Coronation of Four Images of the Virgin (19 June 1983)

On Sunday, 19 June 1983, on the Esplanade of the Sanctuary of Jasna Góra, the Holy Father conducted a ceremony of Coronation of Four Images of the Virgin. The Pope said that he wished to include this liturgical coronation to give thanks on the jubilee for the six hundred years of the presence of the Mother of God among them.

1. "The Lord God will give him the throne of His father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his reign will have no end" ( Luke 1:32-33).

I wish to refer to these words from Luke's Gospel of the Annunciation, at the moment when I am given the opportunity to perform the liturgical act of the coronation of the images of the Mother of God:

— from Lubaczów

— from Brdów

—by Stoczek Warminski

— by Zielenice .

I carry out this act in Jasna Góra on the day when, together with the sons and daughters of my beloved Nation, we give thanks for the 600 years of the presence of the Mother of God in our history. I wish to include in a particular way the act of liturgical coronation of the aforementioned four images in this national jubilee . The coronation is linked to royal dignity. That is why I refer to the words of the Annunciation, which speak of the royal dignity of Christ. The reign of His Mother is linked to the Kingdom of the Son. Crowning the paintings or sculptures with a liturgical act, we first place a crown on the head of the Son, of Christ, and then on that of Mary.

2. In the words of the Annunciation the royal dignity of Christ is expressed in a messianic way. Precisely from the royal lineage of David would be born the One who would have been sent by God as the Anointed One, that is, as the Messiah, for the salvation of his people: the One who was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.

When Jesus of Nazareth revealed his messianic power by performing miracles and great signs among the people, they wanted to make him king. However, Christ always distanced himself from the creators of an earthly kingdom. And when, during the process, under the influence of imputations on the part of Jesus' enemies, Pilate will ask Him "Are you the king of the Jews?" ( John 18, 33), Christ will respond: "My Kingdom is not of this world; If My Kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews" ( ibid . v. 36), Pilate hear in this response the statement that Jesus of Nazareth is not a king "of this world", and yet he speaks of his "kingdom". And so he asks again: "Are you therefore king?" Jesus responds: "You say so! I am King!

For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" ( ibid . v. 37).

Thus, therefore, Christ did not accept any crown upon his head, in a temporal sense. He accepted only the crown of thorns , buried in his head to ridicule the "king of the Jews." And with this crown of thorns on his head, Jesus of Nazareth surrendered his spirit into the hands of the Father on Calvary: Crucified King . Moreover, in fact, above his head was written the imputation of his guilt: "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews" ( ibid . 19, 19).

In this way the promise of the Annunciation was fulfilled. The Cross on Calvary became the Throne of David for the Messiah. However, precisely in this humiliation of the Crucified King, the words: " His reign will never end" acquire their full meaning . In the Resurrection, Christ confirmed that he was the Lord of life and death. The Lord, who embraces the entire time of human existence on earth, guiding him to eternity: "His reign will have no end."

3. When, in the liturgical act of the coronation of the images, we place a crown on the head of Jesus, — of Jesus as the Son of Mary, who is in Her arms —, we have before our eyes this evangelical truth about the kingdom of Christ . And together with the truth about the kingdom of Christ, the truth about the kingdom of Mary also appears before the eyes of our faith.

The Mother of the Messiah, from the moment of the Annunciation, had a very particular part in this kingdom, which became the mission of Her Son. When she was at the Cross , with her heart she accepted her Son's crown of thorns on her own head. Like no one else. She, the Mother, participated in the sacrifice of the Son — the sacrifice of our Redemption. She participated in it maternally. And Christ associated this maternal participation with His redeeming Sacrifice, giving Mary his disciple John as his son: behold your son and — in his person, he gave each man to Him, because each one is embraced by the merciful force of Redemption. Thus, that reign of Mary, to which we give expression by placing a crown on her head with a liturgical act, has its decisive beginning in the union of the Mother to the Cross and the death of the Son .

United to Him in stripping, it is also united in glory , which manifests itself first of all through the Resurrection. We believe that the Mother of God participates in the Resurrection of Christ through his Assumption into Heaven. The Assumption also participates in that kingdom, of which I had heard at the moment of the Annunciation "His reign will have no end". She participates in it as Mother — she participates in it maternally. By placing a crown on the head of the Mother of Christ, represented in the image that is crowned, we wish to express faith in this admirable participation of Mary in the kingdom of Her Son .

4. His kingdom — and Her kingdom — is not of this world, yet it was rooted in the history of man , in the history of the entire human race — first of all due to the fact that the Son of God, of the same substance as Father, he became man through the work of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. And that kingdom was definitively rooted in the history of humanity and through the Cross, next to which was the Mother of God as "Socia Redemptoris". And, in this rooting, that kingdom endures. It lasts over the earth. It persists in "different places on earth. Various human communities experience the maternal kingdom of Mary, which brings them closer to the Kingdom of Christ. This experience is related to places, times, images. When in a community of the People of God, that experience of the Kingdom of Mary reaches, through the faith of generations, a particular maturity, then the desire to express it with a liturgical act is born. And the Church, after having verified the lawfulness of this desire, carries out the act of coronation. .

I therefore rejoice at the fact that today I will be able to carry out such an act precisely in Jasna Góra.

5. I will place the papal crowns on the head of Jesus and on that of Mary in the image of Lubaczów . I cordially greet D. Marian Rechowicz, Apostolic Administrator of Lubaczów, as well as the Chapter, the Clergy and the male and female Religious Orders. I greet all the pilgrims coming from that archdiocese, whose beginnings date back to the times of Casimir the Great.

With deep emotion I honor with the crowns this effigy that was a witness to the vows of João Casimiro, in the Cathedral of Leopoli, in 1656; effigy before which the Mother of God was called Queen of Poland for the first time and our people committed themselves to a new and zealous dedication to the service of their "Most Merciful Queen" (votes of John Casimir, King of Poland).

I will also place the papal crowns on the head of Jesus and Mary in the image of Brdów, in the Diocese of Wloclawek. This circumstance has particular eloquence in the pilgrimage that I have been given to make in my homeland, after the canonization of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. In fact, this first Polish Saint of the second Millennium was born in Zdunska Wola, exactly in the diocese of Wloclawek. Let today's coronation become the expression of that extraordinary veneration and that extraordinary love that he had for the Immaculate. But can we only mention him, when talking about what is perhaps the largest Polish diocese, which offered a hecatomb of victims among its priests, led by the servant of God, Bishop Michal Kozal? On the other hand, in addition — precisely from that diocese he went to the See of Lublim and then to that of the Primate, the unforgettable Cardinal Wyszynski, the Primate of the Millennium.

I therefore cordially greet D. Jan Zareba, Pastor of the Diocese, the Auxiliary Bishops, the Chapter, the diocesan and religious clergy: the sisters and brothers. I greet all the pilgrims coming from the Diocese of Wloclawek, and especially from the Sanctuary of Brdów. By performing this coronation service, I share with you the Marian joy.

7. I will then place the papal crowns on the head of the image of Jesus and on that of Mary in the Sanctuary of Stoczek, in the diocese of Warmia. With this act I express gratitude to the Mother of Peace for the more than 300 years of protection of Saint Warmia, who throughout history and the stability of her fortunes maintained faith in Christ and his Church.

We also know Stoczek Warminski as the place where Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski was imprisoned in 1953-1954. Precisely there, the Primate of the Millennium composed the "Act of personal consecration to the Blessed Mother" and there he also made this consecration on December 8, 1953.

I cordially greet the Pastor of the Diocese, Bishop Jan Oblak, the Auxiliary Bishops Julian and Wojciech, the Chapters of the Cathedral and the Collegiate, the Diocesan Seminary "Hosiapum" so strongly linked to the illustrious figure of the Servant of God Cardinal Stanislaw Hoslusz; I greet the Priests, the male and female Religious Families, and all the pilgrims of the diocese. In you I greet the entire Church of Warmia.

At this solemn moment I also wish to remember all the generations of Bishops and Priests, who in the past built this Church on the foundation of faith and love. In a particular way, I want to remember those who, after the Second World War, without taking into account the difficulties, brought their pastoral service to him.

I entrust you all to the Mother of Peace.

8. I will also place the papal crowns on the head of Jesus and Mary in the image at the Sanctuary of Zielenice , in the diocese of Kielce. With this liturgical act I wish at the same time to express gratitude to the Holy Trinity, our Redeemer and his Mother, for the centenary of the Diocese of Kielce.

In cordially greeting the pastor of the diocese, D. Stanislaw Szymecki and both Auxiliary Bishops, I wish at the same time to remember all the Pastors of the Diocese of Kielce over the past hundred years, up to D. Jan Jaroszewicz who recently passed away. I greet all the Chapters of Kielce and Wislica, and the Major Seminary. I greet the diocesan priests and the male and female religious families. At the same time, I remember all the generations of clergy , who during these hundred years carried out evangelical service among the People of God, in the Church of Kielce.

As I then greet all the pilgrims, brothers and sisters, who came for today's ceremony, I remember at the same time all those generations of diocesans who, during the past hundred years; They constituted the living community of the People of God of the diocese. In that community, the Kingdom of the Cross and the Redemption of Christ took place — and the hope of future life was continually reborn thanks to the Resurrection of Christ. In that community, the Mother of Christ was always among you . Today we wish to crown this maternal presence of hers together with her Son by placing the crowns of the image of the Mother of God of Zielenice.

May Mary be with you in the years to come and in the generations to come, bringing Christ and His kingdom closer to you: the kingdom of grace and truth, the kingdom of faith, hope and charity, the kingdom of eternal life.

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