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, Pope Pius XII had proclaimed that title for the Virgin Mary in his 1954 encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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.
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.
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."
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. While in 1968 Aparecida had about four million pilgrims, the number has since reached eight million pilgrims per year. 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.