Dale

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"The Roman Pontiffs, favoring such types of popular devotion, have often crowned, either in their own persons, or through representatives, images of the Virgin Mother of God which were already outstanding by reason of public veneration."

This quote is from Pope Pius XII's proclamation making Mary the Queen of Heaven. Why does he refer to images of Mary being crowned? Because they have been. In the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City there is a statue of Mary known as Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Virgin of Guadalupe. These titles go back to the alleged appearance of Mary to Juan Diego in 1531. Diego became a saint for being the only witness to this appearance of Mary.

In 1895, Pope Leo III ordered a Canonical Coronation of this statue, crowning Mary as Queen of Mexico. Today, Wikipedia says that it is the most visited Catholic shrine in the world.

Are Papal Canonical Coronations a thing of the past? Not at all. Santiago, Cuba, is the seat of the Archbishop of Santiago, the Primate of Cuba. In the Basilica there there is an image of Mary that allegedly goes back to a miraculous event around 1600. In 1916, Pope Benedict XV declared the image the Patroness of Cuba. In case Benedict XV did not go far enough, Pope John Paul II corrected the error by making the image Queen of Cuba. During papal visit to Cuba, John Paul II made the image the patron saint of Cuba and crowned the image as Queen of Cuba. Addressing the crowd, the Pope said that the image is "Queen and Mother of all Cubans."

The coronation of representations of Mary are not limited to Spanish speaking countries. In Poland, a painting of Mary known as the Black Madonna received her first coronation by order of Pope Clement XI in 1717. Pope Pius X, now St. Pius X, ordered a new coronation for the painting in 1910 and Pope John Paul II, now St. John Paul II, ordered the painting crowned yet again in 2005. Pope Francis consecrated yet another crown for the Black Madonna in July of 2017.

What should we make of this? The Roman Catholic Church rejects democracy in church government. The RCC's defenders call it a non-hereditary monarchy, in other words an autocracy. The Bishops, especially the Pope, are supposed to know better than the people. Yet as Pius XII said in his proclamation, the whole point of the exercise is to acknowledge "popular devotion" and "public veneration." When it comes to bowing down to statues or paintings, fancy theology is out of order, just give the people what they want. Maybe the RCC should have asked what God wants.



Links

Pius XII on Mary Queen of Heaven Ad Caeli Reginam

Mary as Queen of Mexico Our Lady Of Guadalupe | A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS | www.sancta.org

Mary as Queen of Cuba https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10996

Mary as Queen of Poland Our Lady of Czestochowa is the tender queen of Poland, Pope says
 

Dale

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In a General Audience in Rome, Pope John Paul II says "I knelt before the patroness of the Cuban people, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre."

Why kneel before a statue?

Interestingly enough, in Rome, JP2 makes no mention of the Statue being given the title of Queen of Cuba or being crowned. Maybe he knows this only goes over in Cuba.

Link
28 January 1998 | John Paul II
 
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Dale

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A painting of Mary in Poland was first crowned in 1717 by order of Pope Clement XI. Interestingly enough, the article on Clement XI in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia makes no mention of this. Apparently the Catholic scholars who compile this encyclopedia know that coronations of statues or paintings are just fluff, or sops to the common people.



Link:
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Clement XI
 
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Dale

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Every May in my Parish we crown a statue of Mary with a crown of flowers. I really believe that statue in my Parish has mystical powers^_^


I don't understand why statues are taken so seriously.

If Catholics crown statues of Mary, do they ever crown a statue of Jesus?
 
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Dale

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I was taught that statues, carvings, paintings and stained glass figures in medieval churches and cathedrals served an educational purpose. That does make sense.

Crowning a statue goes far beyond any educational purpose. It is taking statues far too seriously.
 
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tz620q

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I was taught that statues, carvings, paintings and stained glass figures in medieval churches and cathedrals served an educational purpose. That does make sense.

Crowning a statue goes far beyond any educational purpose. It is taking statues far too seriously.
You know as a non-Catholic I thought the same thing. It took a while being Catholic before I saw that they see the statue as a symbol of the true person it depicts. So when we crown the statue of Christ for the Feast of Christ the King, we are acknowledging that Christ is our King. The readings and songs are selected to allow us to state that belief as we worship. Hopefully, no Catholic is so ignorant of this meaning that they would see the statue as the final object of our intent.
 
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Dale

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I agree with all you're saying but I don't think God appreciates our laughing at these people. We should be praying for them instead.


It is hard for me to see how you would think I was laughing at anyone.

It is difficult to see how Catholics can take veneration of particular statues seriously.
 
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DavidFirth

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It is hard for me to see how you would think I was laughing at anyone.

It is difficult to see how Catholics can take veneration of particular statues seriously.

Lots of things men do are hard to understand. We need to correct our brothers and sisters in love, not with a stick.

If you weren't laughing at people and I was mistaken I do humbly apologize.
 
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Dale

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Respect for the person it represents.


Kneeling is occasionally used in the Old Testament but Jesus didn't say to show respect by kneeling. Instead, he said: "If you love me, keep my commands."


Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

--John 14: 15-24 NIV
 
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anna ~ grace

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Images direct our attention to that which they represent. Though we kneel or bow to a pictorial or carved image and not to Mary herself or to Christ Himself, through the image we are given an opportunity to love, honor, and reverence the one depicted.

God in His love for us became visible, tangible, and corporal, taking on flesh. That we might know something of His love for us, and see the One who loves us, and be able to love Him back through matter. So when we reverence images of Mary, we are giving thanks to God for becoming flesh through her, are honoring her amazing and life-giving "yes" to God, and showing our love for the one through whom God became Man.

When we crown images of Mary, we acknowledge her as the Queen of our faith, the Mother of Christians, the Patroness of those in need, and as the one human more intrinsically united to the Triune God above all others.
 
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anna ~ grace

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We also believe that the Saints are alive in Christ, are united to our spiritual lives in Him, and are able to help us live for Him through their prayers, virtues, intercession, and power. A power which comes from God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but which nonetheless shines through an especially Holy soul in a uniquely beautiful and noticeable way.
 
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Dale

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Images direct our attention to that which they represent. Though we kneel or bow to a pictorial or carved image and not to Mary herself or to Christ Himself, through the image we are given an opportunity to love, honor, and reverence the one depicted.

God in His love for us became visible, tangible, and corporal, taking on flesh. That we might know something of His love for us, and see the One who loves us, and be able to love Him back through matter. So when we reverence images of Mary, we are giving thanks to God for becoming flesh through her, are honoring her amazing and life-giving "yes" to God, and showing our love for the one through whom God became Man.

When we crown images of Mary, we acknowledge her as the Queen of our faith, the Mother of Christians, the Patroness of those in need, and as the one human more intrinsically united to the Triune God above all others.

There is no conflict here.



Moses did not kneel at the Burning Bush.

If kneeling at the Burning Bush is not needed, why kneel before a statue of Mary?
 
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