The Coronation of Mary in Heaven

Secular presentation

The fifth glorious mystery

The final scene is set in heaven.  As such it is God, who Christians understand to be mysteriously three-persons-in-one-God, who occupies the head of the picture.

There we see represented, the Holy Spirit, again as a dove, on the left is Jesus, and on the right, God the Father of Jesus (hence the bigger beard!)

Behind the Father's head is the symbol of a triangle to show that He is not isolated but with the other two, They are three-in-one God.  Neither is more God than the others, They are one.  It is hard to figure until you see it as a transcendent thing, something Christians call a 'mystery'.  Mystery here means 'hard to fathom' and 'out of this world', and not uncertainty, as in a 'whodunit'.

So Mary, who is not God, occupies a lower place in the picture.  But because God has a nature to share His love and the fruits of His achievements, Mary is raised up and crowned the Queen of Heaven.  In doing this, Jesus bestows a final honour on His mother, in accordance with the Judeo-Christian commandment to honour His mother (Bible-Exodus 20:12).  He'd already given His greatest honour to His Father in Heaven in the garden and on the way to the cross.

As Queen of Heaven, Mary is shown responding the way we saw when she was in the Church on earth: praying to God, that is to her son Jesus, to the Holy Spirit and to the Father.  She prays for the Church, which carries on the work of salvation: something it does by the merits of Jesus' death and resurrection, by the will of the Father, and by the spiritual help of the Holy Spirit.

Although everyone who is a Christian, will experience their faith in a unique and personal way, being a Christian is not itself a purely personal experience.  As this picture shows, it's about being joined-up.  Joined up in prayer and in service, with neighbours, with God, and for those who know about her (not all Christians do), with Mary who prays for us.  It is more than a community thing, it is a close relationship thing: it is a family thing.

I hope that if you've followed through with this presentation, that you've enjoyed it and perhaps learnt a few of the concepts that Christians use.  The rest of the site hosting this content is mainly aimed at Christians, you are welcome to look further round but please understand that not everything will be clear, as it may be to some extent 'diving in at the deep end'!