Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey (Monestir de Montserrat)

Monestir de Montserrat

Tel. 93- 877 77 75
Open:
Basilica: 7:30am- 7:30pm daily (Jul- Sep: 8:30pm)
Museum: 10am- 6pm, Mon- Fri; 9:30am- 6:30pm Sat, Sun & public holidays
www.abadiamontserrat.net

 

Description

The Monastery of Santa María de Montserrat (in Catalan: Monestir de Santa Maria de Montserrat) is a Benedictine abbey located on the Montserrat mountain, belonging to the Bages region, province of Barcelona, Spain. At a height of 720 meters above sea level. Administratively it belongs to the municipality of Monistrol de Montserrat, although some of its neighboring lands fall into the municipality of Collbató. It is a symbol for Catalonia and Spain. It has become a pilgrimage point for believers and a must-see for tourists.

Among the different actions that take place in Montserrat, the choir stands out, which is one of the oldest children's singing choirs in Europe.

The sanctuary of Montserrat, together with the sanctuaries of Torreciudad (Huesca), El Pilar (Zaragoza), Meritxell (Andorra) and Lourdes (France) make up the Marian Route, an itinerary guided by Marian spirituality and devotion, possessing great heritage wealth. , gastronomic and natural.

 

Access

The monastic complex of Montserrat is located in the middle of the mountains. To access it there are different means of transportation. By road it can be accessed via the BP-1121 from the town of Monistrol de Montserrat where it joins the C-55 or via the BP-1103 which crosses the Montserrat Mountain natural park and links with the N-II and A. -2 in the town of San Pablo de la Guardia (Barcelona)

There is a rack railway line from the Ferrocarriles de la Generalidad de Catalunya company that starts from the town of Monistrol de Montserrat and a cable car (Aeri de Montserrat) from a few kilometers before.

 

History

Legend places the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Montserrat around the year 880. Then the cult of La Moreneta began, which materialized in four first hermitages in the 9th century: Santa María, San Acisclo, San Pedro and San Martín. However, the origin of the monastery is uncertain: it is known that, around 1011, a monk from the monastery of Santa María de Ripoll arrived at the mountain to take charge of the monastery of Santa Cecilia, thus leaving the monastery under the orders of Abbot Oliba. from Ripoll. Santa Cecilia did not accept this new situation, so Oliba decided to found the monastery of Santa María in the place where an old hermitage of the same name was located (1025). From 1082 onwards, Santa María had its own abbot and ceased to depend on the abbot of Ripoll. This hermitage had become the most important of all those that existed on the mountain thanks to the image of the Virgin that had been venerated there since 880. Around these events, the legend of the hermit Juan Garín was conceived, which inspired the poem cult epic El Monserrate, by Cristóbal de Virués, and other literary and artistic works.

The monastery soon became a sanctuary; This fact led to an increase in donations and alms received, and allowed for constant growth of both the religious establishment and the influence in the territory. Between the 12th and 13th centuries the Romanesque church was built, and the carving of the Virgin that is currently venerated comes from that time. At the end of the 12th century, the regent abbot requested that the community of monks be allowed to expand to 12, the minimum required for it to be considered an abbey. The following century was the beginning of Montserrat's struggle to achieve its independence from the Ripoll monastery. This independence did not come until March 10, 1410 and was granted by Pope Benedict XIII. In 1476 the Gothic cloister was built.

In 1493, King Ferdinand the Catholic sent 14 monks from Valladolid to the monastery and Montserrat became dependent on the congregation of this Castilian city. During the following centuries, abbots from both the Crown of Aragon and other areas of Spain succeeded one another. That same year of 1493, the friar Minimum Bernat Boïl, formerly a hermit of Montserrat, accompanied Christopher Columbus on one of his voyages to America, which led to the expansion of the cult of the Virgin of Montserrat on that continent, a fact reflected in the name given to one of the Antilles islands: Montserrat. In 1592 the current church was consecrated.

The 19th century was especially tragic for Montserrat: at the beginning of the century it was burned twice by Napoleonic troops, in 1811 and 1812. The monastery was looted and burned, and many of its treasures were lost. In the middle of the century, in 1835, the abbey suffered exclaustration due to the confiscation of Mendizábal. The exclaustration did not last long, and in 1844 life was reestablished in the monastery. The Valladolid congregation had disappeared, so Montserrat became independent again. The entire monastery had to be restored, since fires, looting and exclaustrations left little more than the walls standing. In 1880 the millennium of Montserrat was celebrated, and on September 11, 1881, coinciding with the regional festival of Catalonia or Diada, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed the Virgin of Montserrat patron saint of Catalonia, setting April 27 as the date of commemoration. own. The bas-relief and inscription located on the main façade of the church attest to this.

During the Spanish Civil War the monastery was closed again and became dependent on the Generalitat of Catalonia, chaired by Lluís Companys. Among brothers and priests, a total of 23 religious of the Abbey were martyred in the three years that the religious persecution lasted. In 1940, after the end of the war, he received a visit from Heinrich Himmler, Nazi leader and leader of the SS. In 1947 the enthronement ceremony of the Virgin was held. In 1958 the main altar of the basilica was consecrated, and in 1968 the new façade of the monastery was completed.

In the last years of the Franco dictatorship, the monastery became a Catalan symbol, and numerous acts against the regime took place, highlighting the imprisonment in 1970 of 300 intellectuals in demand of human rights and in protest of the Burgos trial. In democracy, Montserrat has continued to be the epicenter of Catalan religiosity. In 1982 Pope John Paul II visited Montserrat.

At the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, the monastery went through a period of internal crisis, with the dismissal of two of its abbots (Cassià Just and Sebastià Bardolet) in an interval of just eleven years. The existence of internal confrontations between the monks was published, motivated above all by authoritarian behavior and homosexual behavior in the monastery - including the possible existence of a gay lobby. Around the same time, various cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by religious crimes since the 1960s, among which those committed by the monk Andreu Soler (died in 2008) stand out, described as a "sexual predator" and who would have acted with impunity within the institution for almost three decades, according to an independent commission that investigated the facts and confirmed that twelve minors were sexually assaulted by Soler.

From the end of the 19th century, the monastery of Santa María de Montserrat experienced uninterrupted growth until the 1950s, when it had 150 religious, although since then there has been a continuous decline in vocations; one of the best libraries in Spain. The current community is made up of about 42 monks (as of 2020). In addition, the children who make up the Escolanía de Montserrat reside in the monastery, considered the oldest singing school in the West, since it was founded in the 19th century. xiii.

 

The monastery

The monastery complex is made up of two blocks of buildings with different functions: on the one hand the basilica with the monastic quarters; and on the other the buildings intended to serve pilgrims and visitors. The latter include various restaurants, shops and an accommodation area.

 

Monastic life

The monastery of Santa María de Montserrat, like any other religious complex, consists of two different parts that complement each other. The architectural and artistic part and the spiritual and religious part. In Montserrat this last part is defined by the order of monks that governs the monastery, the Benedictine Order, specifically its Subiacense Congregation; This congregation is in turn divided into provinces. Montserrat belongs to Hispánica, a province of which it is its main monastery. The community of Montserrat is about 60 monks, who have been at the head of the monastery for more than 1,100 years, who base their practice on the Rule of Saint Benedict and liturgical prayer, and whose motto is "Ora et Labora." For Saint Benedict, as he defines it in the prologue of his Rule, a monastery is "a school at the service of the Lord." This makes the monastery the fundamental basis of the existence of the community whose ties must become emotional to the level of family. The monastery must make the relationship with God easy, natural and flexible.

Benedictines practice the contemplative life, which gives priority and preference to the exercise of prayer and is established as a pure ideal of Christian life. The relationship between man and Christ, which the monk of Montserrat seeks, is indicated three times in the Rule of Saint Benedict;
Put nothing before the love of Christ (Reg. chapter IV).
Those who esteem nothing as much as Christ (chap. V).
Nothing absolutely prefers Christ (chap. LXXII).

The relationship must be very personal, very direct, reaching intimacy. Benedictine monks must be men of faith, enjoying the joy of it and men of prayer, who oppose activism and agitation, making prayer the highest religious value. Charity understood as love of God and fraternal coexistence is cultivated.

Benedictine monasteries only maintain the main things:
Stability, against the pilgrimage of wandering monks.
Life in common, against the selfishness of isolation.
An abbot, as an active principle of authority.
An order in life.

Along with charity, discipline is one of the important guidelines. Charity, fostered by life in common, is love for one's neighbor and the fight against selfishness. Discipline rises against prominence and originality, taking shape in obedience and compliance with the Rule. From these guidelines arise the three vows that Benedictine monks profess:

Stability: Permanence and perseverance in a monastery.
Conversion of customs: That the surrender to God is real and not a pure fantasy.
Obedience according to the Rule: Submitting to the authority of a boss.

The vow of Obedience according to the Rule can only be carried out with the figure of the abbot. The abbot must be "the representation of Christ in the monastery." He governs it in its three aspects, the spiritual, the teaching and the management.

In order for these objectives pursued in monastic life to be carried out, silence is essential. Silence is what allows, in prayer, to hear God.

The prayer culminates with the Divine Office and the Sacred Liturgy, where the Eucharist is the center. Prayer is the center of Benedictine life.

The life of a monk is based on fraternal charity; without charity the fraternal relationship of monastic life and dedication to God cannot be maintained. The Rule says:
This is the zeal that the monks will exercise with most fervent love, that is to say: that they warn each other with honors; let the defects of the soul and body be patiently suffered; lend yourselves to stubborn mutual obedience; no one seeks his own benefit, but rather that of the other; Pay each other chaste fraternal charity.

The search for God through Christ goes through the Passion, through the mortification that the monk must follow. Spiritual mortification that means "the voluntary renunciation of one's own will."

The rejection of wealth, of material goods that hinder the path to God, results in poverty. The consequence of this poverty is the work necessary to maintain life. Work is the most contributing element to the balance of Benedictine life.

Spiritual direction and liturgical instruction are the forms of apostolate that a Benedictine community exercises. This is reflected in the opening of the monastic church to those who want to participate in collective prayer and the monastery to those who seek an environment of peace and serenity.

 

The Basilica of Montserrat

The Montserrat Basilica began construction in the 16th century and was completely rebuilt in the 19th century (1811) after its destruction in the War of Independence. In 1881 Pope Leo XIII granted it the status of minor basilica. The façade was made in 1901, the work of Francisco de Paula del Villar y Carmona in Neoplateresque style, with sculptural reliefs by Venancio and Agapito Vallmitjana.

After the Civil War, a new façade was built, the work of Francesc Folguera and decorated with sculptural reliefs by Joan Rebull (Saint Benedict, Proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary by Pius XII and Saint George, with a representation of the monks who died during the Civil War), as well as the inscription Urbs Jerusalem Beata Dicta Pacis Visio ("Happy city of Jerusalem, called a vision of peace"). At the foot of the frieze with the relief of Saint George is sculpted the phrase Catalonia will be Christian or it will not be, attributed to Bishop Josep Torras i Bages, which has been adopted as the motto of political Catalanism with Catholic roots.

This façade precedes the church itself, which is accessed through an atrium; Here are the tombs of Juan II of Ribagorza and Bernat II of Vilamarí (16th century), as well as several sculptures: San Juan Bautista and San José, by Josep Clarà, and San Benito, by Domènec Fita; and paintings: Visit to Montserrat of the Catholic Monarchs and Visit to Montserrat of Don Juan of Austria, by Francesc Fornells-Pla. The square that precedes the church (called Abbot Argerich) is decorated with sgraffitoes by Josep Obiols and Friar Benet Martínez, which represent the history of Montserrat and the main basilicas of the world, as well as various sculptures: San Antonio María Claret, by Rafael Solanich; John I of Aragon and Saint Gregory the Great, by Frederic Marès; and Saint Pius X, by F. Bassas. On one side is the baptistery (1958), with a portal sculpted by Charles Collet, and inside some mosaics made by Santiago Padrós and a drawing of the Baptism of Jesus by Josep Vila-Arrufat. Next to the baptistery there is a sculpture of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the work of Rafael Solanic.

The church has a single nave, 68.32 meters long and 21.50 meters wide, with a height of 33.33 meters. It is supported by central columns, with wood carvings made by Josep Llimona, representing the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. At the head is the main altar, decorated with enamels by Montserrat Mainar, which represent various biblical scenes, such as The Last Supper, The Wedding at Cana and The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. The cross on the altar is the work of Lorenzo Ghiberti, from the 16th century. Above the altar there is an octagonal dome. In the presbytery there are various paintings by Alexandre de Riquer, Joan Llimona, Joaquim Vancells, Dionís Baixeras and Lluís Graner.

Just above the main altar is the Virgin's dressing room, which is accessed after passing through an alabaster doorway (Puerta Angélica) in which various biblical scenes are represented, the work of Enric Monjo. The mosaics on the walls represent the Holy Mothers (left) and the Holy Virgins (right), the work of friar Benet Martínez. Next comes the Throne Room, the work of Francesc Folguera, decorated with paintings by Josep Obiols (Judith who cuts off the head of Holofernes, Wedding of Esther with the Persian king Ahasuerus) and Carlo Maratta (Birth of Jesus); The Fountain of the Virgin is also located here, with reliefs by Charles Collet representing miracles of Jesus. The Throne of the Virgin is made of embossed silver, the work of the goldsmith Ramon Sunyer, with two reliefs designed by Joaquim Ros i Bofarull that represent the Nativity and the Visitation, and an image of Saint Michael by Josep Granyer; Here the carving of the Virgin, from the 12th century, is displayed, on which are placed angels holding the crown, the scepter and the lily of the Virgin, the work of Martí Llauradó, covered by a canopy. The Sala del Camarín is a circular chapel with three apses, built between 1876 and 1884 by Villar y Carmona —with the collaboration of his assistant, a young Antoni Gaudí—; The vault is decorated by Joan Llimona (The Virgin Welcomes the Pilgrims), and the figures of angels and the sculpture of Saint George are by Agapito Vallmitjana, while the windows are by Antoni Rigalt i Blanch. The exit from the dressing room is along the Camino del Ave María, where it is common to make offerings in the form of candles and tapers; Here a statue of the Angel of the Annunciation from Apel·les Fenosa stands out, as well as a ceramic majolica representing the Virgin, the work of Joan Guivernau.

Around the central nave are several chapels: on the right, that of San Pedro, with the image of the saint by Josep Viladomat (1945); that of San Ignacio de Loyola, by Venancio Vallmitjana, with a painting of the saint by Ramir Lorenzale (1893); that of San Martín, the work of Josep Llimona, with the images of the saint of Tours, San Plácido and San Mauro (1898); that of San José de Calasanz, with an altarpiece by Francesc Berenguer (1891); and that of San Benito, with a painting of the holy founder of the Benedictine Order of Montserrat Gudiol (1980). On the left are: the chapel of Santa Escolástica, with sculptures by Enric Clarasó and Agapito Vallmitjana (1886); the Santísimo, work by Josep Maria Subirachs (1977), with a unique image of Christ made in negative, where only the face, hands and feet are visible, with a light illuminating his face; that of the Sagrada Familia, where the painting La huida a Egipto, by Josep Cusachs (1904), stands out; that of Santo Cristo, with an image by Josep Llimona (1896); and that of the Immaculate Conception, a modernist work by Josep Maria Pericas (1910), with a stained glass window by Darius Vilàs.

The basilica was restored between 1991 and 1995 by Arcadi Pla i Masmiquel.

 

The organ

The organ of the Montserrat church dates from 1896 and in 1957 it was moved to the presbytery. This organ is very deteriorated. The new organ was inaugurated in 2010 and follows the design of the Catalan organs that are located on one side of the Church. It is an important work of Catalan musical craftsmanship that places Montserrat on an international musical level.

This organ was designed by Albert Blancafort, built by Blancafort, organisers from Montserrat and financed by popular subscription and the social work of the Caixa de Penedes.

The organ is located on the side of the nave, as is traditional in Catalonia, offering a very good sound throughout the temple.

The characteristics of the instrument are:
63 records.
4,230 tubes.
4 manual keyboards of 58 notes.
1 x 32-note pedal keyboard.
Mechanical transmission.
12.5 m high, 5.5 wide and 4 deep.
12,000 kg weight.

 

The cloister

The cloister of the monastery is the work of the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. It is two stories supported by stone columns. The lower floor communicates with the garden and has a fountain in its central area. On the walls of the cloister you can see ancient pieces, some from the 10th century. The very extensive garden includes the Romanesque Chapel of Sant Iscle and Santa Victoria, access to the novitiate and choir buildings and several sculptures, such as the marble sculpture of the Good Shepherd by Manolo Hugué or some of the sculptures by Josep de San Benet made it in the 18th century for the monastery's bell tower and it was never installed.

Some columns of the cloister are decorated with plant and animal motifs; fantastic anthropomorphic figures draw attention, with a human head and the body of a winged dragon, fantastic animals or the shield of Montserrat supported by angels. In one of the columns, several naked people are represented holding hands in a symbolic representation of what life in paradise will be like. Many people see in this ornament the representation of a strange ritual dance.

 

The refectory

The refectory dates back to the 17th century and was renovated in 1925 by Puig i Cadafalch. The central part has a mosaic representing Christ while in the opposite area you can see a triptych with scenes from the life of Saint Benedict.

 

The museum

The monastery has an important museum divided into three different sections:
Modern painting, with works by artists from Catalonia such as Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, Isidre Nonell, Joaquim Mir, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies, and non-Catalan artists such as Pablo Picasso or the Asturian painter Darío de Regoyos, who was the only painter linked to the European impressionist and neo-impressionist movements; as well as a representation of French impressionism, with authors such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas.
Archeology of the biblical East, showing objects from Egypt, Cyprus, Mesopotamia and the Holy Land.
Ancient painting, where works by authors such as El Greco, Caravaggio (by this author an important Saint Jerome is exhibited), Luca Giordano, Giambattista Tiepolo and Pedro Berruguete are displayed.

In addition, you can see other collections such as iconography of Montserrat, religious metalwork, etc.

audiovisual space
An audiovisual space with the title of Montserrat portes endins ("Montserrat inside doors") exposes, through a series of audiovisuals, the main daily activities of the monks as well as a virtual walk through the most representative spaces of the monastic complex.

 

The outside

On the outside, various squares are distributed that serve to organize the set of buildings in the steep orography of the mountain. This outdoor space, to which various sculptural works have been added, forms an "open-air museum."

The Plaza de Santa María is the main square and the one that gives access to the monastery and is also the work of Puig i Cadafalch. From the square you can see the new façade of the monastery, built by Francesc Folguera with stone from the mountain itself. To the left you can see the remains of the old Gothic cloister. In this square there is the sculpture of Saint George, by Josep Maria Subirachs (1986), and in an archway adjacent to the new façade there are several statues of founding saints (Saint John the Baptist de la Salle, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint Joseph of Calasanz, San Enrique de Ossó, San Vicente de Paul and San Juan Bosco), work of various sculptors: Claudi Rius, Francesc Juventeny, Enric Monjo and Joaquim Ros i Bofarull.

In the Plaza del Abad Oliva there are the buildings that house pilgrims. The square is dominated by a statue dedicated to the founder of the monastery, made in bronze in 1933 by the sculptor Manuel Cusachs. In the mountainous area behind this square is the Via Crucis of Montserrat, as well as the Chapel of San Miguel, on whose access road two sculptures stand out: Pau Casals, by Joan Rebull (1976); and Saint Francis of Assisi, by Josep Viladomat (1927).

The Plaza de la Santa Cruz is dedicated to Saint Michael, and receives its name from the cross that presides over it, the work of the sculptor Subirachs. The rack railway station is located here, as well as the monastery's Information Office. Following the Paseo de la Escolanía, where the restaurant services are located, is the Plaza de los Apóstoles, at the back of the monastery, where the apses of the church are located; Here there is a triforium corresponding to the third floor of the central apse of the old church, which was moved to this square during the restoration in 1992. From the square begins the Camino dels Degotalls or the Magnificat, also decorated with various sculptures: Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica by Jaume Clavell (1960); Jacint Verdaguer, by Carles Flotats (1931); Monument to Joan Maragall, by Frederic Marès (1958); Monument to Pep Ventura, by Rafael Solanich and Charles Collet; Monument to Anselm Clavé, by Ferran Serra i Sala (1955); Monument to Lluís Millet, by Joan Rebull; The path ends with some sixty majolicas of Marian invocations, the work of Joan Guivernau.

Under the Plaza de los Apóstoles is the funerary chapel dedicated to the Tercio de Requetés of Our Lady of Montserrat, next to which the Monument to Ramon Llull, by Josep Maria Subirachs, was erected in 1976. From here begins the path to the Holy Cave of Montserrat, the place where the Virgin appeared. At the beginning of the path there is the image of Saint Dominic of Subirachs (1970), and later the route takes us through the Monumental Rosary of Montserrat, an itinerary along which there are fifteen sculptural groups that reproduce the mysteries of enjoyment, pain and glory of the life of Jesus. To access this path you can also use a funicular. There is also a funicular service to go up to Sant Joan from where you can see one of the best views of the place.

Finally, it should be noted that in the surroundings of the Montserrat mountain there are various hermitages, about fifteen inhabited until the French invasion in 1811, when they were temporarily abandoned; After French rule, some were occupied again, although over time they were abandoned and today only a few walls remain of some. The hermitages had the following dedications: Santa Cecilia, Santa Cruz, San Juan, Santísima Trinidad, San Benito, San Onofre, San Jaime, San Miguel, Santa Magdalena, San Jerónimo, Santa Catalina, San Dimas, San Antonio, Santa Ana and San Savior.

 

The Virgin of Montserrat

According to legend, the first image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found by shepherd children in 880. After seeing a light on the mountain, the children found the image of the Virgin inside a cave. When the bishop heard the news, he tried to move the image to the city of Manresa but the transfer was impossible since the statue weighed too much. The bishop interpreted it as the Virgin's desire to remain in the place where she had found her and ordered the construction of the hermitage of Santa María, the origin of the current monastery.

The image that is currently venerated is a Romanesque carving from the 12th century made of poplar wood. It represents the Virgin with the child sitting on her lap and measures about 95 centimeters in height. In her right hand she holds a sphere that symbolizes the universe; The boy has his right hand raised in a sign of blessing while in his left hand he holds a pineapple.

With the exception of the face and hands of Mary and the child, the image is golden. The Virgin, however, is black, which has given her the popular nickname "la Moreneta" ("the Little Brunette"). Although it has sometimes been stated that the origin of this blackening is in the smoke of the candles that for centuries have been placed at her feet to venerate her, the truth is that virgins who are not white and of different racial origins are venerated throughout Europe. (for example, the Virgen de la Peña in Francia, in Salamanca or the Virgen de la Candelaria in Tenerife, and in Mexico the Virgin of Guadalupe).

On September 11, 1881, Pope Leo XIII officially declared the Virgin of Montserrat as the patron saint of Catalonia. She was also granted the privilege of having mass and services of her own.

Her holiday is celebrated on April 27.