[Photo: Mezquita Catedral (Mosque
Cathedral) of Cordova, Spain]
SACRED DESTINATIONS: The Mezquita (Spanish
for "Mosque") of Cordoba is a beautiful and fascinating building that
symbolizes the many religious changes Cordoba has undergone over the centuries.
Today, the Mezquita is the cathedral of Cordoba (officially the Cathedral of
St. Mary of the Assumption), but the vast majority of its art and architecture
is the work of Islamic architects, who built it as a mosque in the 8th century.
The site on which the Mezquita stands has long been a sacred space – it was
host to a Roman temple dedicated to Janus and a Visigothic cathedral dedicated
to St Vincent of Saragossa before the mosque was constructed in the 8th
century. Finally, a cathedral was added inside the mosque by the Christian
conquerors in the early 13th century.
HERITAGE HISTORY: The context for
understanding the origin of the Mosque Cathedral of Cordova is the Reconquista
that covered the years from 717 to 1492. In 711 the Moslem armies defeated the
Visigoth kingdom and overran the Iberian Peninsula. The subsequent wars fought
between Christian and Moslem armies on the Iberian Peninsula, over the next 750
years are often collectively referred to as the Reconquista, because the
general trend over time was for the Christian kingdoms that originated in
Asturia to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from the Moslem Moors.
The operative word is “reclaim”. That was
what the Crusades were all about, too—the reclamation of the Holy Land which had
been Christian – from the hands of the Moslems. Where the Crusades failed, the
Christians of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded. In fact, only the Spaniards ever
succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Moslem domination.
Thus, the present Mosque Cathedral was
originally a Christian church dedicated to St. Vincent. It was demolished and a
mosque was built over it during the Moslem occupation but reverted to a
Christian church when the Moors were defeated. But instead of demolishing the
mosque, the Christians just built the cathedral inside it.
At this point I would like to insert the
story of the title “Mary, Help of Christians”. It is connected with Mary’s
intervention on behalf of Christian Europe in its struggle against the Moslem
onslaughts.
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY: The Feast of Mary
Help of Christians is celebrated on May 24.
The tradition of this advocation goes back
to 1571, when the whole of Christendom was saved by Mary Help of Christians
when Catholics throughout Europe prayed the Rosary. The great battle of Lepanto
occurred on October 7th 1571. For this reason this date has been chosen as the
feast of the Holy Rosary. In 1573 Pope Pius V instituted the feast in
thanksgiving for the decisive victory of Christianity over Islam.
Near the end of the 17th century, Emperor
Leopold I of Austria took refuge in the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at
Pasau, when 200,000 Ottoman Turks besieged the capital city of Vienna, but a
great victory occurred thanks to Mary Help of Christians: on September 8th,
Feast of Our Lady's Birthday, plans were drawn for the battle. On September 12,
Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, Vienna was finally freed through the
intercession of Mary Help of Christians. All Europe had joined with the Emperor
crying out "Mary, Help!" and praying the Holy rosary.
.Today Christians in certain parts of the
world continue to be persecuted. According to the group “Salviamo i Cristiani”,
no other group is more persecuted: “Out of every 100 people who suffer
violations to their right to religious freedom, 75 are Christians. It added
that during the course of history, an estimated 70 million Christians have been
martyred for their faith, including 40 million in the 20th century alone. Each
year, it said there are 105,000 new Christian martyrs killed by Islamic terrorists,
Hindu extremists in India, or Communists in China, North Korea and Vietnam.”
Against this background, Christians
continue to need the succor of Mary, the Help of Christians.
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