The Black Madonna at Einsiedeln Abbey has been a focus of pilgrimage since it was first carved in 1466.

She resides in her own private crypt, close to the entrance of the Abbey, surrounded by a golden pyroclastic flow of clouds and sunbeams.  In her left arm, she carries the baby Jesus, and they are both clothed in long lime-green frocks of a flock pattern reminiscent of 1970s wallpaper.

I take a photograph before spotting the sign asking me not to.

It is not a very good photograph, and so rather than blatantly defy the ‘no photographs’ sign, I decide to buy a postcard from the Abbey Shop, which might represent the Black Madonna better.

But there I encounter a mystery.  There are lots of postcards of the Black Madonna, but none of them are wearing a lime-green flock dress.  In fact, in every postcard, the Black Madonna is wearing a completely different dress.  Different colour; different pattern of material; broadly similar all-enveloping conical shape.

How can this be?  How can a statue change its dress?  Is it a miracle?

Now, I know that these are not the serious spiritual questions for which most pilgrims to Einsiedeln come in search of answers.  But, Hey!  What can I say?  I’m shallow.  Get over it.

To answer my own question, I did a bit of reading; discovered that the Black Madonna has upwards of 37 different dresses in her wardrobe – God, and I thought that Katherine Heigl film was excessive – and she changes her clothes to tie in with the specific feast days and colours of the liturgical calendar.

Far from being satisfied, this new knowledge only brought further questions.

Who was it who actually changes her clothes?

A spot more research identified one particular Benedictine monk, Father Gerold Zenoni.  How weird a job is that?  Couturier to the Black Madonna. 

And when is this operation performed?  Big public ceremony or covert midnight manoeuvres?

All that I could discover is that the change of outfits happens roughly every two weeks.

And that leads to another question – leads me to another question, at any rate.

What does the Black Madonna look like unclothed?  Where does the statue end and the clothing start?

A bit more research drew an answer.

Me and Father Zenoni.  Both of us privy to a bit of privileged information, which I shall not impart.  A Madonna must maintain her modesty and a pilgrimage to Einsiedeln its mystery.

© E. C. Glendenny

E. C. Glendenny finds it difficult enough trying to maintain her own modesty.