Our Lady of the Montiel Snow

Marian devotion

Where is he?

Our Lady of the Snow is venerated in Montiel, in the province of Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha. The property information of the City of Montiel places the image in a chapel attached to the church of San Sebastián Mártir, in the old town. The coordinate of this file corresponds to the town of Montiel obtained from OpenStreetMap; it is not presented as the exact GPS of the chapel, because the archived cartographic consultation did not return an unequivocal geometry of the building.

Documented history

The City Council describes the church of San Sebastián as a building of late Gothic origin, ordered to be built in 1440 and transformed in different times. His first function was the hermitage dedicated to the martyr San Sebastián. The current cover belongs to the 18th century and the set retains a ship, vault and side chapels. This architectural history helps to place the space where the image is preserved today, but does not allow to attribute to the advocation a supernatural origin.

In a chapel located on the right side of the church is a size of the Virgin of the Snow which the City Council dates in the 13th century and describes as Romanesque, recently restored. This institutional reference is particularly important because it distinguishes the preserved image of other Marian claims that existed in the same territory. The diocesan documentation on the Marian history of Montiel also mentions the Virgin of the Snow as one of the ancient claims of the villa, prior to the current devotional centrality of the Virgin of the Martyrs.

The relationship with Torres, an old village located several kilometres from Montiel, is part of the historical context of the image. The City Council retains the memory of a village with parish church dedicated to Our Lady and with remains of a temple of several ships. The diocesan documentation explains that the image of the Nieves, linked to that medieval past, is still preserved, while the Virgin of the Star and the Virgin of the Martyrs occupied other moments of patronage and local religious life. There is no precise date for the beginning of devotion under the title of the Snow.

Tradition

The Montiel tradition has preserved several Marian memories together: the Virgin of the Star, the owner of the ancient church of the castle; the Virgin of the Snow, related to the history of Torres; and the Virgin of the Martyrs, the current patron of the town. The diocesan documentation warns that these devotions are confused and complemented at different times. That is why this fact sheet identifies Our Lady of the Snow with the medieval image preserved in San Sebastián and does not attribute the patronage that the sources reserve to the Virgin of the Martyrs.

The permanence of the size in a temple that has undergone reforms, changes of use and the damage of the Civil War is part of the living history of the place. The cult of the neighbors is expressed in the preservation of the image and in its presence within the church, but the continuity of veneration should not be transformed into an affirmation of apparitions or miracles.

Legend

In the institutional sources consulted there is no account of the apparition of Our Lady of the Snow of Montiel who has been subjected to an ecclesial judgment. There is also no specific miracle approved in relation to this image. The possible narrations of their remote origin therefore remain a local tradition if they appear in oral memory, not a documented history. The research report mentioned a story of concealment during the Civil War in a publication whose access could not be verified with HTTP 200; it is not incorporated here as a fact.

Ecclesial State

It consists of the public veneration of the image in a Catholic church in Montiel, within the parish life of the diocese of Real City. It is therefore recorded as a cult allowed in a pastoral sense, without presenting it as approval of an apparition or a miracle. The sources consulted do not contain a specific decree of the diocese or of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that judges the supernatural nature of a phenomenon associated with this advocation.

Anecdotes and stories

The chapel of the Virgin of the Snow allows you to read the history of Montiel on a small scale: a medieval image remains in a building that began as a hermitage of San Sebastián and was adapted to the needs of the community. The temple itself retains a neoclassical altarpiece that, according to municipal information, was among the few who survived the Civil War, although the venerated images were affected. This observation does not allow for the reconstruction of each of the size vicissitudes, but does explain why the current conservation has a heritage value.

The landscape of Montiel and the remains of Torres also remember that devotions do not develop isolated from the history of the peoples. The image of the Nieves is linked to the memory of an ancient population, to the churches of the Montiel Field and to the transmission of faith between generations. Where dates or documents are missing, the file expressly keeps open what is not recorded.

Prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus and Lady of the Snow, intercedes for Montiel, for their families and for those who guard the memory of their churches. Teach us to recognize the historical truth, to care for the heritage received and to live faith with humility. Take our pleas before your Son and help us to serve him with charity. Amen.

Sources

• Montiel City Council: heritage and places to visit.
• Diocese of Royal City, With you, November 6, 2016: Marian history of Montiel.
• OpenStreetMap: Montiel, Ciudad Real.