BLACK MADONNAS

 

For Advent, I thought it would be interesting to see some of the BLACK MADONNAS from around the world.  We will also consider the GREAT Os  (Antophons sung at Vespers during the last days of Advent).

I think the first Black Madonna I can remember encountering was at the beautiful Abbey in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The term Black Madonna refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin, examples of which can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries.

The paintings are often icons, which are Byzantine in origin or style, some of which were produced in 13th or 14th-century Italy. Other examples from the Middle East, Caucasus or Africa, mainly Egypt and Ethiopia, are even older.

Statues are often made of wood and painted, though occasionally are made of stone. About 400–500 Black Madonnas have been recorded in Europe, with the number related to how they are classified. There are at least 180 Vierges Noires in Southern France alone. Years ago, while staying in the French countryside, I can't remember how many small village churches had a Black Madonna.

There are hundreds of copies made since the medieval era. While some are displayed in museums, most are in churches or shrines and are venerated by the faithfiul. Some are associated with miracles, attracting substantial numbers of pilgrims.

One of the oldest Black Madonnas is in the great Benedictine Abbey at Einsiedeln in Switzerland. In 853, while living in seclusion near a small lake, St. Meinrad (d. 861) had a small chapel built near his cell in which he placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin with the Infant resting on her arm. This statue had been given to him by the Abbess Hildegard, Superior of a monastery in Zurich.

In 948, after a church had been built on the site of St. Meinrad's little cell and chapel,and  just before the ecclesial dedication ceremony for the building, Our Lord appeared and was seen to perform the Mass of Consecration. When Bishop Conrad of Constance arrived for the service, an unknown voice was heard to say: "Stop, brother, the church has been consecrated by God." 

Over the centuries, the church and monastery have been damaged by fire several times, but the statue has remained unharmed. The lineage of the present Black Madonna statue at Einsiedeln is not entirely clear. Today's holy figure is not St. Meinrad's original Virgin from the ninth century, but most likely is a statue carved in the fifteenth century and restored in the eighteenth.

This Madonna did not start out as black, but the faces of the Virgin and Child have been darkened by the smoke and fumes of the many votive candles.

Einsiedeln has evolved into a healing shrine, where for many centuries people have found relief from their mental and physical ailments.

The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln in the Chapel of Grace attracts around 800,000 pilgrims and tourists every year. The feast of Our Lady of Einsiedeln is July 16 and is greatly celebrated in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.