Momboisse Family Adventures April 2025: Montserrat, Spain

 Tuesday April 8, 2025

Montserrat

It is an early 5:45am departure from Lourdes as our group travels to Montserrat Sanctuary in Spain.  Our 5-1/2 hour drive will take us through the Pyrenees Mountains and across the French border into Spain.  Our goal is to make it to Montserrat in time to see the Boys Choir at 1:00pm.  Leo kindly lets us sleep for two hours as we travel through the darkness.  After crossing into Spain Leo quietly breaks our silence with  "Good morning pilgrims." 

Co d Oskar Vielha, Spain 

After a short stop at Restaurant Co d Oskar in the mountain ski town of Vielha for coffee we are back on the road to Montserrat. 

Mountains of Montserrat

  
3 -1/2 hours later we arrive at the Montserrat Sanctuary.  This is one of the main tourist stops for people who live around Barcelona.  During the day bus loads of visitors arrive.   We arrive at peak time, with busses unloading hundreds of passengers. 

Our driver gets as close as possible and drops us near the Saint Clare funicular. We unload quickly and fold into the crowd walking up the hill to the shrine. Our luggage will meet us at the Abat Cisneros hotel later in the afternoon.   

Entrance into the atrium of the Basilica 

We continue walking up the hill and at Abbot Oliba Square gate, enter into the main area where our hotel and the Basilica are located.  From this area we go through another gate. This one shown in the picture above is the entrance to the atrium of the Basilica.

The atrium area is shown in the picture below.  To the right in the picture below are the rooms where the monks currently live. 

Jesus and the Apostles bas-relief

We enter the into the Basilica using the door under the bas-relief of Jesus and the Apostles at 12:45pm and take our seats along with hundreds of other pilgrims just in time for the Boys Choir. In the picture below you can see the Black Madonna positioned above the main altar.   

According to Catholic tradition St. Luke carved this statue around 50 A.D. and brought it to Spain.  During the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 700's the statue was hidden in a cave at Montserrat.  In 880 shepherds were attracted to this cave by a bright light.  Inside they found a woodcarving of Our Blessed Mother.  The bishop of Manresa tried to take the statue from the cave to Manresa, but when he tried to move it, the statue became impossible to lift.  This was interpreted as Our Blessed Mother did not want to be moved and the bishop ordered a chapel built for her.  We will visit this chapel tomorrow when we hike to the site of the Holy Cave.     

Boys Choir

The Boys Choir here in Montserrat is considered the oldest in Europe dating back to the early 1200's.  The boys may join the Choir School around age 9 or 4^th grade, and stay until their voice changes.  They study a general education in the morning and their afternoons are dedicated to music, including music theory, choir practice, and instrumental studies. At 1pm  each day they gather for 15 minutes to sing the Virolai, a hymn to the Virgin of Montserrat, and the Salve Regina. 

After watching the Boys Choir we have an hour to ourselves to get some lunch. There is a cafeteria style lunch option just outside the main gate in Abbot Oliba Square. We head there for our lunch. Then meet back up for a walk through of the Basilica, highlighted by a little history of the area.  

Monks dormitory

It is not known exactly when the Monks first came to Montserrat to build the Monastery.  But around the 9th century four chapels which were inhabited by hermit monks did exist on the mountainside of Montserrat, St. Mary's, St. Peter's, St. Martin's, and St. Iscle's.  The only one still in existence is St. Iscle which is located in the monastery garden.   

Image of the Monastery from the Funicular (Wikipedia Commons License) 

The monastery was officially founded in 1025 and during the 12th and 13th centuries a Romanesque style church was built to house the carving of the Black Madonna.  It was during this time that pilgrims began to visit.  In 1492 Benal Boil a hermit from Montserrat joined Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the Americas. 

Ignatius in his armor, in a 16th-century painting
(Wikipedia Commons License) 

In 1522 Saint Ignatius of Loyola visited the shrine of the Black Madonna in Montserrat. Ignatius was born around 1491.  As a young man he joined the army and fought in many battles.  On May 20, 1521 during  the Battle of Pamplona he was injured and transported back to his family home in Loyola to recover.  There he began his spiritual conversion. In 1522 he made a pilgrimage to Montserrat, and it was there while praying in front of the Black Madonna of Montserrat, he laid down his sword and picked up a pilgrim’s staff. He would go one to become a priest and co-founder of the Jesuit order.

Saint Ignatius in Cave at Manresa (Sanctuary of Loyola)

Between 1811 - 1812 the monastery was destroyed by Napoleon's army.  Monks returned in 1844 and began reconstruction only to be forced to leave during the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.  At the end of the war the monks returned and continued reconstruction. In 1947 the Black Madonna of Montserrat was enthroned in the Basilica and since that time Montserrat has grown in popularity and caters to a large number of pilgrims each day of the year.  

Entrance to the Chapel of the Image of the Mother of God 

At 3:00pm we exit to the back of the Basilica through the Ave Maria Path to enter the Chapel of the Image of God.  This is where Fr. Thom will celebrate Holy Mass.  This chapel was completed in 1885.  

Ave Maria Path

The picture above is a view of the Chapel of the Image of the Mother of God toward the altar.  The picture below is looking away from the altar.  

In the picture above fellow pilgrim Patrick proclaims the days reading from the Book of Numbers Chapter 21. The pictures below show Fr. Thom celebrating Mass in the Chapel of the Image of the Mother of God. 

                   

After Mass we climb to the Throne Room where the Black Madonna resides. The stairway and room were completed in 1954.  

The picture above shows the door and stairway to the wooden carving of the Black Madonna.  It is surrounded by a glass case.  

               

The dark color is not from the wood, it has just darkened over the years.  The ritual for venerating the Blessed Mother is to touch her right hand that is exposed.  I touch my scapular to her hand. 

As we leave the chapel area we walk back through the Ave Maria Path, light a candle and leave our prayer intentions to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  

Time now to check into the Abat Cisneros Hotel which is situated just outside the main entrance to the Basilica.  Then we will return to the Basilica at 6:45pm for vespers sung by the monks and Boys Choir.  Unfortunately no pictures are allowed during vespers.  Our day ended with dinner at 8:00pm in the hotel dining room. 

Mike and I with Fr. Thom

                                     Standard Double Room with View of Monastery 

Room with a View 

Hotel Dining Room

Wednesday April 9, 2025

Good morning Montserrat.  In the early morning hours here before the crowds arrive this place is so tranquil.  Sunrise and coffee at our window before breakfast. 

       

Today we have almost all day to enjoy the rest of what Montserrat has to offer.  And that would be lots of hiking. With a bad hip that is going to be a challenge, but Mike is up for it! 

Pilgrims on the journey

We team up with some of the other pilgrims in our group and plan to take both of the funicular's. The first, the Santa Cova funicular, will take us down the mountain to a path that leads to the chapel built near the Holy Cave where the Black Madonna statue was found in the year 880.

                        

View from the funicular station

In 1929 construction work began on a funicular line to connect the monastery to the path to the Santa Cova (Holy Cave). 

Here is a map of the walk from the funicular station to the Chapel. It is about 1 mile round trip over rocky uneven ground.

Though the funicular to connect the path to the monastery was completed in 1929, the actual path to the chapel began in 1693 and was completed in 1704. 

5th Joyful Mystery Finding in the Temple 

2nd Sorrowful Mystery Scourging at the Pillar 

The route has beautiful views of the valley and is divided by 15 sculptures corresponding to the mysteries of the Holy Rosary.    

4th Sorrowful Mystery Carrying the Cross 

5th Sorrowful Mystery Crucifixion 

5th Glorious Mystery Crowning Of Mary Queen of Heaven
Pilgrims on the journey 

These monuments were erected between 1896 and 1910, before the funicular.  It must have been a massive undertaking to get the sculptures down the mountain. 

The chapel at the Holy Cave was constructed between 1696 and 1705.  This area just like the monastery was damaged by Napoleon in 1811.  It was reconstructed in 1859, damaged again by a forest fire in 1994 and restored in 1997.  

Chapel at the Holy Cave 

This is where St. Ignatius placed his sword at the feet of the image of Our Lady of Montserrat.  Here is an excerpt from the Autobiography of Saint Ignatius: "He continued on his way to Montserrat, pondering in his mind, as was his wont, on the great things he would do for the love of God. And as he had formerly read the stories of Amadeus of Gaul and other such writers, he was filled with these chivalric fancies, and resolved to prepare himself for a noble knighthood by passing a night in vigil before an altar of Our Lady at Montserrat.  He would observe all the formalities of this ceremony, neither sitting nor lying down, but alternately standing and kneeling, and there he would lay aside his worldly dignities to assume the arms of Christ.  When he arrived at Montserrat, he passed a long time in prayer, and with the consent of his confessor he made in writing a general confession of his sins.  Three whole days were employed in this undertaking.  He begged and obtained leave of his confessor to give up his mule and to hang up his sword and his dagger in the church, near the altar of the Blessed Virgin."  

We reverse our walk back up to the funicular then take a short walk to the entrance to the Saint Joan funicular which will take us up the mountain. 

                   

The pictures above are from the Saint Joan funicular entrance, looking back at the monastery and area of Montserrat. We take the ride up the mountain this time.  At the top there is a good map of the hikes that lead out from the station.  We pick what appears to be an easy hike with the most chapels.  It is the red trail marked 3a. 

Trail 3a 

Along this fairly level trail we will walk by the Chapel of Saint Joan, to the ruins and cave of  Saint Joan (AKA as John) and Saint Onofre which is where we stop and turn around.  Round trip maybe about 1 to 2 miles.  Mike is a trooper and under better circumstances we would have easily made the entire hike as it was well paved with only a few elevation changes.  

Looking at Saint Joan's Chapel in the distance

This area of the mountain is known for its little chapels and caves.  There were 13 known structures build by hermits along the mountain, separated by paths.  All have been named after saints, most are in ruins. 

Saint Joan's Chapel built in 1893

Above Saint Joan's Chapel

Stairs to the ruins of Saint Joan (AKA as John) and Saint Onofre 

Ruins of Saint Joan (AKA as John) and Saint Onofre 

We reverse our hike back to the funicular and are rewarded with this view of Montserrat.  At the base we have time for lunch before taking in one more site before leaving for Manresa and Barcelona this afternoon. 

After lunch we visit the Museum of Montserrat which was located near our hotel.  This museum is not the easiest to tour on your own.  Built underground in 1929 it has three floors which go off in all different directions and quickly became a confusing maze as we were backed into corners and lost more than once. We even had a map.  Maybe we were tired or just stressed because we had limited time before our bus left for Manresa and Barcelona. 

There are over 1300 pieces in this museum but we were interested in a select few.  All of which we managed to find!   

Giovanni Battista Salvi Madonna Praying c. 1670

Matthias Stomer Adoration of the Shepherds c. 1635

Caravaggio Saint Jerome 1605

Rutilio Manetti Last Supper c 1620

Claude Monet 1883 

Pablo Picasso Old Fisherman 1895

Joaquim Vayreda Our Lady of Montserrat 1884

Antoni Caba Our Lady of Montserrat 1878

Salvador Dali 1926 

Pablo Picasso 1967 

Room filled with 100 Greek and Russian Icons from the 17th to 20th century

Late in the afternoon we board our bus in Montserrat and travel about 30 minutes to Manresa, Spain. 

Next stop Manresa, Spain 

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Interested in being your own tour guide? I have over 20 published GPS audio tours with VoiceMap (Carmel, Monterey, California Gold Country, Folsom, Tahoe, Sacramento) and over 40 tours published with GPSmyCity (Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Folsom, Sacramento, Boston, Cinque Terre, Kotor Montenegro, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Helsinki,  Stockholm, Estonia). Happy Adventures! 

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All photos and videos by L.A. Momboisse unless otherwise noted