THE SHRINE OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE

Canonical Coronation granted by Pope Pius XII in October 11, 1954. Feast of the Queenship of Mary, accompanied by his Papal bull Ad Reginam Caeli.

 http://vinoconvistablog.me/tag/salus-populi-romani/



http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/9th-december-1939/8/-salus-populi-romani
Page 8, 9th December 1939

THE STORY OF THE SHRINE OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE By DOMINIC UTLEY ROBERT LASSELS, Gent., who in the seventeenth century travelled through Italy "as Tutor to several of the English Nobility and Gentry" writes in A Compleat Journey through Italy, about his visit to the Borghese Chapel "in St. Mary Majors Church," describing the altar there as "a very neat contrivance and of as rich materials. Four great Pillars of Jaspar pollish 'd, adorned with Capitels and bases of Brass guilt, hold up the back of this Altar which is all of Lapis Lazuli, or Oriental blew Azure Stone ; in the midst of which is a little Nichio in the Wall, where the Picture of our Blessed Lady with Our Saviour in her Arms, made by St. Luke, is conserv'd and seen. This Nichio is surrounded with a row of rich precious Stones of great value set thick about it ; and shut up with two little halfdoors of two whole Agates, each of them two foot long and a Foot large. Theodorus Lector an ancient author makes mention of this Picture, and saith, Pulcheriae, Eudocia Imaginem matris Christi, quam Lucas Apostolatus pinxerat, Hieresolymis misit. The picture itself is so old, and placed so high that it's hard to perceive the lineaments of the Face, unless you see it with a wax Taper at the end of a long Pole, as I did." Upon this altar of the Madonna "Salute del Popolo Romano," the young Roman Eugenio Pacelli offered his first Mass on Easter Monday morning forty years ago." SALUS POPULI ROMANI"

Madonna col Bambino - Madonna and Child

                          

Madonna and Child

Duccio di Buoninsegna
(Italian, active by 1278–died 1318 Siena)

Date: ca. 1290–1300

Medium: Tempera and gold on wood       
                                   
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/438754

Duccio is the founder of Sienese painting and one of the great figures of Western art. This lyrical work inaugurates the grand tradition in Italian art of envisioning the sacred figures of the Madonna and Child in terms appropriated from real life. The Christ Child gently pushes away the veil of his mother, whose sorrowful expression reflects her foreknowledge of his crucifixion. The beautifully modeled drapery enhances their three-dimensional, physical presence and the parapet connects the fictive, sacred world of the painting with the temporal one of the viewer.
The bottom edge of the original frame is marked by candle burns.

Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore
                     http://www.panoramio.com/photo/82164906
The column
In the middle of the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, the square in front of the church, stands a column with a Baroque bronze statue of Mary and child. It was erected in 1614 by pope Paul V in thanksgiving for the remission of the plague. The column was taken from the Basilica of Maxentius at the Roman Forum. The statue was created by the French sculptor Guillaume Berthélot.

The obelisk located at the other side of the church, at the Piazza dell'Esquilino, was erected in 1587 by pope Sixtus V as a beacon for pilgrims. It was originally located near the entrance of theMausoleum of Augustus. A wide staircase behind the obelisk leads to the apse of the church. From here you have a splendid view over the square and its surroundings.

The Piazza and Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Maggiore

Salus Populi Romani
Protectress of the Roman People

                                           http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Rome/Churches/SantaMaria/santamaria.html       T   

The five foot tall by 39” wide icon is painted on a cedar slab, and by legend was painted by St. Luke from life on a table Mary carried which was made by Jesus (although the dating of the icon makes this unlikely). Based on this legend, it was brought to Rome by Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother.
After Pope Gregory carried the icon through Rome in 593, praying to it to end the plague which was devastating entire Roman families, legend says Archangel Michael appeared over the Mausoleum of Hadrian and sheathed his sword.

http://www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Scenic/Rome/Churches/SantaMaria/santamaria.html

The crown inscription reads: Pius XII PM Deiparae Reginae Kal MCMIV A Mar. Pope Pius XII to the Queen Mother of God, Marian Year 1954

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgens_Corona
Fulgens Corona ("Radiant Crown") is an encyclical by Pope Pius XII, given at St. Peter's Rome, on 8 September 1953, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fifteenth year of his Pontificate. The encyclical proclaims a Marian year for 1954, to commemorate the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Fulgens Corona is significant as it contained the mariological methodology of Pope Pius XII and his views on limits and challenges of mariology.

Mater Castissima Mother Most Chaste

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/matercastissima.html
Mater Castissima - Mother Most Chaste 

The Marian Library has in its possession rare books of the eighteenth century with engravings by the renowned Augsburg artist, Josef Sebastian Klauber (ca. 1700-1768). The highly symbolic and illustrative reproductions are typical of the Baroque period. Their message is of great spiritual riches. Mary's profile is that of the exalted Mother, Virgin, and Queen, as suits the period. 

To highlight Mary's chastity, her effigy is surrounded by two of the classical symbols of Our Lady's virginity, namely: 

• Hortus conclusus
  (enclosed garden)
• Fons signatus
  (sealed fountain)

Both symbols appear in the Song of Songs, "You are. . .my sister, my bride, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed." (Canticle 4, 12).
The typical half-image of Mother and child form the crown of a tree which bears simultaneously, flowers and fruit.  They are symbols of Mary's role as simultaneously virgin (flower) and mother (fruit).
"What a beautiful and chaste creature (generation)" (Wisdom 4).

Hortus conclusus, the Pomegranate and the secrets of the Unicorn Tapestries

 Hortus Conclusus
Enclosed Garden

Mary is compared to the enclosed or closed garden
as mentioned in the Canticle of Canticles (4:12). This is one of the oldest symbols of Mary's sinlessness and immaculateness. It was included in the Litanies of Loreto. Since Mary's purity is the equivalent of great beauty, it was the custom in the middle ages and later on to design the enclosed garden as paradise garden filled with flowers and aromatic plants. Here, the garden reflects the Renaissance canon of beauty with its penchant for symmetry and geometric proportions. In its midst we discover a tree, probably in reference to the tree of life, meaning Christ Jesus himself.
Mary's love is exclusive. There is room in her heart for Christ alone. Such is the meaning of the enclosed garden. But Jesus is the source of life and love, and thus love springs forth from the heart of Mary and becomes visible and palpable to all who contemplate her enclosed garden, meaning her uniquely dedicated heart.http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/imco_emblems01.html#3

The Hunt of the Unicorn, or the Unicorn Tapestries, is a series of seven tapestries dating from between 1495 and 1505, now in The Cloisters in New York, probably woven in Netherlands. The tapestries show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn. The Hunt for the Unicornwas a common theme in late medieval and renaissance works of art and literature. The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk. The vibrant colors, still evident today, were produced from dye plants: weld (yellow), madder (red), and woad (blue).^[1] One of the panels, The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn, only survives in two fragments.
Read more : http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/unicorn.html
and
http://artpassions.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/unicorns-the-unicorn-tapestries-and-the-hunt-for-the-unicorn/

Hunt of the Unicorn Annunciation (ca. 1500) from a Netherlandish Book of Hours. In this example Gideon's fleece is worked in as well, and the altar at the rear has Aaron's rod that miraculously flowered in the centre. Both are types for the Annunciation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hortus_conclusus

A rather rare, late 15th century depiction combines the Annunciation in the hortus conclusus with the Hunt of the Unicorn and Virgin and Unicorn, so popular in secular art. The unicorn already functioned as a symbol of the Incarnation  There is no such ambiguity in the scenes where the archangel Gabriel is shown blowing a horn, as hounds chase the unicorn into the Virgin's arms, and a little Christ Child descends on rays of light from God the Father. The Council of Trent finally banned this somewhat over-elaborated, if charming, depiction,^[19] partly on the grounds of realism, as no one now believed the unicorn to be a real animal. 

"The Unicorn is in Captivity and No Longer Dead"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn

An excerpt from 
The Pomegranate and Secrets of The Unicorn Tapestries
http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/writing.sample7.html
The pomegranate was not only important to these pre-Christian beliefs, but it was also associated with Christ himself. A deep cut into the pomegranate is required to get to its appetizing juice, which many theologians believe mirrors the need to deeply understand the suffering of Christ in order to understand his sacrifice (Freeman 131). Similarly, the red juice of the pomegranate is also associated with the blood of Christ and therefore the Crucifixion (Williamson 102). The pomegranate is also known for its many seeds, which can be symbolic of the church and its abundant and diversified congregation. Similar to this is the pomegranate's association with the Virgin Mary. The many precious seeds represent the gifts Mary offered mankind, the main one being her son, Jesus Christ. The pomegranate is commonly included in statues and paintings depicting the Virgin Mary and Jesus, in order to enhance the interpretation of the individual pieces. The pomegranate is used in a similar fashion in the final panel of The Unicorn Tapestries, where the garden scene seems to parallel images of the Garden of Eden. The pomegranate becomes essential in this portrayal because of its supposed snake repellant qualities (Freeman 131). This central tree within the seventh panel can also be seen as a representation of the Judeo-Christian Tree of Life (Williamson 78). Conversely, the unicorn can be seen as Christ on the Cross, as the unicorn is chained to the pomegranate tree in a related way. In the fifteenth century manuscript Somme le Roi there is an illustration that depicts Christ bound to the Tree of Life, which was mean to clearly symbolize the Crucifixion in similar manner. Adding to its religious significance, the Old Testament mentions the pomegranate tree as the only tree allowed in the inner sanctum of the temple, the Holy of Holies. The reason for this was that the fruit was never eaten by insects, and has therefore become a symbol of incorruptibility. Because of this, the pomegranate became an important symbol to Solomon and the building of his temple (Williamson 200-202). The plentiful seeds within the pomegranate were also associated with the guaranteed fruitfulness of the Promised Land (Freeman 131).

Emblems of Immaculate Conception #1 Numquam Cadet

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/imco_emblems01.html



Numquam Cadet

It Will Never Fall

A unicorn is sitting in the crown of a tree which bears the name of Mary. The unicorn stands for Christ who is--like the unicorn--a miracle and mystery of nature, and lets himself be tamed only by a Virgin. The inscription, it will never fall, points to the permanent unity between Christ and his mother. The tree, symbol of Mary, may suggest perseverance and motherly love, more specifically it points out that Mary through her intimacy with Christ and the holiness she derives from him, makes Christ visible and attracts people's attention to him and not to herself.

Read more about the story of Unicorn and Virgin Mary In this link:

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/Unicorn/MaryandtheUnicorn.html

The Unicorn...the beautiful white horse with the magical horn that heals.
--Author Unknown--

The unicorn has but one horn in the middle of its forehead. It is the only animal that ventures to attack the elephant; and so sharp is the nail of its foot, that with one blew it can rip the belly of that beast. Hunters can catch the unicorn only by placing a young virgin in its haunts. No sooner does he see the damsel, than he runs towards her, and lies down at her feet, and so suffers himself to be captured by the hunters. The unicorn represents Jesus Christ, who took on Him our nature in the virgin's womb, was betrayed to the Jews, and delivered into the hands of Pontius Pilate. Its one horn signifies the Gospel of Truth.
--Le Bestiaire Divin de Guillaume, Clerc de Normandic--
(Thirteenth Century)

unicorns may be betray’d with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes...

Shakespeare in Julius Caesar

Our Lady Of Manaoag

The ivory bejeweled image enshrined at the main retablo of the shrine.

• A 17th-century Roman Catholic ivory image  
•  Brought from Spain via Acapulco in the early 17th century to the Philippines by Padre Juan De San Jacinto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Manaoag
Legend:
Documents dating back to 1610 attest that a middle-aged farmer walking home heard a mysterious female voice. He looked around and saw on a cloud-veiled treetop an apparition of The Blessed Virgin Mary, holding a Rosary in her right hand with The Child Jesus on her left arm amidst a heavenly glow. Mary told the farmer where she wanted her church to be built. A chapel was built on the spot where Mary appeared to the man and the town quickly grew around it.

Prayer To Our Lady Of Manaoag

Virgin Mother of God, Queen of the most Holy Rosary,
Thou who hast chosen to raise thy throne of mercy in
Manaoag, to be the beloved protectress and patron
of the Province of Pangasinan,
and therefrom to bestow thy graces on us thy children,
banished in this alley of tears,
look down with Thine eyes of mercy upon me,
who am beset with so many dangers of body and soul.
Despise not my petition O dearest Mother,
but intercede for me before
thy divine Son now and at the hour of my death.
Amen.

VIRGIN OF MANAOAG, Pray for us.
(ask most important favor)
After asking favor, pray
Three (3) Hail Mary's and
Three (3) Glory be to the Father

Fulton J Sheen on ' Whistler's Mother'

                                                    http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2007/fsheen_marytwfl_nov07.asp
From The World's First Love: Mary, Mother of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

We should not be surprised that she is spoken of as a thought by God before the world was made. When Whistler painted the picture of his mother, did he not have the image of her in his mind before he ever gathered his colors on his palette? If you could have preexisted your mother (not artistically, but really), would you not have made her the most perfect woman that ever lived—one so beautiful she would have been the sweet envy of all women, and one so gentle and so merciful that all other mothers would have sought to imitate her virtues? Why, then, should we think that God would do otherwise? When Whistler was complimented on the portrait of his mother, he said, "You know how it is; one tries to make one's Mummy just as nice as he can." When God became Man, He too, I believe, would make His Mother as nice as He could—and that would make her a perfect Mother.

James McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black, No.1:

Portrait of the Artist's Mother,1871, oil on canvas. Musee d'Orsay, Paris.

Who Was Whistler’s Mother?http://www.dia.org/exhibitions/whistlersite/grey.htm

 Anna McNeill Whistler was a model woman according to the Victorian standards of her day: she was pious, submissive, and her life centered on domestic issues. She lived in three countries, witnessed the United States Civil War, often served as her son’s art agent and, later in life, was fascinated by the eclectic group of individuals that formed her son’s artistic circle.

She suffered great tragedy at an early age, losing her husband and three of her children to illness while the family lived in Russia. In 1863 she moved to London and lived on and off with James and her other children. She was very involved in James’s life, and was familiar with his fellow artists, students, patrons and collectors. She wrote that the: “artistic circle in which he is only too popular, is visionary and unreal tho so fascinating.”
As was customary for a woman of her social class, Anna Whistler kept in touch with her family and friends through letters. Today, her correspondence is used by historians seeking to understand the social issues of the day, and by art historians who find her descriptions of her son’s work and life an invaluable resource. Following is an excerpt from a letter to her sister where she discusses sitting for her portrait: “I was not as well then as I am now, but never distress Jemie [James] by complaints, so I stood bravely, two or three days, whenever he was in the mood for studying me as his pictures are studies, and I so interested stood as a statue! But realized it to be too great an effort, so my dear patient Artist who is gently patient as he is never wearying in his perseverance concluding to paint me sitting perfectly at my ease.”