From Saint Angelina to a lost knowledge Part 2 : A star for Angelina

 

Hanging out in Prats de Mollo

We are in the Pyrenees, and more specifically, the Cerdagne and the Roussillon. It is here that rests, in the shade of a strange church, the statue of St Angelina, whose existence we recently revealed. It was while visiting Arles-sur-Tech, then Prats de Mollo, that we arrived in this location that is set outside our “modern times” and exudes an air of times gone by.

Notre Dame du Coral

Before carrying on our way to this sanctuary, we will briefly stop in Prats de Mollo, which is part of the enigma into which we try to penetrate. The interior is a notorious collection of Catalan religious art. One will remember a profusion of displays, each equally admirable. The church also comes with a repeated sequence of enigmatic placements of the number 17 frequently, which seem merely to refer to dates in the 18th century, but which have been depicted in rather bizarre fashion.
We will retain for this moment that in the church one finds a kind of glazed display cabinet, containing a statue representing the dead Christ, which was carried in the procession of La Sanch. For the moment, let us merely point out that the site was equally associated with the lords of Perillos, who had a presence here. It is thus from Prats de Mollo that we leave to join the statue of Holy Angelina at… Notre Dame du Coral!
It is one of the most curious sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin in this region. The site sits almost on top of the current border of Spain and France. It is necessary, to better understand the mystical attraction and… mythical place, to locate it, as well as to understand it in its Catalan context, when this area was not rearranged by the annexation of the Roussillon to France. The hamlet is indeed the last inhabited place before the present border.
To arrive here, there are two routes, one involves climbing from Prats-de-Mollo to the Col d’Ares. Just before the border, you turn left as the road turns right (it is signposted) and follow a road that descends in the direction of the hermitage. This road continues past the hermitage, past other hamlets and communities, before joining the “main road” that goes from Arles-sur-Tech to Prats de Mollo. We need to add that the road is largely unpaved and that it is often impassable in winter, mainly due to the accumulation of snow and ice.

A historical survey

Notre Dame de Coral was involved in a pilgrimage organized by the parishes of Prats, Lamanère and Serralongue, this since the 15th century. The oldest document on the subject goes back to 987, when the place is known under the name of "Villa of Miralles". The next mention of the church of Our Lady is in documents of 1267, where it is listed as “Sancta Maria de Coral”. At this time, the hermitage is under the authority of the abbey St Pierre de Camprodon, presently in Spain. At the time of the terrible earthquake of 1428, most of the hamlet is destroyed. In fact, primarily the smallholdings are affected… miraculously, the church is saved! Of the old village of Miralles only some formless ruins remain since this telluric catastrophe. In 1643, the bishopric of Elne, which had become the “director” of the hermitage, puts an end to some of the privileges that the abbey of Camprodon had always held over Coral.
In 1725, when the population regularly moves to Notre Dame du Coral to make its pilgrimages and devotions, a captain of the army, Rafel Planella and several of his partisans desert and find refuge in the buildings. They remain there for eight years, disturbing the pilgrims and those in search of calm. In 1733, the consuls of Prats de Mollo cease the occupation, by obliging this invading troop to occupy only one room instead of the entire building. On this occasion, the consuls decided not to rent out a room for more than three days.
From 1730 until 1911, the church was inhabited by a “wandering” hermit, who went from door to door, seeking donations to make the parish funded. This position was very cherished. He went about his task with a “Capelleta”, an oratory that could be carried around. The parishioners were very generous, especially the Catalans from the South, who remembered that before, the monastery of Camprodon was the controller of Coral.
But in 1749, the relations between France and Spain degenerated. The hermits were told they needed a passport to cross the border. When the centenary of the creation of the church of Coral was to be celebrated, in 1790, the French Revolution explodes. This heralds the decline of the hermitage and its pilgrimages. On November 2, 1789, the goods of the church are declared to be nationalised. They are taken on July 13, 1790 and the local municipal council takes control of power over Notre Dame de Coral.
On “8 vendémiaire of the year IV”, at 9 am, the community is present for the auction. Five people from Prats wish to revive the cult of Notre Dame du Coral. They offer 850 pounds to buy up the estate: François Sales, Louis Arquer, Joseph Bartre, Sylvestre Parès and François Gineste. No-one else bids higher, as everyone supports the initiatives of the buyers to preserve the place in its best imaginable format.
Lightning strikes on January 7, 1793, killing the hermit Jean Delclos. From 1800 onwards, Coral rises once again as a popular site, maintained by the new owners and the donations they received. An ecclesiastical administrator was appointed, a position that will remain occupied until 1931.
On October 21, 1894, the last wandering hermit is named by the administrative council: he is Joseph Canal, who remains in his position until May 31, 1911. While the hermits wander the countryside in search of donations, certain guardians stay behind to watch over the church.
The administrator of Coral, father Gibrat, died on December 19, 1926. He was replaced by father Claverie, who fell foul of the proprietors (which by now numbered 24). He profited from the senility of the bishop of Elne to impose his views. Faced with this stand-off, the bishop decides to deny the church the privilege to hold mass; not a single mass has been said since May 18, 1931.
The renovation of the site, and especially its pilgrimage, recommenced from the end of the 19th century. This period marks, just like for La Sanch – and Saunière – a period of remarkable prosperity, involving a cult about which little is presently known. Nowadays, the site belongs to the community of Prats-de-Mollo.
The tourist guides are quite laconic about this site, telling us that “the hermitage is little frequented today”, which seems to imply that in the past, this was not the case. That, without a doubt, is correct, for other documents have revealed that the church, surrounded by the other buildings, has a “balcony”, which was reserved for the kings of Aragon.

The origins of a name

The etymology of Notre Dame du Coral has been the subject of much debate. It could derive from Kon, Ker or Kan, which meant “rocky” in Antiquity (the name Bolquère comes from this name). Another possibility is that the name comes from the Latin Cor Altum, which became “Cor Alt” and then “Coral”. Certain documents refer to the site as “Notre Dame de la Bergerie”, because Corral, with 2 letters r, in Catalan means sheepfold. Still, this word with just one r means “heart of oak”. It reverberates the legend that speaks of how a shepherd saw one of his bulls always stopping in front of an oak tree. The man becomes intrigued and begins to open up the trunk of the tree, to discover a statue of the Virgin inside. This “miracle” is identical to the one of Los Masos and Taillet. We need to pose the question whether this is a Christian rendering of pagan worship of certain sacred trees, the oak always having been an object of specific devotion. Furthermore, the animal that found the statue was a bull, and hence the possibility of a reference to a solar cult is equally possible. We also observe that near the site is a layer of garnets. These fine stones are often interpreted as drops of blood of the earth. This leads us to one final possibility, derived from “el terrer rog de Corall”, which means “the red earth of the Coral”.

An inverted star

We cannot move on before noting that “Coral” is an anagram of “Alcor”. Alcor is the second star of the Great Bear. Its name comes from the arab “al-qur”, the rider. It forms the key of the enigma in a novel by Maurice Leblanc, “The countess of Cagliostro”, published in July 1924. In the novel, Alcor is the result of the initials of the words in the famous sentence “Ad lapidem olim currebat Regna”, “Towards the stone the Queen ran formerly”: Alcor. The phrase is well-known to aficionados of the mystery of Rennes-le-Château.
In this novel, the stars of the Great Bear are mirrored on and conform to seven abbeys in the region of Caux, in France. With the projection of this constellation on the ground, it is thus possible to situate the placement of the star Alcor, which marks the location of the treasures of the kings of France. Should we dream away of the possibility that Coral is in some form related to this story, seeing that the site played a role in the mystery of our mysterious priest Saunière, through which we could somehow acquire or access a “sacred and royal” treasure, or secret? We need to add that several researchers have noted that in these and other novels, Maurice Leblanc has made several allusions to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. We will refrain from entering in much detail here, satisfying ourselves with the summary remark that Leblanc often refers to the treasures of the kings of France, their enigma and the mysterious heirs that go in search of this fabulous treasure.

Buildings providing shade for their past

When we first came to this site, Notre Dame du Coral reminded us of the majestic complex used as the setting in the novel “The Name of the Rose”, by Umberto Eco. The site is remote, almost set apart from the rest of the world. With the discovery of the statue of St Angelina, we felt even more so: it felt as if the site maintained a secret, a tradition, like the giant tower in the novel contains secret wisdom that the Church wants to disregard and deny.
The church is surrounded by lodgings. No direct access to the church from the outside is therefore possible. The dimensions of the church are impressive: 7 by 23 metres. The hermitage, seen from the outside and the access road, resembles a large squat farmhouse. The western part is the sheepfold, the northern section was the hostelry, in the prolongation of the roof of the church. It was here that the pilgrims stayed. It is speculated that originally the entrance to the church was directly accessible. But the arrival of numerous pilgrims required the construction of new buildings. The square in front of the church was thus converted into another room.
The bell-tower has two bells. The stoups are on the outside, which could mean that, just like in Saint-Croix-de-Jarez, Cathars and other “heretics” walked up to it.

Let us note that, if there is a hermitage, and a sedentary life, it is normal to expect that people will die, and hence that there is a need for a cemetery. Still, there remains not a single written trace about the presence of this necropolis. Nevertheless, when one visits the church, we note that on the right-hand side, there is a small enclosure, open to the sky. This is what we could label a “small cloister”, which in some religious communities (such as the Charterhouses) was also the field of the dead, so that the dead could remain present amongst the living.
The actual hamlet is still situated on the top of its rocky outcrop, underneath of which are found the vestiges of the old village of Miralles. In the old foundations, one can still see some very old stones. In the façade, on the northern side near the entrance, two beautiful stones have been reused to liven up the wall. One piece of reused stone shows that once, there ancient columns were used in the construction. Higher up, near a window, there is a beautiful cross, inscribed into a circle. Is this a veiled clue, or merely an artistic expression of a mason who could not let such a beautiful stone go to waste and worked it into the new wall?

The silence and the music of the angels

The church is heavily ornamented. In the choir, little angels play various instruments: the music of the angels? Or music for an “angel” that was forgotten, like a Saint Angel-ina, who resides nearby? Within this setting, the normally imposing Catalan baroque remains intriguingly quiet and subdued, as if it too does not want to waken up some forgotten knowledge. Some of the windows have been closed off, their areas painted with stylised foliage, which could easily have been painted by Jean Cocteau! A stone in the nave informs us most likely of the date when this building was erected. We also admire a Christ on the cross, wearing a golden crown. But the most peculiar aspect of this artefact is that it shows a clothed Christ, wearing a long mantle. Normally, we see a semi-naked Christ, clothed only by an often blood-stained white cloth. This is therefore a rare and intriguing depiction of Christ, as if he is not the victim of a horrible night and day of torture, but merely someone hanging on the cross as if he is doing it as his day job, fully expecting to “get off work” in due course.
At the very end of the church, above the altar, is an opening, the balcony, through which we see a statue that has its back turned towards the church; this is the statue of Our Lady of Coral. Access to it is indicated by two passages left and right. On each side, the stairs are ornamented by statues; we take the right-hand side stairs, which holds a beautiful St Martha trampling the dragon with her feet, as St Michael is equally wont to do.

The balcony of a forgotten king

This reserved space, the balcony, is well-maintained. The windows are stain-glassed, the frescos on the walls recount the miraculous discovery of Our Lady in its oak trunk. A display window contains the “treasure” of Coral: plates and other ciboria. We are in the “High Church”. In this part of the Pyrenees, this type of structure is virtually unique, at least as far as we know. The major peculiarity of this chapel is that it was reserved for the usage of a king, or other important people of the kingdom, such as princes and other dignitaries. Today, this site belongs to France, but before, it was Catalonia, and hence it was reserved for the Catalan nobility. We need to ask who installed this balcony, and for what purpose. No-one knows and few, if any, make any reference to the existence of this “High Church”. There are further details that beg further clarification. The mass is celebrated below. Originally, the priest turned his back towards the congregation and said mass towards the altar, propped against the wall. But in this case, it meant that the church was said towards whoever – and whatever – was present in this balcony, i.e. the dignitaries. Furthermore, when the priest raises his head or raises the “blood and body of Christ”, he raises it towards the balcony; it is remarkable that when “addressing” God directly, the priest is addressing any noble present on the balcony… as well as the statue of Our Lady. Furthermore, anyone present in this balcony would not always have been observed by the people below, as the statue itself blocks a large part of the opening… which may add some intriguing thoughts if for some reason, a noble wanted to attend mass without being noticed.

Statues from the pear tree

Our Lady of Coral is a remarkable statue, which bears strong resemblances to a similar statue found in a cave in Perillos, currently still used in the Pentecostal mass said in the village. The Black Madonna of Perillos has an identical crown on its head; the same dress, of the same colour; the same expression on her face. It is as if there was one original that functioned as a template for both. But there are two further details that make the resemblance even more intriguing. With a certain respect, we lifted the dress of the Black Madonna, to verify the details that cannot otherwise be validated. First, as we expected, the bottom part of the statue is nothing but a solid piece of wood, largely left untouched: there is no attempt to have sculpted legs. This is identical to the Madonna of Perillos. A final characteristic both statues share is that both are made out of the wood of a pear tree. What this means is that both statues, one in Notre Dame du Coral and the other in a cave in Perillos, are identical, though one is much larger than the other one. Let us note that the “sacred tree” in which the original Black Madonna was found (and the one here on display is not the original one) was an oak tree… so why not have carved it out of oak?
As we descend from the royal balcony, we note, just before re-entering the church below, the statue of Saint Angelina, which served us reminder that this place could be more than it appeared to be at first glance.

Memories

The religious heart of Notre Dame du Coral continues to beat slowly. Underneath are the remains of a small, primitive chapel and an antique crypt, which remains intact, albeit closed. Documents from 1532 refer to its presence. What was located in this underground place? Today, the sanctuary is meticulously maintained and restored, with regards to detail, which means that the building, its architecture and its decor remains impressive. Is it possible that during this renovation and maintenance work, certain ancient aspects of the site were rediscovered? We do not know, but perhaps some do.

We also know that Saunière had a specific link with Arles-sur-Tech. It is now clear and hardly contested that Saunière followed the “piste” of Perillos, and this means he could not have ignored Prats de Mollo, where there had been a Perillos presence. Furthermore, the town is close to a village of the name of Coustouge, the name alone which could no doubt upset Saunière! With an interest in Arles-sur-Tech and no doubt Prats de Mollo, Saunière must have been aware of Notre Dame du Coral, which at the time was much more famous in the area, more visited, much wealthier than it is today. It was the site of pilgrimages and miracles and hence the bailiwick of priests, known to Saunière directly, or via some of his friends and contacts in the area.
But not only could Saunière not have been unaware of this site, neither could the lords of Perillos. They were Aragonese nobility, had a presence in nearby Prats de Mollo… and for all we know, the “royal balcony” was reserved for themselves and whenever other Aragonese nobility came to visit them, or passed by.

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André Douzet