New image of Our Lady of Montserrat from St Mary of the Valley Church (California)

The church faithful St. Mary of the Valley of Yucca Valley, Californiacan now pray in front of the new image of Our Lady of Montserrat which, since a few days ago, has been installed in the temple.

This is a cedar wood image with polychrome finish which has been made in the art workshops of Granda of Madrid. The carving represents the Virgin with the baby Jesus seated on her lap and is more than 1m tall. In his right hand he holds the sphere that symbolizes the universe. The Child has his right hand raised as a sign of blessing while in his left hand he holds a pine cone.

This is a replica from the original which is venerated in the Montserrat Monastery, a 12th century Romanesque carving made of poplar wood. The face and head of the Child Jesus were retouched in a later period and show a naturalistic style completely foreign to the Romanesque images. With the exception of the face and hands of Mary and the Child, the image is gilded. It belongs to the group of the so-called "black virgins" which was so widespread in Romanesque Europe and whose meaning has given rise to many studies. In this case, her color seems to be the transformation of the varnish on her face and hands due to the passage of time.

Popularly known as "La Moreneta"the Virgin of Montserrat is the patron saint of Catalonia. According to legend, the first image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found by shepherd children in the year 880, inside a cave.

It is said that the black color of the Virgin's and Child's faces is due to the candles or candles that were lit in his honor inside the cave where he was. Due to the heat emitted by the candles, their faces began to burn, taking on that black color.