Nossa Senhora de Montserrat

La Moreneta da montanha sagrada

Nossa Senhora de Montserrat, conhecida popularmente como La Moreneta, is the padrõess of Catalonia and one of the nine padrõesses of the autonomous communities of Spain. Her image, a venerável Romanesque carving with a dark face, is kept in the Monastery of Montserrat, atop the singular serrated mountain that gives the place its name: at onze a symbol for Catalonia and a place of pilgrimage for believers.

Fatos principais

Mensagem central: on 12 September 1881 Pope Leo XIII officially declared the Virgin of Montserrat padrõess of the dioceses of Catalonia, with her own Mass and Office. Her feast is celebrated on 27 April; she is also honoured on 8 September, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, as a «found virgin. »

Imagem românica e por que ela é escura

A imagem é uma Entalhe românico do século XII, made of poplar wood. It measures about 95 centimetres and depicts the Virgin with the Child Jesus forted on her lap: in her right hand she holds a sphere symbolizing the universe, while the Child raises his right hand in blessing and holds a pine cone in his left. Apart from the face and hands of Mary and the Child, the image is gilded.

The flesh tões are dark in colour, and hence the popular nickname of La Moreneta («the little dark one»). She has been associated with the group of so-called «black virgins» so widespread throughout Romanesque Europe. In her case, the hands and faces of the Virgin and the Child were painted with white lead, which, on oxidizing, acquired that dark tone over time, together with a repainting from the early 19th century. Although the carving is mostly from the 12th century, the Child Jesus and the present hands of the Virgin are a 19th-century addition.

A tradição da descoberta na caverna

Segundo a tradição, the first image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found by some shepherd children around the year 880: after seeing a light on the mountain, they found the image inside a cave. On learning the news, the bishop of Manresa wished to move it to the city, but the move proved imposssible because the statuse «was too heavy». The bishop interpretad this as the Virgin’s wish to remain in the place where she had been found, and ordered the building of the hermitage of Saint Mary, the origin of the present monastery.

Este relato da descoberta pertence ao reino de lenda piedosa, não para a história documentada. O que é certo e verificável é a antiguidade da escultura românica e a consolidação do culto e do mosteiro ao longo dos séculos.

O mosteiro beneditino e a Escolania

Montserrat tem sido há muito tempo Mosteiro beneditino, symbol and place of pilgrimage for Catalonia. During the Peninsular War (1808) the monastery was profaned and the image was moved to Barcelona —to the cathedral and afterwards to the church of Saint Michael— to prevent its destruction. In 1824 its return and the reconstruction of the monastery were permitted, although political upheavals and the confiscations of Church property onze again forced the Virgin’s absence until 1844, when her cult was re-established.

Desde tempos remotos, a Virgem tinha sido vestida de mantos suntuosos e coroas douradas, saqueadas durante a guerra civil. Após o conflito, a imagem foi apresentada em seus aparência românica original, despojado de vestimentas e acessórios, que é como é mostrado hoje. Ao lado do mosteiro, o celebrado Escolania de Montserrat maintains its liturgical and musical life, one of the oldest boys’ choir schools in Europe, known for its boys’ choir of treble voices.

Nota: a fama histórica da Escolania de Montserrat como uma das mais antigas da Europa é bem conhecida; os detalhes específicos de sua história vão além desta página e devem ser consultados não site oficial da abadia.

Padroeira da Catalunha

A Virgem de Montserrat foi o primeira imagem mariana em Espanha para receber a coroação canônica, já em 1881, followed by Our Lady of Mercy of Barcelona (1886), the Virgin of Candelaria of Tenerife (1889), the Virgin of the Kings of Seville (1904) and the Virgin of Mercy of Reus (1904), among others. That same year, Leo XIII declared her padrõess of the dioceses of Catalonia.

Montserrat hoje

Montserrat remains at onze a shrine, a living monastery and a goal for pilgrims. Since her enthronement in 1947, the image has left the monastery extraordinarily on only two occasions: in 1997, para o cinquentenário dessa entronização, e em 2025, on the occasion of the millennium of the monastery’s foundation. Devotion to La Moreneta has moreover spread to numerous places within and beyond Spain.

A mensagem espiritual de Montserrat

A devoção a La Moreneta ainda nos fala hoje com simplicidade:

⛰️ Maria escolheu permanecer na montanha. A tradição diz que não queria ser movida: a Mãe permanece onde as pessoas a procuram.
📿 The sobrinhaty of the bare carving. Stripped of mantles and crowns, La Moreneta reminds us that what is estential is She herself with her Son.
🎶 Uma montanha que canta. A oração e a música de Montserrat elevam a Deus o coração de um povo inteiro.
✝️ Maria sustenta o universo e conduz a Cristo. Na mão carrega a esfera do mundo; no colo, o Menino que abençoa.

Oração a Nossa Senhora de Montserrat

Prepare seu banquete com o nona à Virgem de Montserrat e rezar também o orações marianas à Mãe de Deus.