Tower Topics ~ Fall 2000

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The Basilica and its Insignia

In an effort to provide readers with a more intimate portrait of the renewed Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, each issue of Tower Topics will present an article on an artistic, architectural, historical or liturgical element of the church. This issue we focus on the honorary title of Basilica and its insignia.

By decree of Pope Pius XII, Conception Abbey’s church became a minor basilica May 10, 1941, the 50th anniversary of its dedication. It was the fifth church in the United States so designated and the first west of the Mississippi. It is now one of forty-five minor basilicas in the United States.

In ancient Greek and Roman times, a basilica was a type of public building in which official business was conducted. But by the fourth century of the Christian era, basilicas had become places of worship.

It was during this time that construction of the great basilicas of Rome began. Soon these massive churches, now known as the major basilicas, came to play a central role in the lives of the universal Church and its popes. Among the major basilicas are the patriarchal basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major in Rome and St. Francis and St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi.

Today, the term basilica is a special designation granted by the Holy Father to certain churches because of their antiquity, dignity, historical importance, or significance as a center of worship and devotion. This designation comes with various honors and privileges. One such honor is the ombrellino or the pavilion, a papal symbol which probably predates Christianity.

The ombrellino originated as the processional canopy that protected the hierarchy and nobility from the hot Mediterranean sun. It subsequently emerged, as early as the eleventh century, as an honor reserved for the papacy. Its colors, red and yellow, are those of the Holy See.

      
Left, the ombrellino, and right the bell.

Another symbol is the small bell, which is displayed opposite the obrellino in the church, used perhaps to warn people of the approach of an official. It is said that the bell, which is part of Conception Abbey’s basilican insignia, came from the household goods of Maximilian, the first emperor of Mexico.

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