Montserrat-Santa Cova, Spain — Circa 25 April 880
Magical light
Towards the end of April in the year 880 seven young children from Monistrol in Barcelona saw a strange light descend from the sky and head towards a small grotto on the mountain of Montserrat, accompanied by a soft melody. A week later a group of priests headed by the Bishop of Manresa returned to the spot, and saw it again. On four Saturdays in a row the light reappeared in the sky and dropped towards the mountain grotto. In the end seven men were sent to the place the light seemed to indicate, which was in an area called Santa Cova. When they entered the cave they discovered an image of a black virgin, surrounded by a magical light and giving off a pleasant aroma. The locals tried to carry the sculpture to Manresa but, according to their story, the further they moved it, the heavier it became. It grew so heavy that they had to leave it in the middle of the fields, where they decided to erect a hermitage in the name of St. Mary. The hermitage is still there today.
Source: Josep Guijarro, Gufa de la Cataluna Magica (Barcelona: Ediciones Martinez Roca, 1999), 42-43. Case: W014