Marie Queen of Peace

Marian devotion of Port Louis (Mauritius)

According to the documented history, el monumento de Marie Queen of Peace is a statue of the Virgin Mary erected on the mountain signs (Signal Mountain), dominating the city of Port Louis, capital of Mauritius. The image was commissioned by Mons. James Leen, C.S.Sp., eighth bishop of Port Louis (1926-1949), and designed by the artist Max Boulléwith the explicit intention to put the Mauritanians under the protection of the Virgin in the context of the World War II. The work is located in a wide space, with terraces and decorated for great outdoor celebrations, conceived from the beginning as a place of prayer and of great liturgical concentrations.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the documented history, el monumento de Marie Queen of Peace is a statue of the Virgin Mary erected on the mountain signs (Signal Mountain), dominating the city of Port Louis, capital of Mauritius. The image was commissioned by Mons. James Leen, C.S.Sp., eighth bishop of Port Louis (1926-1949), and designed by the artist Max Boulléwith the explicit intention to put the Mauritanians under the protection of the Virgin in the context of the World War II. The work is located in a wide space, with terraces and decorated for great outdoor celebrations, conceived from the beginning as a place of prayer and of great liturgical concentrations.

Several local outreach articles stress that, over time, Marie Reine de la Paix has become a real symbol of the Catholic faith of the island, a place to which faithful from all regions come to pray, thank you for the favors received and pray for peace for the country. His recent history is marked by the great papal masses held there: St. John Paul II in 1989 and Pope Francis on 9 September 2019, as part of his apostolic journeys, consolidating the national character of the sanctuary.

As regards tradition and legend, some popular narrations collected by the French-speaking Catholic press present the monument as a gesture of thanks to the Virgin for having preserved the island Mauritius from the entrance to the World War I. However, the historical documentation cited in local studies and in the encyclopedic synthesis places the project in the time of World War II under the episcopate of Mons. Leen. This tension between popular memory and chronological data should be understood as part of the grateful devotion of the people, rather than as a historically verified account.

The image and the sanctuary

The image of Marie Queen of Peace es una statue of the Virgin Mary in Carrara marble, approximately three meters high. It represents the Virgin in a serene and welcoming attitude, with sober and classic features, with no visible crown in the usually accessible sources, emphasizing more simplicity and peace than majesty regia. This is an image of a round package placed on a pedestal, visible from different parts of the city, so that its very presence becomes a permanent sign of Marian protection over Port Louis.

The devotional set is usually simply called "Monument Mary Queen of Peace". More than a closed temple, it is a sanctuary to the libre aire, composed of a long staircase with steep terraces, gardens and a large altar at the foot of the image, designed to celebrate misas multitudinaria. It is not in the usual sources that the place has the official title of minor basilica It is formally erected as National sanctuary by a pontifical decree; it is, in practice, a great diocesan Marian shrine and emblematic space for the celebrations of the diócesis de Port Louisunder the Latin rite.

Sponsorship and coronation

La devoción a Marie Queen of Peace is closely linked to the city of Port Louis and, in a broader sense, to Church in Mauritius. The sources consulted present it as a place where it "veils over Port Louis" and where many Mauritanians perceive the expression of the "Catholic soul of the island," which gives it a de facto character. almost national within the Mauritanian Catholic community. However, no formal decree has been found to proclaim her as an official patron of the nation or of the diocese, so from a strictly legal to canonical point of view, no official documented patronage.

In relation to the canonical coronation, sources (including diocesan chronicles, Vatican news and encyclopedic reviews available) do not record any canonical coronation ceremony given by the Holy See or by pontifical delegation to this image. Therefore, according to the available data, does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

A Fecha liturgica propia specific Marie Reine de la Paix in Port Louis, different from the Marian memories usual in the Roman calendar; therefore, does not officially contain a documented own party for this local invocation. But devotion is expressed through pilgrimages, acts of prayer for peace and great Eucharistic celebrations at significant times in the life of the Church and the nation.

The open-air sanctuary is a place of usual pilgrimage of the faithful who go up the steps to pray, offer flowers, light candles and entrust their family and social concerns to the Virgin. In particular, the explanade is filled in the great diocesan and national masses, as witnessed by the celebrations presided over by John Paul II in 1989 and by Pope Francis in 2019, where many faithful from all over the island attended. The Catholic press points out that many Mauritanians, even non-Catholics, see in Marie Reine de la Paix a sign of unity and prayer for peaceand that the place is also used in interreligious acts aimed at social reconciliation.

Link to the Rosary

The available sources on the monument of Marie Queen of Peace in Port Louis do not explicitly mention a own or specific practice of the Rosary's prayer officially linked to the sanctuary (for example, the Rosary's fellowship, institutionalized rosarian processions or particular indulgences). Therefore, does not contain a particular documented link with the Rosary beyond the ordinary use of this prayer in the life of the faithful who come to the place.

However, the Catholic traditionthe title of “Reina de la Paz” is naturally associated with RosaryThis is a contemplative prayer centered on the mysteries of Christ, "Prince of Peace," prayed by the hand of Mary. In a context such as that of Mauritius, marked by ethnic and religious diversity, the Rosary becomes a school of peace and reconciliationhelping the faithful to meditate on the life of Jesus and to intercede for harmony between communities. The rising prayer to the sanctuary, the paused prayer of the Avemarias and the contemplation of the image of Marie Reine de la Paix are thus spontaneously integrated into the great Marian current of the Church, where the Rosary is one of the simplest and most profound ways to accompany this devotion.