Catholic Marian churches are religious buildings dedicated to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These churches were built throughout the history of the Catholic Church, and today they can be found on every continent including Antarctica. The history of Marian church architecture tells the unfolding story of the development of Catholic Mariology.
The construction and dedication of Marian churches is often indicative of the Mariological trends within a period, such as a papal reign. For instance, the 1955 rededication by Pope Pius XII of the church of Saint James the Great in Montreal, with the new title Mary, Queen of the World, Cathedral, was a reflection of his being called "the most Marian pope". A year earlier, Pius had proclaimed that title for the Virgin Mary in his 1954 encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam.Encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam on the Vatican website This encyclical on the Queen of Heaven is an example of how the interplay between churches and Marian art reinforces the effect of Marian devotions.
The beginnings
The New Testament indicates that the practice of meeting together was an important part of the Christian faith from the very early days: "let us not give up the habit of meeting together... instead, let us encourage one another all the more" (Hebrews 10:25). Prior to the fourth century, Christians worshiped in private due to persecutions. After the edict of Milan was issued in 313, Christians were permitted to worship and build churches openly.Catholic encyclopedia The generous and systematic patronage of Roman Emperor Constantine I changed the fortunes of the Christian church, and resulted in both architectural and artistic development.Early Christian Art and Architecture by R. L. P. Milburn (Feb 1991) Univ California Press page 303 In the following decades, congregations built churches for public worship.
The Church of Mary in Ephesus may be one of the earliest Marian churches and is dated to the early 5th century, coinciding with the Council of Ephesus in 431.Encyclopedia of Sacred Places by Norbert C. Brockman 2011 page 161 It may have been built specifically for the council, during which the title of Theotokos, God-bearer, for the Mother of Christ was decided.The Canons of the Two Hundred Holy and Blessed Fathers Who Met at Ephesus The first Marian churches in Rome: Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Maria Antiqua and Santa Maria Maggiore, date from the first part of the fifth century and house some of the earliest forms of public Marian art.Mary in Western Art by Timothy Verdon 2005 pages 37-40 The church of Santa Maria Maggiore is now a papal basilica, where the pope presides over the annual Feast of the Assumption of Mary (celebrated each 15 August) and the church includes major pieces of Catholic Marian art.Art in Renaissance Italy by John T. Paoletti 2005 page 290
Some of the early Roman churches were quite small. An example is the church of Santa Maria Antiqua (i.e. ancient St. Mary) built in the 5th century in the Forum Romanum. Pope John VII used Santa Maria Antiqua in the early 8th century as the see of the bishop of Rome. This church includes the earliest Roman depiction of Santa Maria Regina, portraying the Virgin Mary as a Queen in the 6th century.Erik Thunø, 2003 Image and Relic: Mediating the Sacred in Early Medieval Rome page 34Bissera V. Pentcheva, 2006 Icons and Power: the Mother of God in Byzantium page 21Anne J. Duggan, 2008 Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe page 175
Other churches, such as Santa Maria Maggiore, have seen significant additions to their art and architecture over the centuries. The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Aparecida, Brazil, is now the second-largest Catholic place of worship in the world, second only to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. In 1984 it was officially declared as "the largest Marian Church in the world."Religions of the World by J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann 2003 pages 308-309
Some Marian churches are major pilgrimage sites. According to Bishop Francesco Giogia, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City was the most visited Catholic shrine in the world in 1999, followed by San Giovanni Rotondo (not a Marian shrine) and Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.Eternal Word Television Network, Global Catholic Network While in 1968 Aparecida had about four million pilgrims,Brazil rediscovered by Roberta C. Wigder 1977 page 235 the number has since reached eight million pilgrims per year.Pilgrimage: from the Ganges to Graceland : an encyclopedia, Volume 1 by Linda Kay Davidson, David Martin Gitlitz 2002 page 38 Given the millions of visitors per year to Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima, the major Marian churches receive over 30 million pilgrims per year. In December 2009, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe set a new record with 6.1 million pilgrims during Friday and Saturday for the anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalipe.
Progression of architecture and belief
Through the centuries, the progression of Medieval architecture towards Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and eventually modern Marian church architectures may be viewed as a manifestation of the growth of Marian belief – just as the development of Marian art and music were a reflection of the growing trends in the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic tradition.Raymond Burke, 2008, Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, seminarians, and Consecrated Persons, Queenship Publishing page 189From Trent to Vatican Two by Raymond F. Bulman, Frederick J. Parrella 2006 Oxford UP pages 179-180
A good example of the continuation of Marian traditions from the Gothic period to the present day is found at St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków in Poland. On every hour, a trumpet signal called the hejnał (meaning "St. Mary's dawn" and pronounced hey-now) is still played from the top of the taller of St. Mary's two towers, the noon-time hejnał being heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.Let's go: Europe, 1979 by Harvard Student Agencies page 553Michał Malinowski 2008 Polish folktales and folklore page 69 St. Mary's in Kraków also served as an architectural model for many of the churches that were built by the Polish diaspora abroad, particularly St. Michael's and St. John Cantius in Chicago, designed in the so-called Polish Cathedral style.Theology In Stone: Church Architecture From Byzantium to Berkeley by Richard Kieckhefer 2004 pages 207-208
Popes have at times viewed the existence of Marian churches as a key to the spread of Marian devotions, e.g. as he entrusted Europe to the Virgin Mary, Pope John Paul II stated: "Thanks to the countless Marian shrines dotting the nations of the continent, devotion to Mary is very strong and widespread among the peoples of Europe."Vatican website: Marian entrustment of Europe
Apparition-based Marian churches
Marian apparitions have resulted in the construction of major Marian churches.Moved by Mary: The Power of Pilgrimage in the Modern World by Anna-Karina Hermkens, Willy Jansen 2009 page 217 Some of the very largest Catholic Marian churches in the world did not start based on a decisions made by informed theologians in Rome but based on the statements of young and less-than-sophisticated people about their religious experiences on remote (and often unheard of) hilltops.Zenit NewsPilgrims to Our Lady of Guadalupe
There are remarkable similarities in the accounts of the reported visions which have led to the construction of the churches.What Mary Means to Christians: An Ancient Tradition Explained by Peter Stravinskas 2012, Paulist Press chapter on "Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe"The Catholic Almanac's Guide to the Church by Matthew Bunson 2001 page 194 Two cases in point are the largest Marian churches in Mexico and France, based on the reported Marian apparitions to Saint Juan Diego in Cerro del Tepeyac, (Guadalupe) Mexico in 1531 and Saint Bernadette Soubirous as a child in Lourdes in 1858. Both saints reported visions in which a miraculous lady on a hill asked them to request that the local priests build a chapel at that site of the vision. Both visions had a reference to roses and led to very large churches being built at the sites. Like Our Lady of Lourdes in France, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a major Catholic symbol in Mexico. And like the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe complex is one of the largest and most visited Catholic churches in the Americas.Pilgrimage: from the Ganges to Graceland : an encyclopedia, Volume 1 by Linda Kay Davidson, David Martin Gitlitz 2002 page 213
Three Portuguese children, Lúcia dos Santos, Jacinta and Francisco Marto were equally young and without much education when they reported the apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Cova da Iria, 1917. The local administrator initially jailed the children and threatened that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil. Yet, eventually with millions of followers and Catholic believers, the reported visions at Fatima gathered respect and Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis voiced their acceptance of the supernatural origin of the Fátima, Portugal, events. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is now a major Marian church in Europe.
The Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia in Genoa, Italy, has a similar story. In 1490 a peasant Benedetto Pareto reported that the Virgin Mary had asked him to build a chapel on a mountain. Pareto reported that he replied that he was only a poor man and would not be able to do that, but he was told by the Virgin Mary: "Do not be afraid!". After falling from a tree, Pareto changed his mind and built a small wooden room that was eventually enlarged to the present shrine.
And the trend has continued. The first approval for a Marian apparition in the 21st century was granted to the reported visions of Jesus and Mary by Benoite Rencurel in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus in France from 1664 to 1718. The approval was granted by the Holy See in May 2008. Again, in this case, a young Benoite Rencurel (who could not read or write) reported that a lady in white appeared to her on a remote mountain top in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus and asked her for a church to be built there.Benoite Rencurel Catholic News Agency Benoite Rencurel Catholic News Agency
In May 2016, the local ordinary of the Diocese of San Nicolás de los Arroyos Bishop Cardelli approved as "worthy of belief" the apparitions associated with the Marian image of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás. A Shrine erected in honor of Mary under this title was inaugurated in 2014. Reports of unusually radiant, glowing rosary beads were followed by a number of brief visions of Our Lady appearing to housewife and mother-of-two Gladys Motta developed into a series of interior locutions over several years, beginning on October 13 the anniversary of apparitions at Fátima. Specific messages led to the discovery—and restoration to veneration—of a long-neglected statue of a Madonna carrying the Christ Child. Occurring at the close of the twentieth century the messages mirror those given at the beginning of the twentieth century to young shepherds in Portugal where the Virgin Mary reportedly identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. Following approval of the spiritual merits by local religious authorities, a new church dedicated to Marian devotion under this title was erected as requested by Our Lady during the apparitions.
Churches, icons and devotions