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Gallery of Images, no 1
From the 6th century we find in many Churches representations of Mary
wearing the episcopal pallium.
The pallium was originally a Greek dress, the omophorion, which
was also introduced to Rome, and probably worn to denote status. However, it
acquired new significance as an ecclesiastical dress. In its particular
Christian shape and decorated with crosses, it became the distinctive sign of
papal and episcopal priestly power.
The pallium, as we know it now, is a circular band worn over the
shoulders, with two pendants, one hanging down in front and one behind. The
pallium is made of white lamb’s wool. Its pendants usually have tresses.
Square black crosses decorate the pallium in various places. Originally the top
part was a short mantle, held together with pins so that the pendant hung out
in front. Originally the pendants were long. Later they became shorter.
What is the significance of the pallium?
It is very significant that throughout the early centuries Mary was
portrayed as wearing the pallium.
- The pallium was the symbol of the highest priestly ministry.
It could only be worn by the Pope or by a bishop who received the privilege
from the Pope.
- The pallium was only worn when the bishop was exercising his
supreme priestly functions, such as at the Eucharist and other solemn
liturgies.
This can be proved from letters written by Pope
Gregory the Great (540 - 604 AD). Since the 9th century the pallium has
only been given to Archbishops.
For more details about the pallium and its history,
click
here.
Mary wearing the pallium
1. Mosaic in the Oratory of San Vincenzo near the Lateran Baptistery
in Rome, dated 6th century.
Mary wears the white pallium over a dark chasuble.
Mary is here portrayed as a ‘High Priest’, interceding with
God for people, which is one of the highpriestly tasks mentioned in Hebrews
5,1. Intercession and mediation are among the
priestly functions ascribed to Mary by the Fathers of the Church.
Credit. The image can be found in The Madonna by Adolfo
Venturi, Burns & Oates, London 1902, p.4. For a larger size picture (153
Kb), please click here or on the smaller
image.
2. Mosaic in the oratory of San Venanzio, in the Lateran, dated 642
AD.
The mosaic was made under Popes John IV and Theodorus, both Greeks by
birth (640-649 AD), and the representation shows some Greek influence. Mary
wears the white pallium over the chasuble, but the top part is covered by her
maphorion (her veil), which also carries a cross as if to remind us of
the cross on the pallium underneath.
Again, Mary is portrayed as a ‘High Priest’, interceding with
God for people, which is one of the highpriestly tasks mentioned in Hebrews
5,1. Intercession and mediation are among the
priestly functions ascribed to Mary by the Fathers of the Church.
Credit. The image can be found in Legends of the Madonna
by Anna Brownell-Jameson, Hutchinson & Co, London (no date), p. 85. For a
larger size picture (130 Kb), please click
here or on the smaller image.
3. Mosaic in the Basilica of Parenzo, Croatia, dated 540 AD.
Both Mary and Elizabeth wear a pallium under a chasuble. The Fathers
of the Church attached great value to the fact that both women belonged to a
priestly family. They often hail the fact that Mary was of priestly descent. Note also that Mary
was believed to have baptised and confirmed John the Baptist in
Elisabeth’s womb on this occasion: she was therefore
exercising her priestly ministry.
Credit. This photograph was made in Croatia itself by Dr. P.M.E.
Hogervorst-van Kampen in August 1997. For a larger copy of the mosaic (240 Kb),
click here or on the smaller image.
4. Bass-relief sculpture in Santa-Maria-in-Porto, Ravenna, 6th or 7th
century..
This sculpture is a mixture of East and West. The inscription over the
sculpture is a Greek abbreviation for meter theou, mother of God. The
representation has been influenced by the Greek tradition of the so-called
Virgin Platytera, the praying Virgin. In the East it usually shows the image of
Christ in a window on her chest. The top mantle is obviously meant to be
Mary’s maphorion, the Greek equivalent to the Roman pallium. There
are crosses all over Mary’s dress, a feature derived from the
ecclesiastical pallium.
Again, Mary is portrayed as a ‘High Priest’, interceding with
God for people, which is one of the highpriestly tasks mentioned in Hebrews
5,1. Intercession and mediation are among the
priestly functions ascribed to Mary by the Fathers of the Church.
Credit. The image can be found in Legends of the Madonna
by Anna Brownell-Jameson, Hutchinson & Co, London (no date), p. 83. For a
larger size picture (130 Kb), please click
here or on the smaller image. Another image of the sculpture can be seen
here (from Sub Matris Tutela by
Christa Belting-Ihm, Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1976, plate XVIa).
5. Mosaic in Archbishop’s Chapel, Ravenna, 11th century
(?)..This painting hangs over the altar of the archiepiscopal chapel at
Ravenna. The mosaic originally came from the apse of the Basilica Ursiana.
Again we have the white pallium over a dark chasuble.
Mary is here portrayed as a ‘High Priest’, interceding with
God for people, which is one of the highpriestly tasks mentioned in Hebrews
5,1. Intercession and mediation are among the
priestly functions ascribed to Mary by the Fathers of the Church.
Credit. The image can be found in Sub Matris Tutela by
Christa Belting-Ihm, Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1976, plate XVIb. For a larger
size picture (190 Kb), please click here or
on the smaller image.
6. Mosaic in the dome of the basilica at Torcello, 12th
century.
Mary is carrying the child Jesus on her left arm. It has obviously
been influenced by the Greek icon tradition of the Hodegetria Madonna. However,
there are two manifest differences. There are crosses on her chasuble and on
her veil - in the Greek equivalent, on Mary’s maporion, we normally
find stars. And the white pallium with cross is visible just below her left
hand.
Credit. The image can be found in The Madonna by
Adolfo Venturi, Burns & Oates, London 1902, p.9. For a larger size picture
(195 Kb), please click here or on the
smaller
image.
7. Painting from the Church of the Madonna del Serbo Campagnano, 13th
century.
Mary is sitting on a throne, probably here representing a bishop’s
throne. She is holding the child Jesus on her left hand and pointing to him
with her right hand. A decorated white pallium extends down from under her
chasuble.
Another interpretation by some authors is that Mary is wearing the
Dalmatic of a deacon. This is based on the shape of the chasuble.
The Fathers hailed Mary as a
‘deacon’, which is all the more significant as in that time women
deacons served the Church as validly
ordained ministers. Also in later tradition Mary has at times been
considered a deacon, see e.g. M.J.Scheeben. However,
Mary’s sitting on a bishop’s throne and the pallium argue against
this interpretation.
Credit. The image can be found in Romanesque Painting by
Juan Armand, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, New York 1963, p. 46. For a larger
size picture (220 Kb), please click here or
on the smaller image.
8.Fresco in Santa Maria Antica, Rome, 14th century?
Mary is seated on what looks to be an episcopal throne, with the child
Jesus resting on her knees. She wears an elaborate chasuble, decorated with
gems. The pallium is just visible under her left hand.
The fresco is badly damaged and its age is difficult to determine.
Credit. The image can be found in Le Triomphe de la
Vierge-Église by Marie-Louise Thérel, Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Paris 1984, fig. 96. For a larger size picture (185
Kb), please click here or on the smaller
image. To see the image in its wider context, click here.
A word of thanks, and an appeal
I would like to thank the following persons for their help: the
community of Poor Clare Colletines in Harwarden, Wales, Gt. Britain; Colette
Joyce pastoral assistant in Fulham parish, London; Dr. P.M.E. Hogervorst-van
Kampen, Noordwijk, the Netherlands; and Drs. A. Wijngaards, Arnhem, the
Netherlands.
I kindly request anyone else who knows of images of Our Lady wearing
priestly vestments, or illustrations of Mary Virgin Priest, to let me know
where these can be obtained. If at all possible, scan the image in colour and
send it to me as an attachment to email. Please, retain detailed information
about reproduction and publication. This will help me give the correct credits
and obtain permission to show them on the net, when necessary and possible.
Thank you!
Go to Gallery of
Images, no 2.
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