Discovering Liébana: the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana

Once the dangerous gorge of La Hermida has been left behind, as well as the town that also bears his name, the highway, although local and licked in some sections by a land that does not steal prominence, the traveler feels, comparatively and metaphorically speaking, that It has entered an authentic orchard, always protected by the imposing beauty of the Picos de Europa.

The heart of this orchard and, in fact, the heart of all of Liébana, no doubt, is none other than an old Benedictine monastery, whose roots, deep and resistant like the land that welcomes it, sink into that distant eighth century, being little less than contemporary to the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, which occurred less than a century earlier.

In this idyllic place, protected by the mountains and away from the areas of contention, the monks who built this impressive monastery, dedicated to the figures of San Martín and Santo Toribio, constituted one of the first centers of light and culture, lighting, to the best of its ability, that flame that apparently went out after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a time of confusion, which gave rise to what modern historians call the High Middle Ages, plunging peoples into total chaos .

The scribe monks of Santo Toribio, undoubtedly influenced by the light of the stars and a generous environment in possibilities, contributed, in a sovereign way, to the safeguarding of the Faith and of Culture, being the best known of the codices, wonderful in its symbolism, although medievally ingenuous in its elaboration, the famous Codex or Beatus of Liébana.

Based on the only one of the four canonical wills that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest, the Beatus of Liébana offers a truly terrifying version of a strange text, difficult to understand and loaded with symbolism: the Apocalypse of Saint John.

Observing the texts, looking with curiosity at the graphic representations, which according to the medieval mentality and especially the mentality of the monks of the time, it is difficult not to wonder if, as some painters represented it, the episode of Saint John in Patmos did not it was, after all, somewhat metaphysical, comparable to the raptures of a similar character experienced by Jacob, Enoch, and why not say so, Muhammad himself.

In reality, if we compare it with the latest events that we are experiencing worldwide, there is little or no difference between the terrible apocalyptic dragons interpreted in Blessed Liébana and the terrible pandemics that are ravaging us.

But the Santo Toribio monastery is also a beacon of hope: located in a privileged place within the path called Lebanensis, one of the many paths derived from the Camino de Santiago along the coast, this magnificent monastery also has the influx of numerous pilgrims, many of whom see their objective fulfilled, by being able to cross the threshold of their so-called Forgiveness Door.

A door, which opens every certain number of years, in the so-called Jubilee Lebanensis and that allows both the faithful and pilgrims the redemption of their sins and in case of not being able to finish the road in Compostela, in the case of the latter, the remission of said effort.

The most relevant and, in fact, the most popular relic of this monastery, is one of the largest fragments of the Lignum Crucis or Holy Wood, brought from Jerusalem, according to tradition, by Saint Toribio of Astorga himself.

The last time the Door of Forgiveness was opened and the Lignum Crucis was shown to the faithful, it was in the month of October 2017.

NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property.