The Virolai of Montserrat

Every day at one o’ clock in the afternoon, the Abbey of our Lady of Montserrat in the mountains outside Barcelona, is resounded with the voices of the Escolania singing El Virolai. Composed by the poet Jacint Verdaguer and set to music by Josep Rodoredo i Santigues in 1879, the hymn pays homage to La Morenita, one of Spain’s most loved patrons, the Lady of Montserrat.

The Escolania is the famous children’s choir bred and nurtured to sing in perfection in the Abbey. It is the purity of those voices that makes the treasured tradition of the El Virolai all the more beautiful. Escolania means children who go to school in the monastery. They make the song a fitting theme to the piety that millions of pilgrims have brought and continue to bring to the sacred site.

The focus of this devotion is the multi-centuries old image of the Madonna set on an altar of gold. Steeped in stories that mix myth with facts, this is one of the most fascinating depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is the magnet that draws visitors to the Abbey.

Legend has it that the image was carved on wood by St. Luke the Evangelist himself in Jerusalem in 50 A.D. It has the Blessed Mother seated on a throne. Her right hand is holding a globe from which rises a lily. Her left arm cradles the baby Jesus, who is seated on her lap. The Little Boy is holding a pine cone in one hand while the other is raised in blessing.

The statue is awe-inspiring. It is entirely in gold gilt while the face and hand of both Mother and Child are black. They could have been carved out of black wood or this might be the result of the many hours that the image had been set before lighted candles all these years. Hence, it is also known as the Black Madonna. Only 37 inches high, it is also referred to as La Morenita.

For unknown reasons, the image was later found in Egypt from which it was presented to the Archbishop of Barcelona and housed in the cathedral until the Moorish Invasion in 718 A.D. Fearful that it would be desecrated or worse, destroyed, it was taken to the mountains of Serrat and hidden in a cave. Centuries passed and the Lady remained in the darkness waiting.

Five hundred years later, three boys herding sheep in Montserrat heard beautiful music and saw a light shining from the heavens. They went home and told their parents about what they saw. Their parents went to the place and saw the same light and heard the same music.  Convinced that they were witnesses to a miracle, they told the archbishop who came and saw and heard the same.

He went further than they did. He led the townspeople to the place, where the light was coming from. Behold, it was from the cave, where the black Madonna had been hidden for years. He brought the image out and with all reverence decided to bring it in procession to the cathedral in Manresa. Strange though, the statue got heavier and heavier with every step they took.

After a while, the archbishop came to the realization that the Madonna wanted to remain in Montserrat and so she has. The church was built in 1239. It was initially a convent for nuns but is now under the Benedictine Monks.

Surrounding the Abbey is the unique elevation of the mountains of Serrat. This is also the stuff of legend. The pointed crags are layered neatly one upon the other extending to the top. The tale is that giants constructed the mountain as their stairway to heaven.

Pilgrims over the centuries have scaled those peaks. Among them was a soldier named Ignacio de Loyola. Upon reaching the church, he laid down his arms at the foot of La Morenita. After this, he established the religious order called the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits.

Everybody should get the chance to experience that climb. It is a daunting sight but I have no fear. The faint of heart and slow of knee can now also climb Montserrat in the comfort of a cable car.

So just in case you want to get away from noisy, congested Barcelona, there is Montserrat for a soul-enriching experience only a few miles away.

Sing El Virolai with El Escolania: “Rosa d’ Abril, Morena de la Serra/ de Montserrat l’estel/ il lumineu la Catalana terra/ guier nos cap d cel… Rose of April, dark lady of the mountain on Montserrat, send your light on Catalana and guide us to heaven.”