saints day

Calendari Dels Pagesos

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

A friend just asked me how to find out the dates of all the Festes Majors.
Apart from asking someone who knows (and people in towns and villages all know the date of their local one), the best way is to look at the Calendari Dels Pagesos which you can buy for about 2.20E from news-stands or bookshops.

This publication is a wonderful source of information. Contents include

  • Astrological data – eclipses, phases of moon, sunrise times etc. There is also a list of when the planets are visible.
  • Religious celebrations and dates
  • Weekly markets – if it’s a Monday and you want to go to a market you can find out there is one in Arenys de Munt, Cardedeu, Olot and Santa Coloma de Farners amongst other places.
  • Catalan festivals both local and national. This is where the Festes Majors are listed. Now you can see that there are hundreds!  Looking just at July I see there are festes in Vic, Llança, Espinelves, L’Estartit, St Pol de Mar and about 160 other towns.  Imagine having all these possible parties to go to, especially as a young person. I try to count up village/street parties I went to as a teenager and I come up with 0!!!!
  • All Saints days are listed so you can keep up with all your friends and family and remember to phone them and say Per Molts Anys. Today is St Aaron and Santa Elionor.  I have decided to adopt Saint Catherine of Alexandria as my saint and her day is November 25th. Lets see if the  Calendari agrees…..yes and it is shared with Gonçal and Erasme. I don’t meet many people called Gonçal or Erasme so I have the day mostly to myself!
  • Farming information and when to plant and harvest as well as tips on chicken keeping.         July information “Tenen gran importància les feines de recol-leccio´ i d’irrigacio´. Encara es segueixen plantant tomàquets tardans per a esser collits a l’octubre o novembre.”     The  important jobs now are to harvest and to water. Continue planting late tomatoes so you can pick them in October and November

So, all in all a booklet full of useful information and all you have to do is remember to look at it from time to time.  Ours has been in a drawer until now but I will put it beside the telephone from now on.

Santa Montse – the black virgin of Montserrat

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Today is Santa Montserrat!
Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain very close to Barcelona.
It is one of the sacred mountains of Catalunya.
On a clear day you can see the jagged tops from Granollers.

High on the mountain is a Benedictine Abbey

Santa Maria de Montserrat houses the statue of the black virgin of Montserrat and has a world famous choir school which sings every day in the public area of the monastery.
Here is a video of them singing Virolai, words by Verdaguer (our little square is named after him)
When I first played this Someone Else in the room joined in with the singing!
‘All Catalans know this’
Montserrat is one of the patron saints of Catalunya  (Sant Jordi being the other)

Many many women are named after her.
The shortened version of the name is Montse and I would need all my fingers and toes to count the number of Montses I have met since moving here.
The statue is made of wood and is probably Romanesque.
She sits at the back of the monastery where people queue to visit her.
The story of her discovery is that a group of children were playing near a cave on the mountain and suddenly saw a light coming down from the sky and angels flying around them.
People came from the village and looking inside the cave they found the statue of a black Madonna.
Why black?
Here are some stories about that.
There are also stories about the connection between Montserrat and the Holy Grail which some people believe is hidden somewhere in the mountain.
You can get married in Montserrat monastery and in fact my partners mother, named Montse, had her wedding there.
There are wonderful walks around the mountain.
Most important of all – Happy Saints Day to all Montses!