagree with other answerers or popular piety, but it is less about royalty and power and more about Christ’s Work of Salvation.