140th Anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Basilica and the accordance of the insignia to the Basilica

15 h 00 : Presentation of the parasol and the baton for the procession, the two honours conferred to each Basilica and an explanation of the meaning of each of the symbols (salle Notre Dame)

Other offices at normal times

THE BASILICA OF PONTMAIN

parasol

A Short History.
At the beginning of the 4th century, three large buildings were built in Rome by the Emperor Constantine to allow large numbers of people to attend the liturgical celebrations. The Basilica of St John Lateran, in the district of the Lateran, became the cathedral for Rome, St Peters, in the district of the Vatican, on the tomb of the apostle Peter and The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls (of the city), on the tomb of the apostle Paul. A further Basilica of Saint Mary Major was built a few years later. These four important places of worship in Rome, receive the ancient name of basilica.
The 13th century popes also decided to honour with the title of basilica, a certain number of other sanctuaries deemed to be of particularly importance to the faithful. These are the MINOR BASILICAS. Each one of them is related in a particular way to the one of the four major basilicas of Rome.

bâton de procession

On February 21, 1905, Pope Pius X raised the sanctuary of Pontmain to the status of BASILICA and attached it to Saint Mary Major in Rome

The « BASILICA HONOURS »
To make visible to the eyes of faithful its elevation to the status of Basilica, the place of worship is accorded two objects, called “the Basilica Honours”, intended to be placed in the chancel of the sanctuary : the parasol and the procession baton.

The parasol (or sunshade) in papal colours : red and gold. In Rome it is also raised above the head of the Pope during processions. In the basilicas, it is half is closed, as it would not be fully deployed until a papal visit.

Le Procession Baton (or tintinnabulum) is provided with one small bell. In Rome, it was used at the start of processions presided over by the pope and the tinkling of the small bell announced the approach of the procession.

These two symbols still signify today the spiritual importance of the basilica and it’s privileged link with the papacy.