The veneration of Our Lady of Montserrat, Patroness of Catalonia, is extremely ancient, predating the seventh-century Arab invasion of Spain. The statue was hidden at the time of the Islamic incursion and discovered in the ninth century, at which point a chapel was built to venerate it. King Wilfrid later founded a Benedictine abbey there.
The shrine was originally regional in appeal, but the miracles attributed to the Virgin of Montserrat became so numerous, news of them was carried far and wide; the fame of the shrine spread well beyond the borders of Catalonia.
In Italy one can find more than one-hundred and fifty churches or chapels dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat. Some of the first churches to be founded in Mexico, Chile and Peru were also dedicated to her, not to mention numerous monasteries, towns, mountains and islands throughout the American continent named in her honor.
Ref: cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 6:195-7
Marian shrines are ‘divine signs’
Countless pilgrims daily visit numerous shrines of Our Lady to discover God’s ways or to renew them to find peace of soul and consolation in affliction. In these places of prayer, the Blessed Virgin makes the soul’s encounter with her Son easier, his presence more accessible. Every Marian shrine is a “permanent antenna of the Good News of salvation”. (John Paul II, “Address to rectors of Marian shrines”, 22 January 1981, in F Fernandez, loc cit, p195)
For centuries countless Christians have had recourse to Our Lady of Montserrat for her intercession to keep them going when life was hard. At her shrine they all found what they sought: peace of soul, God’s call to a greater self-giving, a cure, or consolation in tribulation. The liturgy of this feast is centred on the mystery of the Visitation, “which is the first undertaking of the Blessed Virgin. Montserrat offers us, therefore, very worthwhile lessons for our journey as pilgrims”. (John Paul II, “Address at Montserrat”, 17 November 1982)
We must remember our goal is specific and very well defined: heaven. The destination determines to a great extent what transport to use, the baggage to bring and provisions along the way. The Blessed Virgin tells us not to carry too many things, nor wear cumbersome clothes, and to walk briskly towards our Father’s house.
She reminds us that nothing on this earth is permanent; and that everything must be subordinated to the completion of the journey, of which perhaps we have already covered a considerable portion. Moreover, on the journey we have to do as Mary did when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth: She “arose and went with haste” (Lk 1:39), with a quick and joyful gait.
Ref: cf F Fernandez, op cit, 6:195-7
The Significance of Marian Shrines
A particular manifestation of the motherhood of Mary with regard to mankind is to be found in places where she meets with them -- ‘houses which she inhabits’; houses where a particular presence of the Mother is felt.
Such places and such houses are very numerous; and very varied -- alcoves in dwellings or wayside shrines where the image of the Mother of God shines out, chapels and churches erected in Her honor. But there are also some places where people ‘feel the presence of the Mother to be particularly alive’.
Sometimes these places radiate their light fulsomely; they attract people from afar. Their brightness may cover a diocese, an entire nation, sometimes more nations and even continents. These are ‘Marian shrines’.
In all these places that singular testament left by the Crucified Lord is realized in a marvelous manner: man there feels consigned and entrusted to Mary. Man hastens there in order to be with her as with his own Mother, man opens his heart to her and talks about everything.
‘He takes Her into his house’, that is, into all his problems, which are sometimes difficult; and others’ problems: of families, of society, of nations, of the whole of mankind.
Ref: cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, p204
The mission of the Apostles
Our Lord, after again giving his peace to the Apostles, said, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (Mt 28:18). That is, ‘For the same ends’: to glorify God; to save man. By the ‘same means’: prayer and preaching amidst persecution and every obstacle.
The same reward: “... I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom; that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and may sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Lk 22:29)
What a sublime mission! To be the ambassadors of Jesus Christ in saving the world! This mission is ours, too. The end of our vocation is only the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Our Lord says, through our directors, ‘As the Father has sent me, I also send you’.
The mission of the apostles was infinitely above their strength as ours is, too. “He breathed on them, and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.” (Jn 20:22) Thus he mysteriously communicated to them that Holy Spirit which is in him, and proceeds from him and from the Father, that they might, henceforth, live as dead to the world.
A spirit of self-sacrifice, humility, mortification, poverty and charity. It is opposed to the spirit of the world, to self-love, pride, cupidity, and ambition. Our Lord immediately continued, “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (Jn 20:23).
By these words, our Lord bestowed upon the Apostles and their lawfully ordained successors the wonderful power of forgiving sins, without any restriction as to their number or gravity. What goodness and liberality!
Let us try to understand the full value of this power. What hope of salvation would remain to us, we who are so weak and subject to temptation, without the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Have we thanked the Lord for instituting this Sacrament?
Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp226-8
It is said that in the year 1419, Our Lady de Haut, in Hainault, restored a child to life who had been dead three days. — Justus Lipsius, History of Our Lady of Haut, c. 19. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)
'Notre Dame d'Haut'. Hainaut, France. Church built by Le Corbusier, 1955. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
Nuestra Señora de Montserrat. Spain. 1535. Patrona de Cataluña. ... Black madonna. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
Our Lady of Haut (Hainaut, France). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
Our Lady 'La Moreneta', Spain. (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
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