Andujar
Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, Patroness of Andújar and the diocese of Jaen, La Morenita (the dear Dark One)
In her sanctuary, the basilica Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, on top of Mt. Cerro del Cabezo (686m high), 32 km North of the city of Andújar,Province Jaen, region Andalucia, the 1944 copy of a much more ancient statue lost in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, 65.5 cm cedar wood sculpted by José Navas Parejo from Granada.
The Statue
She owes her name to the mountain where she appeared in 1227 after she had been hidden from Muslim invaders in the 8th century. In her right hand she holds a wild strawberry, the characteristic plant of the region. Baby Jesus holds the world in his left hand and points to and blesses his mother with his right.
The Madonna in plain
Her story is told in oral traditions and antique manuscripts. Legend has it that this is yet another one of those ancient images attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist. He supposedly gave it to St. Peter, who in turn passed it on to St. Euphrasius, together with St. James the Apostle the first missionary to evangelize Spain.
While this is probably a holy exaggeration, meant to protect the Black Madonna from the accusation of being an idol, the original statue was indeed extremely old, probably from the 5th century C.E. There is evidence that it was already in Andujar, in the time of the Gothic king Sisebut, who ascended the Spanish throne in 612 C.E.
Her History
The Black Madonna of Andujar in all her glory!
The Southern half of the Spanish peninsula was invaded by Muslims in the early 8th century and occupied for almost eight centuries. In the process countless Christian churches and statues were destroyed. Only what was very well hidden and protected by God survived. Someone apparently placed this Black Madonna in the hollow between two rocks on top of Mt. Cerro del Cabezo, in the middle of the Sierra Morena and entrusted it to the Divine.
Now we are in the year 1227. The region around Andujar is in a state of constant war, with Spanish forces trying to oust the Muslims. Many Christians end up enslaved by Muslim masters, among them the family of Juan Alonso de Rivas, a shepherd, who eventually managed to gain his freedom – perhaps because he was handicapped and his crippled arm made him useless as a slave.
One night in August, as he is watching his sheep, he notices extraordinary lights flashing and twinkling on the summit of the mountain. He also hears a church bell ringing from the direction of the lights where none had rung in centuries. With that he concludes that God wants to tell him a secret. And so begins his pilgrimage towards the light and the sound of the bell. He prays and fasts and travels, stumbling through the wild underbrush, towards those mysterious signs for a couple of days. Finally, on August 12th, he arrives on the summit and sees spheres of celestial light shining from the hollow between two rocks. Approaching, he realizes they are emitting from a most wondrous statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Holy fear and joy seize him and he enters a deep state of prayer. As he communes with the Mother of God, he falls to the ground and lies still. Finally, a bit confused, he gets up onto his knees and with tears of gratitude streaming down his cheeks, addresses the Queen of Heaven: “Sovereign Queen of the Angels, how can I dare to partake of such a high and hidden secret as is contained in this celestial vision I am seeing when there are so many wise and prudent men to whom you could reveal it? You are the one, who manifested the lights that drew me to your lovely presence and the one who will have to enlighten my understanding so that, with a pure heart and simple faith I may serve you rightfully.”
The Madonna answers him: “ Do not be afraid, servant of God, but go to Andújar and proclaim that the time has come for the will of God to be executed, which is to build me a temple in this place where I am. In it, miracles and wonders will be worked for the benefit of the peoples.”
The shepherd: “On my part I have nothing to offer, Lady of the heavens and of the earth, except the obedience of my heart. Even though I know that I will jeopardize my honor in a big way when I speak of such new and rare, never seen before things, nonetheless you command and I will have to obey, though they may think I’m crazy! Whether they believe me or not, I will sell my sheep so I can be the first to contribute to the building of your holy house. It won’t be enough to finish the work, but I will gladly use it for that purpose and hold nothing back. Just have pity on the Christians, who live in this recently re-conquered republic, so that they may come up with generous donations. Since they see you as the protectress of this land, it will not be difficult to build the temple if you dispose their hearts towards helping with it.”
In order to accredit the simple faith of the good shepherd and so that people would believe him, the Virgin healed his crippled arm and hand, straightening them completely and giving them strength. Then she said: “Go assured that since God healed you, he will also make people believe your words. It is his will that you, who have been the witness of these wonders, having been crippled, make it public that you are suddenly healed.”¹
Juan spends the rest of the night on his knees in prayer. By daybreak, the celestial lights begin to fade and he heads into town, tearfully proclaiming to all the happenings of the previous days. Church and government officials investigate the case and judge Juan sane of mind and the miracle a gift of God. The good news of the miracle working Morenita spreads like wildfire and great crowds of faithful come from near and far. In due time, a small hermitage is built. Over the years and centuries, it is expanded into the sanctuary we see today with its monastery, guest accommodations, and the building of Our Lady’s confraternity.
Every year on the last weekend in April, thousands of pilgrims honor the Queen of the Sierra Morena with a procession and celebration. Some come on horseback, others tow trailers or pitch tents. Two monks accompany the Black Madonna on her float; their job is to raise little children from the crowd into her arms for a blessing.
Tragedy hit during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) between Communists and Anarchists on the left and everybody to the right of them, including Catholics. Within a few months of its outbreak, Communist troops arrived at the sanctuary, destroying and robbing whatever pleased them. Finally, the only thing left to take was the Black Madonna herself. When one of the militiamen was about to grab her, one of the local Communists couldn’t bear see the Heavenly Mother of his childhood disgraced. He pointed his gun right at the heart of his comrade and promised: “If you touch my Virgin I will kill you right here!” And so she was spared that day.
But later that summer, on August 17th, Catholic civilians and military took refuge in the sanctuary, which made it a major target for the Communists. The battle raged until May 1st the following year. By then, the whole place lay in ruins and the Catholics were defeated. When their commander saw that the end was near, he apparently wrapped the Madonna in a blanket and with a companion hid her so well that to this day no one has been able to find her. They were last seen just before dawn on April 30th 1937, carrying said bundle to the South-Eastern side of the mountain, towards the old house of the Colomera confraternity and disappearing into the cliffs down below. After a while they were seen returning without the bundle. When the Communists broke into the church the next day, the Madonna had disappeared! Unfortunately the Catholic commander and his companion were both killed in the final battle for the sanctuary, taking the secret of the Madonna’s hiding place with them into their graves.²
The oldest extant photo of the original Morenita of la Cabeza
At some point the international Red Cross was given a chance to undertake a search and rescue of the statue, but though they looked thoroughly, they couldn’t find her. Meanwhile a beautiful copy was sculpted in 1944, but who will find the 7th century original?! I guess it will take another humble soul with great faith, led by the divine Mother herself to find her. Maybe you, dear reader?
Very appropriately, a group of Trinitarian monks are the guardians of the Black Madonnas shrine. Their ‘Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives’ was founded in France in the late 12th century with the intention of contemplating the Holy Trinity and collecting money so as to ransom Christian slaves held by Muslim masters (like the family of the good shepherd in our story). In 2014, two of them, Isidoro Murciego and Domingo Conesa, published a book called ‘Loving from the Heart of the Dear Dark One ’ (Amar desde el corazón de La Morenita) which tells some of this Black Madonna’s countless miracle stories in the course of eight centuries.
Our Lady of La Cabeza was declared patroness of Andújar by Pope Pius X on March 18, 1909 and of the Diocese of Jaén by Pope John XXIII in November 27, 1959.
Countless great Spanish writers have sung the praises of Our Lady of La Cabeza, beginning with King Alfonso X the Wise, (1221-84) in his Cantigas a Santa María (Songs to St. Mary). More than a dozen towns around Spain and Latin America have copies of Our Lady of la Cabeza. Some are faithful reproductions, others only share her name, but look completely different. Not all are even dark skinned.
Footnotes and sources
1. Miquel Ballbe I Boada, Las Virgenes Negras y Morenas en Espana, Diputacio de Barcelona, Terrassa: 1991, p. 204-5
2. Ibid, p. 206-7
English Wikipedia article on Our Lady of Cabeza
Spanish Wikipedia article on Virgen de la Cabeza
Website of the confraternity of Our Lady of la Cabeza