Our Lady of Meritxell
Encyclopedia
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
n Roman Catholic statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Meritxell is the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Andorra
Andorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
. The original statue dates from the late 12th century. However, the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
in which it was housed burned down on September 8 and 9, 1972, and the statue was destroyed. A replica
Replica
A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...
can be found in the new Meritxell Chapel, designed in 1976 by Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill, also Ricard Bofill Leví is a Catalan Spanish postmodernist architect.He studied at the School of Architecture in Geneva, Switzerland...
.
The Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
philologist Joan Coromines
Joan Coromines
Joan Coromines i Vigneaux was a linguist who made important contributions to the study of Catalan, Spanish and other Romance languages....
says that "Meritxell" is a diminutive of merig, from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
meridiem (midday in English). Merig is a name used by shepherds to denote a pasture with lot of sun.
Legend
In the late 12th century, on January 6, a wild roseRose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
in bloom was found by villagers from Meritxell going to Mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
in Canillo
Canillo
Canillo is one of the parishes of Andorra. Canillo is also the name of the main town of the parish. Canillo has a gondola link to the main ski resort of Grandvalira.-Geography:...
. It was out of season and at its base was found a statue of the Virgin and Child.
The statue was placed in the Canillo church. However, the statue was found under the same wild rose the next day.
The statue was taken
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
to the church of Encamp
Encamp
Encamp is one of the parishes of Andorra, located on the Valira d'Orient river, and connected by a cable car to Lake Engolasters. It is also the name of the main town in the parish. Other settlements include Vila, El Pas de la Casa, Grau Roig, el Tremat, la Mosquera, and Les Bons. As of 2004, it...
. However, as before, the statue was found under the same wild rose the next day.
As in similar legends elsewhere, the villagers of Meritxell took this as a sign and decided to build a new chapel in their town after they found an open space miraculously untouched by the winter snows.
Influence
"Meritxell" is a relatively frequent female name among Andorran women and other Catalan-speaking women.Examples are:
- Meritxell Lavanchy, actress.
- Meritxell Mateu i PiMeritxell Mateu i PiMeritxell Mateu i Pi is a member of the Partit Liberal d'Andorra who served as Andorra's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2009. Previous positions she held include being ambassador to the France, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Slovenia.-References:...
, former foreign minister of Andorra. - Meritxell Batet Lamaña, member of the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
.
The image is also mentioned in the anthem of Andorra
El Gran Carlemany
El Gran Carlemany is the national anthem of Andorra. Written by Enric Marfany Bons and composed by Joan Benlloch i Vivó , it was adopted in 1921.-Lyrics:-External links:...
.