Our Lady of the Oak
Our Lady of the Oak is the Patroness of the Comarca of El Bierzo, Leon Province, in the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon, Spain, having been crowned as such in 1908.
Her image is venerated in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Oak, in the city of Ponferrada, where the people of El Bierzo hold her in great devotion.
The Day of the Oak is celebrated on 8 September and lends its name to the festivities of the city of Ponferrada.
History of Our Lady of the Oak
Many legends surround how the image of Our Lady of the Oak was found. The website of the Diocese of Astorga, to which El Bierzo belongs, records a legend telling that around the year 450 the first image arrived from Jerusalem, brought by Bishop Toribio.
In the 9th century, Saint Genadius hid it in Ponferrada to conceal it from Muslim raids, but did so with such care that nothing was known of it for several centuries, until around 1300, when the Templars, beginning construction of their Castle in Ponferrada, needed a great deal of timber and, on the eighth of September, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin and a day chosen for many of her apparitions, when they went to fell an oak tree, it split, and in the half that remained standing a niche appeared containing a Byzantine-style image of the Mother and Child.
The image venerated today dates from the 16th century.
Our Lady of the Oak
| Shrine | Basilica of the Oak |
|---|---|
| Feast day | 8 September |
| Patroness of | El Bierzo Ponferrada (Leon Province, Spain) |
| Date of the image | 16th century |
See also:
