After breakfast, we motored towards Montserrat to visit the Black Madonna. As I’ve said in the past, be careful what you wish for... ‘cuz you might just get it. And indeed, my wish has been granted as I’ve always wanted to see Our Lady of Montserrat in person.
As a backgrounder, Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat. "Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain" in Catalan. It describes the peculiar aspect of the rock formation, which is visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock. One interesting fact about the monastery is that it is home to the world’s oldest continuing press – its first book was published in 1499.
The Basilica, next to the monastery, is home to the revered La Moreneta, or Black Madonna. The statue of the Virgin is a small Romanesque statue made of wood believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the church. It depicts a seated Black Virgin with the child Jesus on her lap. Her dark color is due to changes in the varnish with the passage of time. It is one of the black Madonnas of Europe, hence its familiar Catalan name, la Moreneta ("The little dark-skinned one"). 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. Not only is Montserrat Monastery of significant religious importance but the natural beauty surrounding the monastery is simply breathtaking.
The basilica also holds one of the monastery's most noted attractions, the 50-member Escolanía, one of the oldest and most renowned boys' choirs in Europe, dating from the 13th century. At 1pm daily you can hear them singing "Salve Regina" and the "Virolai" (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica.
Walking paths and a funicular take visitors to Santa Cova (Holy Grotto), the traditional site of the discovery of the Black Virgin. The grotto dates back to the 17th century and was built in the shape of a cross. The funicular goes halfway, but the rest of the trip must be made on foot.
Anyhow, as we start to climb the winding road to Montserrat, one could see the stunning views, and looking back across the fields and towns gives a new perspective to the landscape. I read about the formation of the mountains rising up from the river delta over thousands of years, wherein the stones rise and fold over each other which then created these distinctive serrated formations piercing the sky. Passing a number of monastic retreats along the way, we arrived in the car park to a first glimpse of fortress-like buildings juxtaposed against the backdrop of dramatic cliffs falling away to the deep valley below. I was stunned by one of the most impressive natural attractions in Spain. It was simply spectacular!
As soon as we arrived, we immediately lined up, wended around the right side of a hall, up some steps, then some more steep narrow steps, to get close to the Black Madonna’s wooden orb that protrudes from the encased glass so pilgrims can touch it. I was impressed by the size of the Black Madonna. For some reason, my mind creates a scale whenever I read about these religious works of art, and then when that statue comes into perspective, my mind needs to come in sync with what I am seeing. Perhaps visits to various European cathedrals and national museums have shaped my expectations and perspectives. Anyhow, I just loved the fact that the Black Madonna was less than 3 feet in height. Regardless of its origin and like all other religious objects, the Black Madonna represents humankind’s faith in God. And since I was the first in line, I had time and the chance to take a picture, seen below:
And while waiting for the rest of the group, I had a chance to go to the chapel where you can see the back of the statue (photos below), and where I made my 3 wishes. The rest of the group was unable to come in because they closed the chapel immediately. Aren’t I blessed to come inside for a few moments to pray and take a picture?
Close-up view
We then attended a concelebrated mass where Fr. Jerry officiated mass along with the monks.
Interior of the Basilica
After the mass, Marilyn and I lighted votive candles for the intentions of family and friends. It is quite an amazing sight to see thousands of candles lit – each a representation of someone’s prayer. (The picture below doesn’t do justice to the length of the alley where candles have been lit.)
Montserrat was truly a moving place, made more so because of the fantastic natural environment. So, with a little bit of time on our hands, we had some photo ops around the monastery:
I left Montserrat with an infused sense of peace and the feeling that my problems are nothing but a speck in an ocean. Dealing with the day-to-day stress can leave us myopic and this was a fantastic way of taking a big step back and looking at the bigger picture. And then everything is put back into perspective.
Back on the bus, we had a very long drive back to France. Besides, we were stuck in traffic for an hour on the freeway. We didn’t get to Uzes until almost 8:00 in the evening, after which we just checked in into our hotel, Best Western Inn, which was situated out of nowhere. As expected, we got a very tiny room that leaves us no room to move about. Oh well, we can’t have it all, can we? Since it was late in the evening, we just had dinner at the hotel, after which we called it a night. The upside? It was a nice drive going there, as can be gleaned from the photo below:
To Be Continued.....
awesome Spain.... you should have stayed longer.... would love to visit the place one day.... --- guia
ReplyDeleteHow I wish I could have stayed longer!!! Again, thanks for all your wonderful comments, Gui.
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