The Black Madonna

Black Madonnas Page II

Since the last page was absolutely overflowing, I thought it might be a capital idea to split this page into more parts. The last page I had these posted on went on forever and there were still two pages. I imagine this is going to end up being at the very least, three pages. So enough rambling from me. Here are The Ladies...

Another one that is a bit off the beaten path is the Black Madonna of Le Puy. Although She is more well known than a LOT of them hanging out at my house.

Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire)
In Monastere Sainte Claire, Notre Dame du Puy, cedar statue made by Jeremiah and brought by St.
Louis, burned at Rev. replaced with copy by local artist, end of 18 C, gilded wood. A small replica of original Le Puy is in the vestry. The original statue was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Sacred Cathedrals are constructed with Sacred Geometry, a small offshoot of Alchemy. The Cathedral in Scotland, Rosslyn, and Notre Dame are perfect examples of the hidden esoteric meaning constructed in the Cathedrals...they aren't *just* churches. They are so much more...

This is Notre Dame de Hal...I don't have a lot of information on Her, but She is made of Vieux Bruxelles Porcelain. This is a special Porcelain House in Brussels that is no longer in service, since the beginning of the 20th century. It's very delicate and you can see the expression on her face ~ The picture definitely does the Lady no justice. Having VIEUX BRUXELLES PORCELAIN still intact in itself is a small miracle. And this Lady crossed the Ocean to be here with the others. She's extremely special, and near and dear to my heart...

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She hails from the town of Hal in Brussels, where Her image is enshrined. This one also has a miniature statue that I picked up one day. Its only about 3 inches tall. So its like She has Her own statue...which is kind of strange when you think about it...This one is interesting in the fact that She is so regal and more matronly or grandmotherly looking, yet she is nursing the child. So far, besides ISIS, this is the only one that I have that is seen nursing the Infant.

Black Madonna de Torreciudad

Another miraculous Black Madonna in the province of Huesca, Aragon called Our Lady of Torreciudad. The statue of our Lady of Torreciudad represents our Lady as the throne of the Incarnate Word. She is the Seat of Wisdom, the Throne of Grace and Glory.

"Adeamus cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae, ut misericordiam consequamur!" " Let us, then, with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, to the throne of mercy, that we may receive mercy!"

The sanctuary devoted to the Virgin is located in the province of Huesca. Torreciudad is an international pilgrimage center. This prayer and penitence place is sited in a landscape of singular strength and beauty. The temple is a work by the architect Heliodoro Dols, who lives in Zaragoza, and the altarpiece was done by the artist Juan Mayne, who was inspired by the Aragonese monstrance-altarpieces. Many wonderful miracles were attributed through the intercession of the Black Madonna of Torreciudad.

This statue of Our Lady is again one of the Black Madonna, seated in the throne with The Child on her lap holding the Bible while her right hand is holding a flower. The ones seated are usually referred to as Byzantine Style... Under her feet is a pedestal with the words "Nuestra Senora De Torreciudad". I have two of these. This one is clothed in gold, where the other one is wearing white, red and gold.

Notre Dame de Meymac, also known as the Black Madonna of Meymac is believed to have been carved sometime during the 11th century. The Black Virgin has very large hands and a red cloak; and has been called one of the strangest and most interesting Black Madonnas to date. The Child is dressed in red with bare feet, and sits between the Madonna's knees, holding a closed book in his left hand.

This Black Virgin was once part of the 11th century treasure of Benedictine priory of Saint Andrew, originally a hermitage in and during the Merovingian Dynasty. In the chapel where She resides are some very interesting icons. One statue, of Saint Roch, shows him not accompanied with his (usual) dog, but a woman in black. Another very dark wooden statue is of a woman with a castle under her left hand.

This is one of the Madonnas of the Fisher Kings, the Merovingian line of Mystic Kings, keepers of the Grail Bloodline. Black Madonnas are believed to be pre-Christian archetypes whose child-nurturing focus is the embodiment of the pre-historic Great Mother.

The Madonna of St. Anne de Beupre

Devotion to Saint Anne, in Canada, goes back to the beginning of New France, and was brought to Canada by the first settlers and early missionaries. The hardy pioneers soon began to till the fertile soil of the Beaupré hillside; in the region which now forms the parish of Sainte Anne de Beaupré the first houses date from the year 1650. Nor was it long before the settlers built themselves a chapel where they might meet for Divine worship. One of their number, the Sieur Etienne Lessard, offered to give the land required at the spot which the church authorities should find suitable. On 13 March, 1658, therefore, the missionary, Father Vignal, came to choose the site and to bless the foundation of the proposed chapel which, by general consent, was to be dedicated to St. Anne. The very day the Saint showed how favourably she viewed the undertaking by healing Louis Guimont, an inhabitant of Beaupré, who suffered terribly from rheumatism of the loins. Full of confidence in St. Anne, he came forward and placed three stones in the foundations of the new building, whereupon he found himself suddenly and completely cured of his ailment.

So much for the official story...This one is bizarre. Just downright bizarre. First of all, they would NEVER have crowned St. Anne. Not for anything. As it was, it was difficult enough getting the Church to grudgingly crown Mary. And that was done ONLY after all attempts to wipe out Goddess worship had failed miserably. This one has the Child with the eyes firmly placed on the Virgin. and the child has long hair. Now, this would cover nicely with the story above but it would also fit the Merovingian Kings--- the longhairs. Would this also fit in nicely with the displaced and outlawed Templars, even giving credence to the whole Money Pit mystery? So I'm still puzzling this whole St. Anne thing out...but I suspect there is so much more going on under the surface of this than meets the eye...something HERETICAL perhaps? I do love a good Heretic...

The Black Madonna is a painting of the Madonna and Christ Child which legend states was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. St. Luke is believed to have used a tabletop from a table built by the carpenter Jesus. It was while Luke was painting Mary that she told him about the events in the life of Jesus that he eventually incorporated in his gospel.

The painting shows up again in 326 AD when St. Helen located it in Jerusalem while on a pilgrimage there. She gave the painting to her son, Constantine, who had a shrine built in Constantinople to house it. In a critical battle with the Saracens, the portrait was displayed from the walls of the city and the Saracens were subsequently routed. The portrait was credited with saving the city. The painting was eventually owned by Charlemagne who subsequently presented it to Prince Leo of Ruthenia (northwest Hungary). It remained at the royal palace in Ruthenia until an invasion occurred in the eleventh century. The king prayed to Our Lady to aid his small army and as a result of his prayers a darkness descended on the enemy troops who, in their confusion, began attacking one another. Ruthenia was saved as a result of this intervention.

In 1382, picture was brought to Jasna Gora in response to a request made in a dream of Prince Ladislaus of Opola. This legendary history becomes better documented with the painting's ownership by Prince Ladislaus. In 1382 invading Tartars attacked the Prince's fortress at Belz. In this attack one of the Tartar arrows hit the painting and lodged in the throat of the Madonna. The Prince, fearing that he and the famous painting might fall to the Tartars, fled in the night finally stopping in the town of Czestochowa, where the painting was installed in a small church. The Prince subsequently had a Pauline monastery and church built to ensure the painting's safety.

In 1430, the Hussites overran the monastery and attempted to take the portrait. One of the looters twice struck the painting with his sword but before he could strike another blow he fell to the floor writhing in agony and died. Both the sword cuts and the arrow wound are still visible in the painting.

Later, in 1655, Poland was almost entirely overrun by the forces of Sweden's King Charles X. Only the area around the monastery remained unconquered. Somehow, the monks of the monastery successfully defended the portrait against a forty day siege and eventually all of Poland was able to drive out the invaders. After this remarkable turn of events, the Lady of Czestochowa became the symbol of Polish national unity and was crowned Queen of Poland. The King of Poland placed the country under the protection of the Blessed Mother.

A more recent legend surrounding the painting involves the threat of a Russian invasion. In 1920, the Russian army was seen massing on the banks of the Vistula river, threatening Warsaw, when an image of the Virgin was seen in the clouds over the city. The Russian troops withdrew on seeing the image. There have been reports for centuries of miraculous events such as spontaneous healings occurring to those who made a pilgrimage to the portrait. Officially, it is known as the 'Black Madonna" because of the soot residue that discolors the painting. They say that soot is the result of centuries of votive lights and candles burning in front of the painting. But, over 1,000 of the world's venerated Madonna's were portrayed with Black coloring. With the decline of communism in Poland, pilgrimages to the Black Madonna have increased dramatically.

She is also known as Saint Barbara among the Santeria Crowd. This one is a icon rather than a statue. Sorry... She didn't really fit on the scanner.

This one... I'm afraid we don't know anything at all about Her except that She looks to be somewhat Polynesian/African. She was found by my husband at a thrift store. She loves being here, though. We get the distinct feeling from Her that She was neglected and ignored for years. Now She has a place with ALL the others. And you think I'm crazy...but these Ladies each have their own personality and something that can only be described as radiance. Most of them are old, some of them are brand new---others have a very doubtful lineage. But they all have two things in common---they all represent one of the 10,000 names of the Goddess, and they now live here where they will be safe and respected.

This is another one we aren't quite sure about. We THINK She might hail from Brazil or Cuba. Definitely a South American feeling Madonna, which would put Her in the category of Yemayah or Señeora Aparecida. You can see Señeora Aparecida on the previous page. She is not Her, though. I still have some tracking to do on Her. What is known is that She is carved out of pure ebony. She has a rather primitive look to her, and She is definitely hand carved. Other than that, She's got a pretty cold trail, so I have some work to do to track Her.

Here is where MOST of them live, but they are scattered all over the house.

East Wall

West Wall

North Wall

Northwest View

I really debated putting this one up...this is one of my ALL time favorites. Another rendition of Montserrat, this is my personal Tole Shrine to the Black Madonna.

I still have a very long way to go---I haven't even hit the second page of the old website on the Madonnas yet. But it will have to wait until later. Thanks for your patience as I get this together. These pages have been quite the labor of love.

Page III