# @oliviaharlandekker on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DDhhIzLNYIm
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/25439537-oliviaharlandekker-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/59185acd40.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-12-13T15:33:22.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Olivia Harlan Dekker (@oliviaharlandekker) — https://gondola.cc/oliviaharlandekker

## Caption

The most amazing day visiting Montserrat. Such a special, sacred place we’ll never forget. We got to see the famous “Black Madonna” and learn this incredible story….
(This is based on what our tour guide said and some research myself, so bear with me)

In 880, shepperds were working in the mountain when they saw light coming out of a cave, and heard music playing from inside. There they found a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. They ran to the closest town to tell the priest what they found, and he decided to go back to the cave with them to see it himself.
The statue of the Virgin was still there when they arrived, and the priest decided to take it down to the closest town to be properly worshipped. As they started climbing down the mountain, she started getting heavier and heavier, until they couldn’t lift her up anymore. That’s when they understood that She was sending them a message: she wanted to stay in the mountain rather than be taken to the city. Word of this miracle spread and pilgrims flocked to see Her. They say the her face turned black because of all the candles used during worship… others see that as a symbol of Mary’s human connection to the world and its suffering, or mourning her Son.

In 1025, the Montserrat Monastery started. 1000 years old now! The Catalan language and important artwork survived Franco’s dictatorship thanks to these Monks who kept a secret library, becoming a place of patriotic pride for Catalunya.

It’s a spiritual center that has been visited by religious leaders like Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Pope Jean Paul II. It’s a historical enclosure that has been destroyed by Napoleon and rebuilt by Antoni Gaudi and his peers. It’s the second most visited pilgrimage center in Spain after Santiago de Compostela. 

It’s also home to one of the oldest boys choirs in Europe. We had the absolute pleasure of hearing the Escolania Boy’s Choir perform (last slide). They sounded like absolute angels, it brought a tears to my eyes. 

THEN we visited ollerdelmas winery- an organic, biodiverse winery since 964… it’s been in the same family for 36 generations! Such an amazing experience

#blackmadonna #montserrat

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## Tags

blackmadonna, montserrat

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