Our Lady of Copenhagen

Marian vocation in Copenhagen, Denmark

La Cathedral of Our Lady of Copenhagen (Before Frue Kirke) is the main temple of the city and has been dedicated to the Virgin Mary since the Middle Ages. For centuries it was the religious centre of Copenhagen and one of Denmark's most important areas of Marian devotion before the Protestant Reform.

Main data

Origin and history

La Cathedral of Our Lady of Copenhagen (Before Frue Kirke) is the main temple of the city and has been dedicated to the Virgin Mary since the Middle Ages. For centuries it was the religious centre of Copenhagen and one of Denmark's most important areas of Marian devotion before the Protestant Reform.

Documented history. Our Lady's first church in Copenhagen was built in the siglo XIII mitad primer as a Catholic temple dedicated to the Virgin. It was consecrated as a cathedral and, over time, became the scene of events of great national relevance: in the mid-15th century, for example, the coronation of King Christian I of Denmark and his wife Dorotea of Brandenburg was held in the church of Our Lady, beginning the tradition of real coronations in this temple. After Protestant Reformation in Denmark (16th century), the cathedral passed to Lutheran veneration and today it is the seat of the Lutheran diocese of Copenhagen.

Throughout its history the building has suffered several destructions and reconstructions. The medieval church was replaced by different structures; the present temple is a neoclassical construction completed and consecrated in 1829the work of the architect Christian Frederik Hansen, inspired by Greek and Roman architecture. Since then it is still the Lutheran national cathedral and one of the most significant religious buildings in the country.

Devotional tradition / interpretation. The constant dedication of the main temple of the capital to "Our Lady" has been read by Catholic tradition as a sign of an ancient and deep Marian vocation of the Danish peopleespecially visible in the Middle Ages, when the liturgical life and the holidays of the Virgin marked the pace of the Christian year. This spiritual reading is not articulated in a concrete legendary account or in apparitions, but in the continuity of Marian sponsorship on the cathedral and on the great ceremonies of the kingdom (coronations, weddings and royal funerals) held under the title of the Virgin Mary. However, there is no specific legend about a miraculous origin or an apparition linked to "Our Lady of Copenhagen."

The image and the sanctuary

The image. The dedication is to the Virgin Mary in general ("Our Lady"), without the literature consulted describing a Marian main historical image that has come to this day as a particular icon of the advocation. The current building, of Lutheran worship, is characterized more by its architecture than by a central Marian altarpiece; the interior is dominated by neoclassical sculptures (especially the famous Christ and the apostles of Bertel Thorvaldsen), and it is not known that there is a medieval Marian image of continued worship that has given rise to an iconography of "Our Lady of Copenhagen." Consequently, reliable data on the type, material or style of a particular Marian headline image are not available; only the nominal to the Virgin.

The sanctuary / temple. The temple is officially the "Cathedral of Our Lady" (Vor Frue Kirke). It is located in the historic centre of Copenhagen, near the Nytorv Square, in the district of Indre By. The present cathedral is a neoclassical building with sober lines, with a classic portico façade and a relatively simple tower; its interior follows a basic design with a wide and bright ship.

En la actualidad es Lutheran cathedral and seat of the Diocese of Copenhagen of the Danish People's Church since 1922. No title of minor basilica nor recognition as a national Catholic sanctuary, since the official cult today is Lutheran. For the Catholics of Denmark, the Catholic Cathedral is another: the church of San Ansgar in Copenhagen. Therefore, although the Cathedral of Our Lady retains its Marian name and a Catholic historical memory, it does not work today as a Marian Catholic sanctuary in a strict sense.

Sponsorship and coronation

Patronage. La advocación de Our Lady of Copenhagen refers in general to the patronage of the Virgin Mary over the city through her historic cathedral. The cathedral is officially dedicated to the Virgin, but the sources consulted do not mention a formal decree of canonical patronage (in the Catholic sense) about the city, diocese or nation. In religious and historical use, one can talk about a de facto sponsorship on Copenhagen and, symbolically, on the kingdom, as a national cathedral and place of royal coronations, but this is not formulated as Marian canonical patronage in available documents.

Canon coronation. There is no documented canonical coronation of an image of Our Lady of Copenhagen by the Holy See. The sources studied (historical, tourist and encyclopedic reference) do not mention any Marian canonical coronation linked to this cathedral. Therefore, following the above criteria:

> does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The sources do not indicate a litigation fiesta propia of "Our Lady of Copenhagen" as a specific advocation. The cathedral, as a Lutheran temple, follows the calendar of the Danish People's Church and there is no document of a particular titular Marian celebration comparable to the Catholic patron parties of other vocations.

Before the Reform, it is reasonable to assume that the main Marian parties of the liturgical year (Annunciation, Asunción, Nativity of Mary, etc.) with special solemnity in the cathedral, as was the case in other medieval centers dedicated to the Virgin, but the sources consulted do not provide concrete data of processions, votes or popular Marian traditions specific to this temple. No information on specific Marian pilgrimages towards the cathedral in medieval or modern times equal to those of major Marian shrines.

Today, the Cathedral of Our Lady is visited by many tourists and residents as National cathedral and historical place (coronations, royal weddings, funerals of illustrious characters), rather than as a specific Marian sanctuary. The Marian dimension remains mainly in the title of the temple and in the historical memory of his ancient Catholic dedication.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted do not document a specific relationship between the advocation of Our Lady of Copenhagen and the prayer of the Rosary: there are no mention of the Rosary's cofradies, campaigns to promote this prayer linked to the cathedral, or rosarian pilgrimages of this place. The situation is conditioned by the fact that, since the Reformation, the cathedral is Lutheran temple and not the official center of Catholic spirituality.

From a Catholic Marian perspective, the Rosary remains a privileged way to to spiritually unite one's own life with the mysteries of Christ that are contemplated with Maryalso when you look with respect to the ancient Marian dedication of this Lutheran cathedral today. The memory that the main temple of Copenhagen was dedicated to the Virgin invites the Catholic faithful to:

– Dar gracias por la Marian history que marcó la fe de Dinamarca en la Edad Media. – Pedir, por medio del Rosario, una Christian and Marian renewal para los pueblos del norte de Europa. – Contemplar, junto a María, el misterio de la Iglesia más allá de las divisiones históricas, orando por la unity of Christians and mutual respect