Our Lady of Meritxell

Our Lady of Meritxell (Mare de Déu de Meritxell, ) is an Andorran Roman Catholic statue depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Meritxell is the patron saint of Andorra. The original statue dated from the late 12th century. However, the chapel in which it was housed burned down on 8 September 1972, and the statue was destroyed. A replica can be found in the new Meritxell Basilica, designed in 1976 by Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.

The Catalan philologist Joan Coromines says that Meritxell is a diminutive of merig, from the Latin meridiem ("midday"). Merig is a name used by shepherds to denote a pasture with lot of sun.

The image was canonically crowned by Pope Benedict XV on 8 September 1921.

Legend
In the late 12th century, on January 6, a wild rose in bloom was found by villagers from Meritxell going to Mass in Canillo. It was out of season and at its base was found a statue of the Virgin and Child. The statue was placed in the Canillo church. However, the statue was found under the same wild rose the next day. The statue was taken to the church of Encamp. However, as before, the statue was again found under the same wild rose on the next day. As in similar legends elsewhere, the villagers of Meritxell took this as a sign and decided to build a new chapel in their town after they found an open space miraculously untouched by the winter snows.

Influence


The feast day of Our Lady of Meritxell is September 8 and the Andorran National Day.

The image is mentioned in the anthem of Andorra.

"Meritxell" is a relatively frequent female name among Andorran women and other Catalan-speaking women.

Notable persons with the name include:


 * Meritxell Lavanchy, actress.
 * Meritxell Mateu i Pi, former foreign minister of Andorra.
 * Meritxell Batet Lamaña, member of the Council of Europe.

The hospital, Nostra Senyora de Meritxell Hospital is also named after her.