La Moreneta

I bought a book on Montserrat at the gift shop while I was there. The visit was memorable and marvellous. Beautiful Montserrat is apparently translated into English as 'the serrated mountain'. Nature has especially chiselled and carved the numerous peaks to look like musical organ pipes.

At Montserrat there is the famous monastery and the beautiful statue of La Moreneta or Our Lady of Montserrat. She is a Romanesque wooden sculpture of serene austere beauty and created sometime at the end of the twelfth century. The dark colour of her face and hands is the slow oxidation in the varnish due to the effect of centuries long smoke from burning candles and lamps.

When I saw the lady, she is encased behind a glass case probably to protect this precious statue. I was pretty surprised that we were allowed to snap photos of this wonderful image and I quickly took one snapshot. The queue was long and we had to move single file to view or pay homage. Out of consideration for other visitors, there was no time to stand, admire and revere the beautiful lady with a child on her lap. I definitely would have loved to spend a longer time with her.

A friend saw the book in my house and the first thing he asked was whether I enjoyed the concert by the Montserrat Boys' Choir. I missed that although I saw a bit of a rehearsal or prayer. This friend sang high praises for the quality of the singing by the choir that he had the good fortune to enjoy.