Our Lady
Our Lady of Montserrat (La Moreneta)
Title of the Blessed Virgin Mary · Feast April 27 · Spain (Catalonia)
The dark Romanesque Virgin of the Benedictine abbey of Montserrat, patroness of Catalonia, venerated on the serrated mountain above Barcelona.
Origin
A monastic community has lived on the mountain of Montserrat since the eleventh century, and the wooden image of the seated Virgin and Child venerated in the abbey church is Romanesque, darkened with age until the Catalans named it La Moreneta, the little dark one. Montserrat became one of the chief pilgrimage places of Europe; St. Ignatius of Loyola kept vigil before the image in 1522 and laid down his sword there before going on to Manresa. Pope Leo XIII declared Our Lady of Montserrat patroness of Catalonia in 1881, and her feast is kept on 27 April.
Why it matters
The Virgin in Majesty is a doctrinal image before it is a devotional one: Mary is depicted as the throne of Wisdom, her whole posture existing to present the Child who blesses from her lap. The sphere in her hand belongs to him, the world he holds. Ecclesia in Europa appeals to shrines such as this one as living memory, places where a people's Christian roots are not an argument but an experience.
Feast day
April 27
Region
Spain (Catalonia)
Iconography notes
A Romanesque Virgin in Majesty: Mary seated as a throne with the Child upright on her knee, both crowned, the faces and hands dark. Her right hand holds a sphere, which pilgrims touch as they file past. The abbey's boys' choir, the Escolania, sings the Virolai and the Salve at the shrine.
Aliases
- La Moreneta
- Mare de Déu de Montserrat
- Virgen de Montserrat
Content subtype
devotional_title
Associated prayers
salve-regina
hail-mary
litany-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary
magnificat