Évrecy

photo: Eva Ludwig

Black Virgen (Vierge Noire)

Near Évrecy, on the pilgrimage route from Caen to Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, 15 minutes walking distance on the Chemin du Croquet on the South East side of town, 1871, bronze, life size.

My friend Eva Ludwig found this Black Madonna when she went on a nine-day walking pilgrimage from Caen to Mont Saint Michel. Thank you, Eva, for the photos and research!

 The Black Madonna of Évrecy was erected in 1871 by the initiative of Madame de Bonnefons, lady of the nearby castle Champs Goubert, in thanksgiving for the village and castle being spared in the Prussian (German) invasion the year before.

 That’s all the bulletin board nearby says about her in specific. It mostly talks about Black Madonnas in general, saying: “Most Black Madonnas were sculpted between the 11th and 16th centuries or were Byzantine icons. Those Romanesque Black Madonnas inspired numerous later imitations like the one before you here. Why is the Virgin Black? According to the Catholic Church, there is not theological foundation to (the creation of) the color of these Madonnas. One has been wanting to explain it in retrospect with the passage in the Song of Songs: “I am Black but beautiful.” Until the middle of the 20th century, the most common explanation for these Madonnas coming from inside the Church was simply that the color was due to the choice of materials (ebony, mahogany, or some local wood) or deposits of soot from votive candles.  Since then, scientists have been proposing the hypothesis that what we have here is a remnant of ancient Pagan cults to the mother-goddess, which the romanization eradicated.”

The wonderful old photos above were sent to Eva by the Évrecy city hall and show the whole Madonna, who is now half overgrown. I love trees, but can someone please cut that bush back so as to reveal once more her full beauty?!

 If you want to go on a quiet pilgrimage without the hustle and bustle of something like the Camino de Compostella, then the Way of Mont-Saint-Michel is just the ticket. There are private houses along the way that will house and honor you as a pilgrim, you will get your pilgrimage passport stamped, and with that you can spend the night in the pilgrims’ hostel on Mont-Saint-Michel and experience this ancient holy place with its own Black Madonna after hours, without any tourists.

To learn more, visit Les Chemins du Mont Saint Michel . Created in 1998, the Les Chemins du Mont-Saint-Michel  association is dedicated to rediscovering, restoring, and promoting the ancient pilgrimage routes leading to the famous Norman sanctuary dedicated to Saint Michael. To find accommodations for pilgrims visit www.ot-MontSaintMichel.com