Family News Service – John Paul II “completed” the construction of St. Peter’s Square

The mosaic of the Mother of the Church in St. Peter’s Square in Rome is familiar to all pilgrims, residents of Rome, and viewers of the televised Angelus prayer with the Pope. Few, however, know its remarkable history, which is not that long. Fr. Waldemar Turek, philologist, patrologist, and head of the Latin Section of the Vatican Secretariat of State, talks about the role of St. John Paul II and the motives for placing the image of the Virgin Mary on the façade of the Apostolic Palace.

Image of Mary Mother of the Church on the façade of the Apostolic Palace, photo by Fr Paweł Rytel-Andrianik

MARY IS MISSING?

Pilgrims staying in St. Peter’s Square are reminded of Mary Mother of the Church by a mosaic placed high up on one of the walls of the Apostolic Palace. Today it would be difficult to imagine this part of the official seat of the Popes and the offices of the Secretariat of State without the magnificent image of Our Lady, illuminated at night and accompanying all visitors to this singular place. The history of the mosaic, however, is not as long and as complicated as that of the nearby buildings. It is also closely tied with the pontificate of St. John Paul II.

During Holy Week in 1980, the Polish Pontiff received in audience several thousand young people from various universities across the world, wishing to experience the Paschal Triduum in the capital of Christianity. Towards the end of the audience, one of the young people is said to have told the Pope that he had seen many of the statues of saints placed in St. Peter’s Basilica and on Bernini’s colonnade but had noticed no image of Mary. John Paul II was to reply that, in that case, the square would have to be „completed” and an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary should be placed there.

The first design was presented to John Paul II in January 1981, but no decision was taken for several months. The situation was changed by the memorable assassination attempt on the Pope on 13 May 1981. John Paul II was convinced from the very outset that he had survived thanks to Mary’s intercession, and he wanted an image of the Virgin Mary to be placed in St. Peter’s Square as a sign of his personal gratitude. Thus, it is possible, as Fr. Arkadiusz Nocoń notes in his book Following In the Footsteps of John Paul II Around the Vatican, to mention two reasons for the appearance of an image of the Virgin Mary in St. Peter’s Square: its previous absence from this place and gratitude for the Holy Father’s rescue.

AGES-OLD PROTOTYPE

Still, finding an appropriate place for the installation of the image of the Virgin Mary in St. Peter’s Square was far from easy, as many thought that this space is architecturally complete and cannot be altered in any way. Finally, a decision was made to place a mosaic, obstructing one of the windows of the Apostolic Palace. This place is well-visible from across the square.

Another question was what kind of image of Mary should be used. Here, the Pope himself decided to portray Mary as the Mother of the Church, because she has accompanied the Christian community from the beginning, especially in troubled times. However, the title Mater Ecclesiae, or Mother of the Church, was relatively recent, as St. Paul VI proclaimed Holy Mary the Mother of the Church on 21 November 1964, at the end of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council. Some in the Pope’s inner circle and staff members of the Vatican institutions preferred an earlier image of the Virgin.

In this context, attention was drawn to a certain fresco depicting Mary Mother of the Church, located in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the altar of Our Lady della Colonna (literally: of the column). It can still be admired today in the basilica’s chapel, located in the depths of the left aisle, close to the altar of St. Leo the Great. The fresco was so named because it was painted in the 15th century on one of the columns of the old basilica and later, after the new basilica was built, it was moved to its present location and crowned in 1645.

The fresco was highly favoured by Pope Paul VI, who decided to restore it and bestow on it the title Mater Ecclesiae, in commemoration of the aforementioned event of 21 November 1964, the proclamation of Mary as Mother of the Church. This very event, as I mentioned, was greatly contributed to by the Polish bishops who participated in the Second Vatican Council. The fresco in the basilica served as a model for the planned mosaic. Every effort was made to reproduce it as faithfully as possible; only the colours were enhanced to make the image more visible from a distance.

EYES ON MOTHER

The mosaic, more than two and a half metres long, depicts Our Lady with the Child Jesus. It displays a rich colour palette with a clear dominance of blue, gold, and yellow. Under the image there is the coat of arms of the Polish Pope on a brown background and his motto Totus Tuus; the inscription beneath the mosaic reads Mater Ecclesiae. The work was completed by the prestigious Vatican Mosaic Studio (Studio del Mosaico Vaticano). Interestingly, the workshop, operating to this day and located between St. Peter’s Basilica and the House of St. Martha, makes use of pebbles of 27,000 different shades, used to both restore the historic mosaics found in many of Rome’s churches and create new ones.

Pope John Paul II blessed the image before the Angelus on 8 December 1981, on which occasion he stressed that the mosaic was intended to help all those who would come to St. Peter’s Square „to lift up their eyes to Mary and, with childlike devotion, to address their greetings and their prayers to her”.

Looking at the image, so strongly associated with the saints Popes Paul VI and especially John Paul II, urges all Christians to turn to Mary, the Mother of the Church, asking for her protection for all the disciples of her Divine Son and for the whole world.

Fr. Waldemar Turek