Our Lady of Covadonga – September 7

I am not endorsing TIA by posting this, but it is important. To learn more about the battle, see my post, The Battle of Covadonga. Our Lady of Covadonga, pray for Spain!

From Tradition in Action

By Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Biographical selection:

In 711 the Muslim Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula. The Visigothic King Rodrigo died facing them in the Andalusian field of Guadalete in southern Spain. Taking a position of resistance against the rapid conquest and domination of the infidel, Don Pelayo led a group of valorous knights who had withdrawn to the northern mountains of the Asturias to recoup and fight.

The Virgin of Covadonga 

The Arabs considered Spain a conquered country and were preparing to enter the Gaul of the Goths when they heard about the revolt of the Austurians. In the year 722, the Moors sent a well trained army under the command of General Alkamar with orders to destroy Don Pelayo and his men.

Don Pelayo prepared the resistance to meet the large Muslim army at Alzeba Mountain, where the cliffs offered an advantage to the greatly outnumbered Catholics. He placed his men strategically along the cliffs, and while they waited for the enemy to advance, he went to the nearby Cave of Covadonga, where he had placed a statue of Our Lady and asked for her special protection in the coming battle.

The Moors began the attack, sending arrows at the Catholic soldiers behind the stone cliffs. But already, at this first attack, something extraordinary happened: the arrows returned against the Moorish archers who had drawn the bows, killing them. A group of Catholics advanced to fight, while others shot arrows and threw stones and trunks from the Alzeba Mountain down over the enemy troops.

After a short while, Suleiman, the second in command, fell dead, disorder erupted in the army, and Alkamar gave the order to retreat.

At that moment a terrible storm broke out. Thunder roared, lightning lit the dark slopes, and heavy rain caused mudslides that sent boulders and trees tumbling down the mountain and falling over the retreating Arab troops. Struggling in the mud, many Moorish soldiers slipped and fell into the Deva River, where they drowned. The Holy Virgin made the mountain itself fall over the soldiers of Muhammad.

The Basilica erected in honor of Our Lady of Covadonga 

The battle of Covadonga was won, and Pelayo was proclaimed King of the Asturias. In recognition of the miraculous intercession of Our Lady, King Alfonso I the Catholic (739-757) commanded that a monastery and chapel be built on the site in honor of Our Lady of Covadonga.

It was later replaced by a great Basilica that was consecrated in 1901.

Even Arabian historians refer to this battle with astonishment, without hiding the enormous numbers of Muslims who died during it.