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When talking about the patron saint of Barcelona, no one hesitates to name the Virgen de la Mercè, whose festival is celebrated on September 24. Some, the older ones, perhaps comment that previously the patron saint was Santa Eulàlia (Olalla), whose festival is celebrated on February 12, in honor of a 13-year-old girl who lived on the outskirts of Barcino, for her martyrdom during the period of persecution of Christians and his miracle during the transfer of his body to the Cathedral in the year 878.
But what will be more difficult is for many to know that before this Saint and this Virgin, Barcelona had Santa Madrona as its patron, whose feast was celebrated on March 15.
In the Catholic world there are two types of images or temples dedicated to the female sex: those dedicated to the Virgin Mary (in all its versions depending on the place where she appeared for the first time) and that of the Saints who are dedicated to rewarding from the church to those women who during their lives carried out humanitarian works or lost their lives at the cost of defending the faith.
Among the latter that receive the title of "Saint" is the first patron saint of Barcelona, Santa Madrona, whose facts have come down to us through legend or reality, which has reached our days by people who in past times, like what do we do, delved into history to explain it to us.
The story of the first patron saint and the most unknown (not forgotten) is that of Santa Madrona. As always, several versions have been found, although the best known is that of the historian Joan Amades i Gelats, born in Barcelona on July 23, 1890.
According to Amades, Santa Madrona was born in the Montjuïc area and, after the death of her parents and being orphaned, she had to go to live in Thessaloniki (Greece) at the house of an uncle of hers. Another version says that the truth is that when she became an orphan she went to work as a maid in a house, but the two versions agree that Madrona died as a martyr in Thessaloniki as a result of her faith.
Madrona went through a real ordeal, since the lady of the house, when she found out that she was a Christian, made her life impossible, tied her up and beat her to prevent her from attending mass, but an angel untied her and accompanied her to church. Upon noticing this act, the lady flew into a rage and hit her again until she died.
Some time after his death, some French merchants came to Thessaloniki to buy interesting items to resell later in Marseilles. Among which was the body of Madrona, which despite the time she had been dead was in perfect condition (as if she were asleep), so the merchants decided to acquire the body to be able to resell it to scientists for study upon arrival. to Marseille.
On the way back to Marseille, a strong storm made them take refuge in the port of Barcelona until it subsided, but when calm returned and they planned to continue with the trip, to everyone's surprise, a new storm broke out. When the event was repeated several times, they decided to leave Madrona's body in Barcelona.
The dock workers who knew Madrona, because they were residents of Poble Sec, seeing what had happened, decided to bury her in a hermitage in Sant Fruitós, which was already at the beginning of the Montjuïc mountain. The story spread among the residents of the neighborhood, who soon began to go up to the hermitage to pray, which determined that in view of the miracles attributed to Madrona, the hermitage would change its name and become Santa Madrona.
The history of the church began in 1563, when the hermitage was offered to the Capuchin fathers to settle on the outskirts of the city, who initially did not accept it because they considered it too small for their work. However, in 1619, they agreed to settle on the condition of being able to build a new church where they would venerate the relics of Santa Madrona.
As a result of a battle that took place in 1642, the convent suffered an attack, leaving it very deteriorated, for which reason it was abandoned, just like the church.
In 1651, the convent was occupied by the military, so the following year, the building was fortified, in order to resist the continuous attacks of the enemies, since it was far from the protection of the third wall.
In 1661 the reconstruction works began on the church, which was inaugurated in 1664. In 1697, when the French army besieged the city, the Capuchins to protect the relics of Santa Madrona, as a precaution, took them to the cathedral of Barcelona, so that they would be much more protected.
