From Fatima to Lisbon. Precious crown of Our Lady on display in the church of São Roque – News
Promoted by Sanctuary of Fatima, the exhibition of the crown of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima “is an opportunity to commemorate a piece of jewelry from the 40s of the 20th century, whose production exceeds its artistic and heritage value”.
Thus, the crown will be exhibited for the first time at the Church of São Roque, on October 7th and 8th. This initiative also includes two masses, a colloquium and a prayer vigil.
The exhibition of the crown, which travels from Fátima to Lisbon, takes place within the scope of the 1st Bienal de Contemporânea de Lisboa, which runs until 20 November, curated by Cristina Filipe and artistic direction by PIN – Associação Portuguesa de Joalharia Contemporânea .
Offered by the women of Portugal, in a campaign to grant jewelry pieces, in gratitude to the Virgin of Fátima for the fact that the country did not take part in World War II, a precious crown of the Image of Our Lady of Fátima is a creation of Casa Leitão & Brother, Former Jewelers of the Crown. Although it was offered in 1942, it was not until the end of the war that it was placed in the sculpture, on May 13, 1946.
“The piece is made up of 8 sections that come together to connect the sphere that symbolizes the terrestrial orb, topped by a cross whose transverse arm supports two pendants. At the base, the buds are surrounded by a diadem-like structure, decorated with phytomorph motifs studded with diamonds”, one can read in a description of the Sanctuary of Fátima.
The official journal of the Sanctuary, at the time of the offering of this piece, described the crown in this way: “The crown weighs 1,200 grams. In it shines 950 diamonds of 76 carats, 1,400 roses of 20 carats, 313 pearls, 1 round emerald of 3.97 carats, 13 small emeralds, 33 sapphires, 11 rubies, 260 turquoises, 1 amethyst and 4 aquamarine. Total: 313 pearls and 2,650 stones”.
However, it was only in 1989 that the crown received one last “jewel”: the bullet that wounded John Paul II and offered by him to the bishop of Leiria in 1984. The object was embedded “in the hole that existed in the lower part of the turquoise globe , on the axis of the cross”.
Thus, “if the crown was already, either for reasons of its materiality or for reasons related to devotion, a piece of great value, from that date onwards it gained an incalculable value”.
Remember that the precious crown is only placed on the image of Our Lady of Fatima every 13th, between May and October; on the 15th of August, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and on December 8th, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary. On the remaining days, the image presents one of the secondary wreaths of cast silver, chiseled and gilded, offered to Our Lady of Fátima by the nuns of the Institute of the Sisters of Santa Doroteia and by the students of the Colleges of this Institute.