GOOD MORNING PRAGOBOTS!
We continue our series on The Black Madonna and Child…
THE BLACK VIRGIN OF OROPA
Piedmont, Italy
From Wikipedia:
The Black Virgin of Oropa, is the statute of the Virgin Mary (Mother of Jesus) located in the Sacro Monte di Oropa. The Sacro Monte di Oropa (literally ‘Sacred Mount of Oropa’) is the Roman Catholic devotional complex in the commune of Biella, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is one of the nine Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
History
The original image of the Black Virgin of Monte Oropa was made in the third century. She was brought by St. Eusebius of Vercelli from the Middle East to his diocese of Vercelli. The image was made of cedar of Lebanon and painted black. A mid-fourth century intensified the persecution of Mary (mother of Jesus), and St. Eusebius must hide to her in the mountains of Sacro Monte di Oropa, about 9 miles from Biella, Italy. When they tried to move the image, weight increased and they had to leave her there, in the mountains, where he currently presides over a shrine of great proportions. Before the Christians, celts had got a black fertility goddess which was replaced by her. Black Virgin is also known like Madonna Nera di Oropa or María Reina de Monte Oropa, and she is the patroness of Lomas del Mirador City, in La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.