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Head of Barcelona FC donates statue to Glasgow church

A group of generous Spaniards, including the MD of Barcelona FC, has donated a statue of the Black Madonna to St Aloysius' Church in Glasgow.

The statue - a copy of the original in Montserrat in Spain - has been blessed and placed on the Lady Altar of the church.

The Black Madonna, or the Virgin of Montserrat to give it its full title, is a statue of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ venerated at the Monastery of Santa María de Montserrat in the Montserrat Mountains in Catalonia. It is a Romanesque sculpture in wood from the late 12th century. In March 1522, Ignatius of Loyola - having recovered from his battle wounds - visited the Benedictine monastery and prayed before this image of Our Lady.

Meanwhile, St Aloysius Church is also preparing for a special Mass for the Feast of St John Ogilvie on 10 March, who is Scotland's only Jesuit martyr and only post-reformation saint. At the 12.30pm Mass, the Chancellor of the Archdiocese (or someone nominated by him) will bless a plaque at the National Shrine to St John Ogilvie which is in the church. The Shrine was built in 1933, just a few years after his Beatification in 1929.

John Ogilvie - originally from Banffshire in Scotland - entered the Society of Jesus in 1608 and was ordained a priest in Paris in 1610. He begged his superiors to send him back to Scotland to minister to the few remaining Catholics in the Glasgow area and eventually returned to Scotland in November 1613 disguised as a soldier. He preached in secret and celebrated Mass clandestinely in private homes. But within the year, he was betrayed and arrested in Glasgow and imprisoned in Paisley. Despite severe torture, he refused to disclose the names of local Catholics and was convicted of high treason. On 10 March 1615, aged 36 years, John Ogilvie was paraded through the streets of Glasgow and hanged at Glasgow Cross. He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1976.

Full story at Independent Catholic News.