PilgrimstaysThe Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat clings to the jagged stone towers of the Montserrat mountain, 50 km from Barcelona, at an altitude of 725 metres. It has been a centre of pilgrimage since the 12th century, when a small wooden statue known as La Moreneta — the Little Dark One — was discovered in a mountain cave, reportedly by shepherds following a column of light. Approximately two million pilgrims and visitors come each year. La Moreneta, carved in the 12th century, sits on the throne above the high altar. Her dark face is one of the defining images of Catalonia, and her veneration is inseparable from Catalan identity — she is the Patroness of Catalonia. St Ignatius of Loyola made a famous vigil before her image in 1522, hanging up his sword and spending the night in prayer before setting out on the path that would eventually lead him to found the Society of Jesus. Richard Wagner sought her in creating Parsifal. The abbey's choir, the Escolania de Montserrat — one of the oldest boys' choirs in Europe, founded in the 13th century — sings the daily Salve and the Virolai (a Marian hymn to Our Lady of Montserrat) at 1:00 PM and 6:45 PM. Hearing the choir in the basilica, with the mountain towering above, is one of the great spiritual experiences of European pilgrimage.
The Escolania boys' choir, one of Europe's oldest, has sung at Montserrat since the 13th century
St Ignatius of Loyola made his famous vigil before La Moreneta in 1522, founding a spiritual
turning-point La Moreneta (the Black Madonna) is the Patroness of Catalonia — at the heart of
Catalan identity The abbey is perched at 725 metres on one of Europe's most dramatic mountain
settings Wagner visited Montserrat while composing Parsifal; the mountain's legend shaped his vision of the Grail
High altar, basilica The 12th-century wooden statue of Our Lady sits enthroned above the altar, right hand extended holding the orb of the world. Only her right hand and the orb are visible outside the glass case — pilgrims reach up to touch or kiss the orb. The touch lasts a moment. The memory lasts a lifetime.
Down the mountain path [OUTDOOR] A 45-minute walk or funicular descend to the Santa Cova — the cave where the statue of Our Lady was reportedly found, and where St Ignatius of Loyola spent a night of prayer in 1522 before surrendering his sword. A modest chapel marks the site. The silence of the cave is profound.
Through the crags above the monastery [OUTDOOR] Marked paths wind through the extraordinary stone pinnacles and serrated ridges of Montserrat. The Sant Joan hermitage trail, 2 km above the monastery, offers vertigo-inducing views over Catalonia and a sense of the wild solitude that drew the first hermits here in the early Christian centuries.
a quality of collection surprising for a mountain monastery.
St Ignatius came to Montserrat as a soldier, hung his sword before La Moreneta, and spent the night in prayer. He left as something else. The mountain did not change. The Madonna did not speak. But in the space of a night's prayer before an image on a rock, a Basque soldier became the founder of the Jesuits. No algorithm explains this. It is what mountains and silence and a carved wooden face do to a soul that is ready.
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”
Read in full on Bible Gateway →The Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat clings to the jagged stone towers of the Montserrat mountain, 50 km from Barcelona, at an altitude of 725 metres. It has been a centre of pilgrimage since the 12th century, when a small wooden statue known as La Moreneta — the Little Dark One — was discovered in a mountain cave, reportedly by shepherds following a column of light. Approximately two million pilgrims and visitors come each year.
La Moreneta, carved in the 12th century, sits on the throne above the high altar. Her dark face is one of the defining images of Catalonia, and her veneration is inseparable from Catalan identity — she is the Patroness of Catalonia. St Ignatius of Loyola made a famous vigil before her image in 1522, hanging up his sword and spending the night in prayer before setting out on the path that would eventually lead him to found the Society of Jesus. Richard Wagner sought her in creating Parsifal.
The abbey’s choir, the Escolania de Montserrat — one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe, founded in the 13th century — sings the daily Salve and the Virolai (a Marian hymn to Our Lady of Montserrat) at 1:00 PM and 6:45 PM. Hearing the choir in the basilica, with the mountain towering above, is one of the great spiritual experiences of European pilgrimage.
