CORONA. - This term refers to a particular form of prayer in which the *Pater* and *Ave Maria* are recited repeatedly, guided by a series of beads strung together by a thread or chain, forming a loop: thus, the term *corona* may refer indifferently both to the specific form of prayer and to the physical string of beads.
The use of a *corona* for reciting prayers is very ancient and dates back to pagan times. Among Christians, it was often favored by anchorites and monks, and it became especially widespread during the time of St. Dominic, when a specific form and special blessing were requested for the *corona* of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Numerous *corone* created by the piety of the faithful were thus recognized by the Apostolic See, which established precise norms and enriched them with special indulgences.
According to current canonical provisions, the beads of a *corona* must be made of solid material (mother-of-pearl, alabaster, marble, wood, solid and compact glass; and also tin and lead, though for the latter materials the apostolic indulgences are not granted). Since the blessing applies only to the beads and not to the connecting chain, the provisions do not concern the latter, which may be made indifferently of iron wire, silver, leather, or hemp.
The form must be that of a loop: not a band, girdle, or anything else that hangs down. The beads must be grouped in sets of ten, seven, or three, according to the use or purpose of each *corona*, to count the recitation of the established number of prayers. According to precise declarations of the Holy See, it is not permitted to substitute the beads of a *corona* with rings of silver or gold, whether carved or engraved; nor to replace the beads of the *Pater* with carved medals; nor, in any case, with bracelets, which, although they may be adorned with indulgences, do not serve to replace the *corona*.
For a *corona* to obtain the indulgence, it must be blessed. The formulas found in the *Roman Ritual* (and its Appendices) are generally optional, except for those of the *corona* of the Rosary and the *corona* of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for which one of the two prescribed formulas is required, either the longer or the shorter. For the others, when presented on the palm of the hand, a sign of the cross by a priest who has the faculty and the precise intention of granting the attached indulgence suffices. If, over time, one or a few beads are lost or worn out, they may be replaced with others without the need to renew the blessing.
The principal *corone*, besides that of the Rosary of the Madonna—formed by a larger bead for the *Pater Noster* and dividing five, ten, or fifteen decades of smaller beads for the *Ave Maria*—are the following:
**Corona of the Crociferi:** It has the same form and is recited in the same way as the Rosary, but without the obligation to meditate on the glorious, joyful, or sorrowful mysteries. The recitation of each *Pater* and *Ave* is united with an indulgence of 500 days, even if the entire decades are not recited. The faculty to bless it belongs to the Order of Canons of the Holy Cross or Crociferi; however, it may be granted by the Holy Penitentiary to other priests, and it is one of the faculties of the priests of the Pious Union of the Clergy for the missions.
**Corona of the Lord:** 33 *Pater* in memory of the 33 years of Our Lord Jesus Christ on earth, 5 *Ave* in memory of the five wounds of the Divine Redeemer, and one *Credo* in honor of the Holy Apostles. This *corona*, which is proper to the Order of the Camaldolese monks, was enriched with special indulgences by Leo X (18 Feb. 1516) and subsequently by other pontiffs.
**Corona of St. Bridget:** Originally composed of 6 decades (each of 1 *Pater*, 10 *Ave*, 1 *Credo*), followed by 1 *Pater* and 3 *Ave*, it was later reduced by concession to 5 decades as well. The indulgences granted by the popes to both forms were reconfirmed by the Rescripts of the Holy Congregation of Indulgences (16 Jan. 1886 and 8 Dec. 1887). With the extinction of the Order of St. Bridget, the faculty of blessing passed to the abbots or superiors of the Order of Canons Regular of the Most Holy Savior; however, it is easily granted by the Holy Penitentiary to other priests as well.
**Corona of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary:** 7 decades (each of 1 *Pater* and 7 *Ave*), with the addition of 3 *Ave* in honor of the tears of the Sorrowful Virgin, whose seven principal sorrows must be meditated upon and pronounced with the recitation of each decade. It is enriched with indulgences recognized in the Summary of the Holy Congregation of Indulgences dated 18 July 1877. The faculty of blessing belongs to the Order of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it is also granted to other priests.
**Corona of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary:** Similar to the previous one, divided into 7 decades (each of 1 *Pater* and 10 *Ave*), with the addition of two more *Ave* to reach the number of 72 *Ave*; a further *Pater*, *Ave*, and *Gloria* is recited according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. With a brief dated 4 Dec. 1906, Pius X united numerous indulgences for the faithful, linked however to the blessing of a superior or priest of one of the three Franciscan families to whom the faculty of blessing this *corona* belongs.
**Angelic Corona**, or in honor of St. Michael the Archangel and the nine choirs of angels: a larger bead, used for the recitation of the *Pater*, divides 9 groups of three smaller beads used for the *Ave*; followed by 4 other beads for an additional 4 *Pater*. Other special invocations to the individual angelic choirs are required to obtain the indulgences granted by Pius IX on 8 Aug. 1851. The faculty of blessing is common to all priests who can bless sacred objects with attached indulgences.
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CORONA. - Very common in the attire of the members of the imperial family or those invested with imperial authority, between the 5th and 7th centuries, *corone* were made from a metal plate or from various metal plaques connected together for better adherence to the head, or even, presumably, from a strip of leather adorned with studs, enamels, pearls, and precious stones set in cells. Sometimes *corone* were also adorned with flowers and leaves, such as those held in the hands by the saints advancing toward the throne of the Redeemer in the mosaics of the nave in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna (520-30), similar to the one descending from heaven to crown the Virgin in the mosaic of the cathedral in Poreč (543-54). The *corona* of Justinian, as it appears in the mosaic of San Vitale (547), was made of a gold band adorned with stones and enamels and a double row of pearls; the other one encircling the head of Theodora was connected to a complex headdress with pearl pendants.
Sometimes at the point corresponding to the middle of the forehead the crown had a boss or an enamel or a gem which stood out particularly both for its size and for its preciousness. Thus in the crown of the Theodosius of Barletta, in that which encircles the head of Honorius in the diptych of Anicius Probus in the cathedral of Aosta, and in another which crowned the so-called Carmagnola in the balustrade of St Mark’s in Venice. This last, with large bosses, must have been made, precisely, of hinged metal plates. A similar appearance is presented by the crown which encircles the head of St Agnes in the apse mosaic in the church dedicated to her in Rome (625-38).
Not all scholars agree on the dating of the so-called “Ferrera Crown,” preserved in the cathedral of Monza, which on the inside has a strip of iron, taken, according to tradition, from a nail of the Cross, and on the outside is entirely adorned with set stones and enamels executed with a technique which seems older than the 6th century but arranged, the enamels and the stones, according to a taste not unlike that which is recognised as proper to the works of barbarian goldsmiths (v. ARTE); among which must be placed, in the same cathedral of Monza, the crown called of Theodolinda to which is attached a cross once joined to another crown inscribed with the name of Agilulf. The crown of Theodolinda forms a group with others of the 7th century found in Spain in the sanctuary at Fuente de Guarraraz near Toledo, at least in part as ex-votos.
The type of crown does not seem to change in the 9th and 10th centuries, for similar ones are seen on the head of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI in the mosaic of the narthex of St Sophia (886-912) and similar ones, in the imagination of the mosaicist who decorated the vestibule of the same church between 986 and 994, were worn by the emperors Constantine and Justinian.
With the Romanesque age the crown, symbol of royalty, continues to be assigned to all the powerful of heaven and earth. Already in the 10th century it encircled the heads of the saints painted in the apse of the little church of St Sebastian on the Palatine in Rome and therefore between the 10th and 11th centuries it is seen encircling the head of Philosophy in the mosaic of the floor of the cathedral of Ivrea.