marian anniversaries     september

La Santina, Covadonga, Asturias, Spain

High in the mountains of northern Spain, the cave of Covadonga was probably already a shrine to the Virgin in 718, when Don Pelayo's small Christian brigade hid there from a much larger Arab army, living on honey in the rocks. As Alkamán's forces approached, Pelayo and his men sent up a continual prayer to the Virgin for help. A wind arose and sent the missiles directed toward the cave back to their source in a thick volley. As the Moors retreated in disarray, Pelayo advanced. Alkamán died along with most of his forces, the rest of which fled to the valley, where they were buried by an avalanche. This early Spanish victory, considered the beginning of the Reconquest, made remote Covadonga one of the best known and loved Marian shrines in Spain. It has a spring credited with special powers:

La Virgen de Covadonga
tiene una fuente muy clara;
la niña que de ella bebe
dentro del año se casa.
The Virgin of Covadonga
has a fountain most clear;
the maiden who drinks there
is wed the same year.
The basilica was dedicated September 7, 1901. "Santina," or "Little holy one," is both a term of endearment and a reference to the venerated statue's small size, about 2'. Fire destroyed the original in 1777. The 16th-century statue that replaced it is of oak, with a painted gown of blue-green with red flowers and a rosy mantle with gold trim, usually hidden beneath embroidered vestments. The Child is an addition, not part of the carving. (White and naked beneath his gown, he faces his mother, so that his dark hair makes him appear black in photographs.) 

The statue was crowned on the Virgin's feast day, September 8, 1918. Since 1957 a plastic statue has been used for pilgrimages from Covadonga to the rest of Asturias. (Photo from www.el-caminoreal.com.)

 

Where We Walked ~~~ Mary Ann Daly