Episcopal Coronation of the Immaculate Conception
On December 8, 2024, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge crowned the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Basilica of Saint Mary in an Episcopal Coronation ceremony. The statue, which was donated by anonymous parishioners in 1895, is believed to be the oldest, continuously venerated image of Mary in the Diocese of Arlington.
In both the East and the West, the practice of depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a regal crown came into use in the era of the Council of Ephesus (AD 431). It is especially from the end of the 16th century that in the West the practice became widespread for the faithful, both religious and laity, to crown images of the Blessed Virgin. The popes not only endorsed this devout custom but “on many occasions, either personally or through bishop-delegates, carried out the coronation of Marian images” (Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam). The growth of the custom led to the composition of a special rite for crowning images of Mary, and in the 19th century this was incorporated into the Roman liturgy.
