coronation

Centenary of the Coronation of the Madonna di Pia

Entering the church from the right door, we see the Latin plaque shown here (click on the photo)

May the eighth of September 1920 shine over time, in which the more than distinguished painted image of the Divine Infant with his Mother Pia was, by decree of the Vatican Chapter, girded with a golden crown, from the hands of the Most Eminent Cardinal of Santa Roman Church Alfonso Mistrangelo, Archbishop of Florence, Legate of the Supreme Pontiff, in the presence of several Benedictine Bishops and Abbots, with a large participation of Clergy and people, even from distant parishes ".

NOTE. It will be interesting to know that this Alfonso Mistrangelo was a Piarist Father who had taught for years in the College that stands near the church held by the Scolopi, on the road between Finalmarina and Finalborgo. He later became Archbishop of Florence, he was happy to spend a period of vacation in Finale, where he was well known and respected.

WHY WAS MARY CROWNED QUEEN?

There is a voice that has resounded since the early centuries of Christianity and that speaks to us of the particular dignity of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus.

Already the great saint of Syria, Ephrem the Syrian (306-373), affirmed, about the kingship of Mary, which derives from her motherhood: She is Mother of the Lord, of the King of kings and shows us Jesus as life, salvation and our hope.

The Supreme Pontiff Pius XII in 1954, at the end of the Marian Year, said that Mary is Queen more than any other creature for the elevation of her soul and for the excellence of the gifts received. She does not stop giving all the treasures of her love and concern to humanity.

Pope St. Paul VI focuses the dignity of Mary in Christ: "In the Virgin Mary everything is relative to Christ and everything depends on him: in view of him, God the Father, from all eternity, chose her as an all holy Mother and adorned her with gifts of the Spirit, granted to no one else "(Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, 1974).

But let's ask ourselves : "Isn't a crown just an ornament like so many others?".

No, the Queen's Crown is a symbol of a very high dignity.

IT IS A SIGN OF HER PARTICIPATION IN THE RESPONSIBILITY AND LOVE OF GOD FOR US.

This is a consequence of her being in Heaven, that is, in communion with God.

It is true that there is a common idea of king or queen as people of great power and wealth. But this is not the kind of kingship of Jesus and Mary.

For the Church, Mary the mother of Jesus is truly Queen!

And his son Jesus is He also King?

To Pilate who asked him: "So you are a king?" Jesus explicitly replied: “I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world "(Jn 18:37).

Yes, Jesus is King! But what kind of king is he?

Christ is a king interwoven with humility, service, love.

At the Last Supper he bends down to wash the feet of his followers: the kingship of Jesus has nothing to do with that of the powerful of the earth. He is a king who serves his servants; so he has shown throughout his life.

And finally, on the cross, he dies for us, loving us to the last breath.

And Mary, what Queen is she?

She is queen in service to God for humanity.

And how does Mary exercise this royalty?

WATCHING on us, her children: the children who turn to her in prayer, to thank her or to ask for her maternal protection and her heavenly help, when they are oppressed by pain or anguish for the sad and troubled vicissitudes of life and especially after having lost the way (the meaning) of life.

INTERCEDING to obtain from the Son every grace and mercy necessary for our pilgrimage along the roads of the world.

To the One who rules the world and holds the destinies of the universe in his hands we turn confidently, through the Virgin Mary.

For centuries she has been invoked as the heavenly Queen of heaven; eight times, after the prayer of the Holy Rosary, she is implored in the litanies of Loreto as Queen of Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, all Saints and Families.

The rhythm of these ancient invocations, and daily prayers such as the Salve Regina, help us to understand that the Holy Virgin, as our Mother next to the Son Jesus in the glory of Heaven, she is with us always, in the daily unfolding of our life.

MARY HAS BEEN CROWNED QUEEN OF HEAVEN BECAUSE SHE IS CLOSE TO GOD; BUT SHE IS ALSO OUR QUEEN, BECAUSE SHE LOVES US AND HEARS OUR VOICE.

(In one of her recent apparitions, Our Lady said: “If you knew the good I want you, you would cry for joy…).

We have recovered from a publication printed in Genoa in 1903 the head of the Madonna *as it appeared in a photograph of the time (therefore about 17 years before the coronation of 8 September 1920).

Even then, to express the great dignity of the Mother of God, on her head there was a kind of diadem.

On the side we reproduce the crowned heads of Mary and Jesus, as seen now.

(Actually, the latter are a detail of the photo of the entire icon, taken in full natural light under the porch of the cloister, with the famous Pentax with an 80 mm lens, again with 35 mm film. towards the mid-90s, just before the advent (year 2000) of digital cameras).

The crowns of Mary and the Child Jesus are actually gifts (that is, those of a KING or a QUEEN), the diadem is beautiful, but it remains only a precious ornament.

*La Badia and the Sanctuary of MARIA SS. of FINALPIA, edited by the Benedictine D. Ildefonso M. Tiberio, and extracted from the Bulletin "La Madonna della Guardia, of Genoa.