Err
Photo: Mark Veermans
Notre-Dame d’Err, the Black Virgin, Morénéta
In her own church next to the parish church, 8 km East of Bourg-Madame on the Spanish border, department Pyrénées-Orientales. Only minutes away from 3 other Black Madonnas, see Dorres. Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Restored and whitened in 2001.
This ‘Black Madonna’, as the locals still insist on calling her, was restored to her original colors in 2001. At that time, it turned out that she had been painted over five times. One of those times, probably in the 19th century, she was painted black in order to preserve the look people were attached to and that corresponded to her title. However, in 2001 “all parties agreed on” restoring her to her original “rosy” color.¹
Before the restauration of 2001, from a catalogue of the Presses universitaires de Perpignan
According to legend, la Moreneta was found miraculously in a tree by an animal guiding its shepherd. (For more on this theme see Olot.) This must have been some time before the year 930 when she received her own church right next to the parish church of the little village. Unusual indeed. Black Madonnas often demand their own churches, but never right next to an existing one. I suspect there was some feud between two groups that refused to worship together.
Our Lady of Err has a powerful reputation for averting all kinds of calamities. She heals humans and animals, ends droughts, and stops fires. She puts all things in order.
In 1726 the parish council decides on the 2nd of July as the feast day of the Black Madonna of Err, to be celebrated with a procession that follows the exact same path ever since. The statue is taken down from her high altar the night before to be closer to her people. She is carried in procession by four girls wearing white dresses and veils.
Ean Begg mentions "fairy grottoes" in connection with this Madonna, but I couldn't find any more information about them. ("The Cult of the Black Virgin", Arkana, 1985, p. 187)
Footnote:
1. “Corpus des vierges à l’enfant (XIIe-XVe siècles) des Pyrénées-Orientales“, Perpignan University Press, Open Edition Books