The poem "Cançó dels pelegrins de Lluc", by Miquel Costa i Llobera, became a kind of anthem for the shrine.
Lluc Pilgrims Song
In the heart of the mountains
Mallorca guards a treasure.
In holy company, brothers,
we shall go up to the House of Gold.
We shall go with raised flag
like an army of peace…
Crowned Virgin of Lluc
over Mallorca you reign.
Mary has shrines
throughout this lovely country:
and amid solitary mountains,
like a Queen, she has a castle.
Rightfully should she be worshipped
in such a noble palace.
Crowned Virgin of Lluc
over Mallorca you reign (...)
In Mallorca, Lluc is still
a holy corner of the home:
and in our mother’s home
what heart would not be warmed?
Listen, Mother, here
to our impassioned plea
Crowned Virgin of Lluc
over Mallorca you reign.
«Cançó dels pelegrins a Lluc», 1883
Translated by Raquel Waters.
(Pollença, 1854 – Palma, 1922). Miquel Costa i Llobera was a poet, prose writer and translator. Born into a family of rich farmers who owned, among other properties, the Formentor peninsula, Costa was always devoted to the development of literature. In 1885 he published the collection Poesies (Poems), influenced by French and Spanish romantics. That is the period when he wrote his most famous poem “El pi de Formentor” (The Formentor pine, 1875), which displays a romantic reaction to the landscape. He later developed his own poetic knowledge by reading Lamartine, Leopardi and Manzoni, and from them became concerned with artistic form. He travelled to Rome, where he studied theology and was ordained, and this gave him direct contact with the classical world, a theme that runs through his work. His works include De l’agre de la terra (On love for the land, 1897), Tradicions i fantasies (Traditions and fantasies, 1903) which includes the narrative poem “La deixa del geni grec” and Horacianes (Horatian odes, 1906). He was more appreciated by young “noucentistes” in the early 20th century than by his contemporaries engaged in the modernist movement. Along with Joan Alcover he had a strong and long-lasting influence on Majorcan poets from his time, both his contemporaries and younger generations.
Lluc shrine is one of Mallorca’s most emblematic places of pilgrimage. The monastery nestles among the mountains at a height of almost 400 metres, with its lodging house, museum and church, where the Virgin of Lluc is worshipped. Pilgrims who visit the spiritual centre at Lluc can admire its architectural ensemble and a history that can be traced back for centuries, together with the Tramuntana mountains and splendid scenery.
