Virgin of Montserrat

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Virgin of Montserrat
“La Moreneta”
Throne of Wisdom holding an orb of the earth in her right hand[2]
PatronageCatalonia

Our Lady of Montserrat or the Virgin of Montserrat (

Miracles have been attributed to the statue.[7]

Pope Leo XIII granted the image a canonical coronation on 11 September 1881. The image is one of the Black Madonnas of Europe, hence its familiar Catalan name, La Moreneta ("the little dark-skinned one" or "the little dark one"). Believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the Church, it is more likely a Romanesque sculpture in wood from the late 12th century.[8]

An 18th-century polychromed statue of the same image is also displayed in

papal election of Pope Paul VI in 1963. The image has been on display for papal masses since the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI
.

History

"La Moreneta"

The mountain of Montserrat has been of religious significance since pre-Christian times, when the Romans built a temple to honor the Roman goddess Venus.[9]

By one account, the image of the Madonna was moved to Montserrat in 718, to avoid the danger posed by invading

Saracens.[10]

Legend has it that the

Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery
, choosing to instead build around it. The statue's sanctuary is located at the rear of the chapel, where an altar of gold surrounds the icon, and is now a site of pilgrimage.

Description

The 95-cm (38-inch) statue shows evidence of Byzantine conventional and stylized form, and is painted in

Throne of Wisdom". The body is thin, the face elongated. She holds an orb of the earth in her right hand. The Child's hand is raised in a formalized and traditional Eastern blessing.[2]

In 2001, renovators working for the government observed that the black hands and face of La Moreneta had over the centuries undergone a change in colour. They attribute the change—from a lighter tone to black—either to prolonged exposure to candle smoke or a chemical reaction caused by a varnish used as a paint sealant. The statue was repainted black by successive generations of restorers. A series of tests, including X-rays, revealed the statue's original colour and also showed that the last repainting took place at the turn of the 18th century.[11]

Veneration

After making a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Montserrat around 1203, Peter Nolasco went to Barcelona where he began to practice various works of charity. Nolasco became concerned with the plight of Christians captured in Moorish raids and decided to establish the Merecedarians, a religious order to succor these unfortunates.

Upon his recovery from battle wounds,

Society of Jesus
.

The

virgin is sometimes also known as the "Rosa d'abril".[12] Her feast is kept on April 27.[13]

Patronage

The statue has always been considered one of the most celebrated images in Spain. "La Moreneta" is one of Catalonia's two patron saints, together with

Sant Jordi (Saint George).[11]

Given name

The name Montserrat, traditionally abbreviated to Serrat, Rat, Rateta, Tat or Tóna, and also to Montse in recent years, is a popular girl's name in Catalonia.[14][15][16][17]

References

  1. ^ "The Mystery of Montserrat: A Sacred Mountain of Christianity". Catholic Exchange. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Roccosalvo C.S.J., Joan L. (Spring 2012). "Elegance Personified: The Black Madonna of Montserrat". Sacred Architecture Journal.
  3. Patron Saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII
    in 1881.
  4. ^ "The Feast", under "Spirituality", on the official Montserrat Monastery website (in Catalan, Spanish and English).
  5. Catalan Government
    's website (in Catalan, Spanish and English).
  6. ^ "Els Patrons de Catalunya", Archdiocese of Barcelona (text in Catalan).
  7. ^ "A Real-Life Miracle on Spain's Montserrat Mountain". City Wonders.
  8. ^ "Montserrat monastery", Barcelona
  9. ^ a b Duricy, Michael P., "Black Madonnas: Our Lady of Montserrat", Marian Library, University of Dayton
  10. ^ a b Wilkinson, Isambard (13 April 2001). "Montserrat Black Virgin 'was white originally'". The Telegraph.
  11. ^ Escolania de Montserrat – El Virolai
  12. ^ "Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter - April 27, 2016 - Liturgical Calendar".
  13. ^ Ruaix, Josep. Català Complet 3. Curs superior de llengua, Editorial Claret, 1998, p. 23-26 (in Catalan)
  14. ^ "De Rats i Tats", Núria Puyuelo, El Punt / Avui, 2 May 2014 (in Catalan) [consulted 7 April 2015]
  15. ^ Soler, Sílvia (29 June 2013). "Montserrat". Ara.cat (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Catalanot II. Noves tendències en la tradició catalana d'escurçar els noms de font", Melancholia, 21 November 2010 (in Catalan) [consulted 7 April 2015]

External links