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If it is true that a large proportion of the ancient miraculous
Madonnas of the world are black, why is this phenomenon generally so little
known today? A poetic verse from 1629 catalogues some of the national shrines
of Europe, all of which, at the heart, seem to represent an ancient tradition
of devotion to a statue of the Black Virgin. Many such Black Virgins exist,
often having survived centuries of war, some in large basilicas, others in
village churches, yet others in museums and libraries. Many more are also in
private hands, for a variety of reasons. Some are painted statues, others are
murals or paintings, and some are statues carved from ebony.
Some of the most famous Black Virgin shrines are Chartes, Loreto,
Zaragoza, Rocamadour, Montserrat, and Guadalupe. Early textual references
describing images of Black Virgins are few, although Peter Comestor (12th c.
biblical scholar of Troyes and Paris), St. Bernard of Clairvaux (an early
leader of the medieval Knights Templar) and Nicephorus Callixtus (1256-1335),
the Byzantine church historian, all have had something to say on this subject.
Many Christians, both clergy and laity, simply accept that these
shrines to the Black Virgin, and the loyal, fervent devotion they foster, are
ultimately inexplicable, a mystery of the divine feminine. Some writers believe
they represent a Christian form of Isis, as a mother with child. These shrines
are believed to have special healing powers, among other things, and to be
places where newly married brides can go for fertility blessings. There is also
a strong religious folk tradition connecting the Black Virgins to the medieval
Knights Templar and also with Mary Magdelene. A famous Black Virgin - la Madone
des Fenestres (the Madonna of the Windows), near St-Martin-de-Vesubie (one site
where many Templars were massacred) was believed by folk tradition in the area
to have originally been brought to southern France by Mary Magdelene. Whether
such legends spring from a kernel of truth, or are purely legendary, it is
still intriguing to examine the sheer number of such place-names, legends, and
beliefs about these subjects and their interconnections, at least in the
popular mind. And that in itself says something.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was born at Fontaines on the outskirts of
Dijon, a place said to have had its own Black Virgin. He is said to have
received three drops of milk taken from the breast of the Black Virgin of
Chatillon while still a boy. He later went on to help the Templar order expand
quickly and to preach the Second Crusade - from Vezelay, a centre of the cult
of the Magdalene and a Black Virgin site. After his death, he was canonized on
the same feast day, 20 August, as the founder of another major Black Virgin
site - St. Amadour of Rocamadour.
In Southern Provençal tradition, the Black Madonna is
associated with St. Sara, the patron saint of the Gypsies. She was said to be
the black assistant who accompanied the three Marys to France when they fled
from the Holy Land after the Crucifixion. In local gypsy tradition, she is said
to have been a gypsy (some say 'Egyptian') woman who helped them to land
safely. A cult of St. Sara persists today at Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, one
of the earliest Magdalene sites in France.
The intriguing subject of the Black Virgin deserves more serious
academic attention; meanwhile, it is known that the numbers of pilgrims to such
shrines is increasing annually.
Dr Karen Ralls
2000-2008 |
