joan gari legend
DESCRIPTION
A Story of Montserrat. Agustí Roca. www.agustiroca.comTRANSCRIPT
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They say that in ancient times there were already hermits up in the mountain of Montserrat. They were
holy men who retired to live in one of the many caves
hidden among the rocks. They gave up worldly things to
devote themselves to spiritual life, and it would seem
that some of them could work miracles. This, of course,
is what happened long before the monastery was built.
Joan Gar was one of those hermits. He lived in the ninth
century, in the times of Count Guifr el Pels. He was
admired by everyone because of his devotion to the
Virgin and his virtuous behavior. Apparently, even the
bell of the hermitage of Sant Iscle, near the cave where
he lived, tolled happily whenever he passed in front. This
miraculous fact of soul purity in Gar bugged mainly the
lords of hell
So, dragging down such a valuable soul was quite an
appealing challenge for demons who held Council and
now well see what they decided.
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A devil named Belial was sent to Gar to lead him astray. Disguised as a hermit, he pretended to run into
him when going down the mountain. He lied saying he
was also living in a cave praying and seemed astonished
of knowing him, because of his reputation, he said, was
huge and had run all over Christendom. A holy man
like you should be on top of the church and enjoy the
authority and privileges he deserves he added.
To turn on his desire he made Joan see the rough rocks
of the mountains as if they were strange constructions,
magnificent blend of luxury and abundance.
But humble Gar, although this vision had somehow
blew his mind, he showed himself immune to the greedy
temptation that Belial was presenting.
They realized in Hell that they were facing a difficult
individual, and therefore they had to change their
strategy.
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It needed to be played harder, and the Devils conspired into more twisted tactics.
They sent another devil, named Lleonat for the
magnificent appearance that he used to take, but as rotten
inside and singed as all of his colleagues. It emerged
from underground followed by a gang of Devils on
horseback, taking the appearance of a group of hunters
who went from Montserrat to Barcelona following the
river Llobregat.
What dark purpose guided the frantic cavalcade of these
spooky characters?
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Barcelona was a small town at that time, and the noisy arrival of a group of so flamboyant riders had to be
immediately known by everyone. And even more
because of being led by a man of such a noble aspect
Lleonat came immediately near to the Counts palace
and letting himself to be spotted by his daughter,
Princess Riquilda. The beautiful presence and refined
manners of the stranger seduced the girl. The Count
observed the scene as if something was not quite right,
but there was already no time for him to intervene when
Riquilda let Lleonat embrace her while he now was
showing his horns and wings with great laughter seized
her soul.
The devil disappeared instantly as if by magic, leaving
behind Guifr the good man and the devilish young
princess.
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All efforts to cure the possessed were in vain. Of course doctors could do nothing, but the priests either,
not even the bishop could.
Finally, the devil spoke through Riquildas mouth, who
began to repeat a name: Gar, Gar bring me in with
Gar.
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On hearing this, Guifr ordered to leave without delay. When they were in front of Gars cave the Count told
the hermit what had happened and added: I beg you, let
me leave her with you until her soul remains released.
Puzzled, Joan hesitated. He said he knew nothing about
exorcism. Belial, still in disguissed, repeated in his ear
with delight: What a beautiful girl! Dont you find her
charming?
More beautiful than the morning sun and all the stars of
the night whispered Gar. The devil smiled, perhaps
he was the only one he had heard him.
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They left the princess with Gar. The demon that possessed he, retired shortly thereafter so not to bother
Then, its really unknown what happened for sure, it
could have happend that living together Gar and
Riquilda came to truly love one another, or maybe one
day he forced her badly. The fact is that the hermit
sinned, and immediately went horrified. He was no
longer a pure man. How could he fall into sin?
And at that moment, as if the devil were still blowing in
his ear, he said: Yes, it was all because of her.
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We dare not imagine what happened then: how Gar took away Riquildas life, who he considered the cause
of his downfall.
In doing so, wanting to repair an error with a more
serious one, threw himself fully into the scariest
wretchedness.
When having her dead at his feet, he heard a laughter
that echoed through the cave. Belial, his false friend and
evil adviser, removed the cloak and showed his
diabolical silhouette.
Stunned and hopeless, Gar saw himself already in the
flames of hell
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He felt sunk into a pit of guilt, as if the earth were sucking him into the abyss. The most reprehensible sin
seemed to be the act of a man who knew what the right
path was and had always striven to maintain it. In a
heartbeat, an innocent man had become the worst of
criminals. What else would he still do, given that he was
nothing but a toy for the evil machinations? He did not
expect another destination than the eternal damnation.
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But a bit of light reached the depths where he stayed. How about forgiveness? There can only be a bigger
thing than my sin, and it is Gods mercy stated Joan
Gari. Believing that God could not forgive the most
miserable of men would be an even greater mistake.
He would travel to Rome to get down on his knees and
beg for forgiveness of the Holy Father, whatever the
penance he would impose on him.
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Sunk, paralyzed by guilt, Gar looked around at people on the move, oblivious to the torment that was
consuming him.
In fact, it suited him to go unnoticed, as well as going
afar for fear that the Count could send for her daughter
and, not finding her, would persecute Gar in order to kill
him. He knew he deserved death, but not before
obtaining forgiveness.
They were approaching the capital of Christianity. And
he seemed to see the light that lit the world from there
like a beacon.
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The Holy Father received Joan Gar and listened to his confession. You have committed such a great sin, he
said, that you do not deserve to be considered human.
Therefore, from now on you will always live rather like a
beast, at ground level, eating only things you would find
on the ground; not speaking to anyone and not standing
ever again nor raising your eyes up to heaven, because
you are not worthy of It. And if God takes pity on you
and forgives you, He will let you know so you do not
doubt.
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After confessing, it came the atonement. Gar went back to Montserrat again ready to spend all his
remaining years of life among weeds and vermins,
crawling like a scoundrel. He would live a painful
existence that is not considered proper for a human being
and he was also sad, nevertheless satisfied to meet a hard
penance in line with the wickedness of his acts.
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Time went by and Gar strangely adapted to his new environment, to the extent that his initial sadness gave
way first to a devoted conformity and then to a type of
joy to discover the greatness of the Creator also in this
little universe that had within reach of his eyes, hands
and feet.
The punishment had become revelation. Would this be
its purpose? Had the kindness returned to invade the soul
of Joan Gar?
Maybe God is less interested in imposing penalties on
the wretched ones who have done wrong than achieving
them to be good again
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The thing is that, after a few years, seven they say, some hunters found Gar while he was drinking water in
the river, which he used to do with his eyes closed not to
see the sky reflected in the water, as ordered by the Holy
Father.
They were very surprised. We have never seen an
animal like this they said. And it was that over time
Gars clothing had spoiled and his whole body had
covered with hair. He had wholly changed to the point
that he could not be recognized.
Lets bring it to the Count!. They were very pleased
with their finding, and even more to realize the docility
of Gari, who did not resist them.
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When they arrived at the palace of the Count of Barcelona Gar was left in a cage, like an animal. He
accepted it with serenity, seeing in it another episode of
penance that was still to be met.
He stayed a few days in this way, but Providence had not
abandoned him
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It happened that the count Guifr had another son, Prince Mir, and the day came to baptize him. When the
feast started and to amuse the guests, the Count proposed
exhibiting that rare animal that had been found in the
forest.
They pulled Gar with a leash around his neck. All they
marveled. The nursemaid who was carrying the infant in
her arms came closer so the boy could see it better and
then came the miracle. The little boy addressing the
prisoner, spoke these words: Stand up Gar, God has
already forgiven you!.
Everyone froze. Then Guifr faced Joan Gar and asked
angrily: You, Gar Where is my daughter? What did
you do to her?. Gar told the sad story and offered his
chest to the Counts dagger, but he stopped and said I
can not punish one whom the Almighty has already
forgiven.
The hermit said the princess was buried near his cave.
Guifr left immediately with his men to Montserrat.
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When they reached the place Gar told them, they began to dig and remove the earth. They did it with care
not to damage Riquildas body. They found the body to
realize that the girl stayed as beautiful as when she was
alive. Her father went to hug her and she opened her
eyes. She had returned to life!
In front of this new miracle, all present fell to their
knees. Riquilda then proclaimed her desire to retire to a
religious life and the noble Guifr offered to build a
monastery in the middle of those mountains that she
would govern, to accommodate women who also wished
to devote their lives to God.
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Joan Gar regained his own appearance. He became human again. God had shown to him everywhere: in the
forest, among the animals and in front of the whole
world, but especially in his own heart. He did not need
anything anymore and he would still live many years in
peace in his cave of Montserrat.
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There are several legends like the one we just explained.
They are stories about very religious men who fall into
sin, undergo a severe penance and are eventually
forgiven. Apparently, Joan Gari, or Fray Garin, comes
from an earlier legend appeared almost at the beginning
of Christianity, which went changing, even being
versioned by Islam, and went to Montserrat in different
ways. Here it found a special echo, mainly because its
relation to the origin of the monastery and the country
itself: of course, it is not an accident that the action
passed in the ninth century, in times of Guifr el Pels
(Wilfred the Hairy).
It was popular for a long time. But the modern world is
not interested on hermits, whether saints or sinners,
demons, guilt, terrible punishments, acquittals or
miracles.
After all, if we wish traditions still alive, we believe that
narrators should take certain liberties. For example, the
classic versions just talk of Gars penance as a debasing
sentence, a punishment that will put him down even
more. Instead, we wanted to highlight its regenerative
aspect here, presumably because an essentially good man
ends up seeing the magnificence of God in all
circumstances, and therefore the punishment has already
served its purpose and should cease.
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Regarding the illustrations style, as we are fully into the
medieval world, the choice has been made for a
naturalistic figuration, it has seemed appropriate in order
to evoke both the faraway atmosphere as the heros
moral trip.
We will discuss a couple of illustrations. In order to
symbolize the great guilt that Gar has been
experiencing, we have represented him at the bottom of
kind of a pit. There are two references for this scene. On
the one hand, the rocks, near Collbat, in Montserrat,
known as Gars bed and footprint that show a
concave shape which, according to tradition, were
formed by the weight of his shame as he passed by. On
the other hand, they say that when Gar had confessed
his crime to the Pope, he drew a circle with his cane
around him and said: If the great sin youve committed
can not be forgiven the earth under your feet will sink to
take you to hell. And we already know that it did not
happen because Gods mercy is infinite
Finally, the tingling proclaiming Sum vermis (I am a
worm) in the image on which the viewers-readers could
more easily identify themselves with the main character,
since his hand could be theirs, wishes to remind a poem
by the Catalan poet Mosen Cinto.
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