Bishop Burbidge to Celebrate Mass and Crown our Statute of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Dec. 8, 2024
On Sunday, December 8, at the 1 p.m. Mass, Bishop Michael Burbidge will celebrate Mass at the Basilica during which he will crown our statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception, in an Episcopal Coronation ceremony.
Crowning images of Our Lady is an ancient tradition that dates to the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. It is an act of devotion to Our Lady and a recognition of her Queenship over heaven and earth. An Episcopal Coronation means that the image of the Virgin Mary is crowned by the bishop of the diocese in which it is located, and it is a recognition by the bishop of the significance of a particular image of Mary.
The statue of Our Lady is a late 19th-century Italian marble image of the Immaculate Conception, which was installed in our church at the time of the parish centennial in 1895. That is when the church underwent a significant renovation, and when the current stained-glass windows were installed. It is the image of Mary that has the longest history of continuous veneration in the Diocese of Arlington.
The crown that the bishop will bestow on Our Lady is a new substantial crown that is being fabricated in Spain, thanks to the generosity of the Catholic Daughters, Court Kavanaugh No. 54, and the Knights of Columbus. The crown incorporates the earlier custom gilded pewter crown with roses. It will be permanently attached to the statue.