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They say that in ancient times there were already hermits up in the mountain of Montserrat. They were

holy men who retired to live in one of the many caves

hidden among the rocks. They gave up worldly things to

devote themselves to spiritual life, and it would seem

that some of them could work miracles. This, of course,

is what happened long before the monastery was built.

Joan Gar was one of those hermits. He lived in the ninth

century, in the times of Count Guifr el Pels. He was

admired by everyone because of his devotion to the

Virgin and his virtuous behavior. Apparently, even the

bell of the hermitage of Sant Iscle, near the cave where

he lived, tolled happily whenever he passed in front. This

miraculous fact of soul purity in Gar bugged mainly the

lords of hell

So, dragging down such a valuable soul was quite an

appealing challenge for demons who held Council and

now well see what they decided.

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A devil named Belial was sent to Gar to lead him astray. Disguised as a hermit, he pretended to run into

him when going down the mountain. He lied saying he

was also living in a cave praying and seemed astonished

of knowing him, because of his reputation, he said, was

huge and had run all over Christendom. A holy man

like you should be on top of the church and enjoy the

authority and privileges he deserves he added.

To turn on his desire he made Joan see the rough rocks

of the mountains as if they were strange constructions,

magnificent blend of luxury and abundance.

But humble Gar, although this vision had somehow

blew his mind, he showed himself immune to the greedy

temptation that Belial was presenting.

They realized in Hell that they were facing a difficult

individual, and therefore they had to change their

strategy.

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It needed to be played harder, and the Devils conspired into more twisted tactics.

They sent another devil, named Lleonat for the

magnificent appearance that he used to take, but as rotten

inside and singed as all of his colleagues. It emerged

from underground followed by a gang of Devils on

horseback, taking the appearance of a group of hunters

who went from Montserrat to Barcelona following the

river Llobregat.

What dark purpose guided the frantic cavalcade of these

spooky characters?

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Barcelona was a small town at that time, and the noisy arrival of a group of so flamboyant riders had to be

immediately known by everyone. And even more

because of being led by a man of such a noble aspect

Lleonat came immediately near to the Counts palace

and letting himself to be spotted by his daughter,

Princess Riquilda. The beautiful presence and refined

manners of the stranger seduced the girl. The Count

observed the scene as if something was not quite right,

but there was already no time for him to intervene when

Riquilda let Lleonat embrace her while he now was

showing his horns and wings with great laughter seized

her soul.

The devil disappeared instantly as if by magic, leaving

behind Guifr the good man and the devilish young

princess.

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All efforts to cure the possessed were in vain. Of course doctors could do nothing, but the priests either,

not even the bishop could.

Finally, the devil spoke through Riquildas mouth, who

began to repeat a name: Gar, Gar bring me in with

Gar.

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On hearing this, Guifr ordered to leave without delay. When they were in front of Gars cave the Count told

the hermit what had happened and added: I beg you, let

me leave her with you until her soul remains released.

Puzzled, Joan hesitated. He said he knew nothing about

exorcism. Belial, still in disguissed, repeated in his ear

with delight: What a beautiful girl! Dont you find her

charming?

More beautiful than the morning sun and all the stars of

the night whispered Gar. The devil smiled, perhaps

he was the only one he had heard him.

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They left the princess with Gar. The demon that possessed he, retired shortly thereafter so not to bother

Then, its really unknown what happened for sure, it

could have happend that living together Gar and

Riquilda came to truly love one another, or maybe one

day he forced her badly. The fact is that the hermit

sinned, and immediately went horrified. He was no

longer a pure man. How could he fall into sin?

And at that moment, as if the devil were still blowing in

his ear, he said: Yes, it was all because of her.

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We dare not imagine what happened then: how Gar took away Riquildas life, who he considered the cause

of his downfall.

In doing so, wanting to repair an error with a more

serious one, threw himself fully into the scariest

wretchedness.

When having her dead at his feet, he heard a laughter

that echoed through the cave. Belial, his false friend and

evil adviser, removed the cloak and showed his

diabolical silhouette.

Stunned and hopeless, Gar saw himself already in the

flames of hell

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He felt sunk into a pit of guilt, as if the earth were sucking him into the abyss. The most reprehensible sin

seemed to be the act of a man who knew what the right

path was and had always striven to maintain it. In a

heartbeat, an innocent man had become the worst of

criminals. What else would he still do, given that he was

nothing but a toy for the evil machinations? He did not

expect another destination than the eternal damnation.

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But a bit of light reached the depths where he stayed. How about forgiveness? There can only be a bigger

thing than my sin, and it is Gods mercy stated Joan

Gari. Believing that God could not forgive the most

miserable of men would be an even greater mistake.

He would travel to Rome to get down on his knees and

beg for forgiveness of the Holy Father, whatever the

penance he would impose on him.

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Sunk, paralyzed by guilt, Gar looked around at people on the move, oblivious to the torment that was

consuming him.

In fact, it suited him to go unnoticed, as well as going

afar for fear that the Count could send for her daughter

and, not finding her, would persecute Gar in order to kill

him. He knew he deserved death, but not before

obtaining forgiveness.

They were approaching the capital of Christianity. And

he seemed to see the light that lit the world from there

like a beacon.

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The Holy Father received Joan Gar and listened to his confession. You have committed such a great sin, he

said, that you do not deserve to be considered human.

Therefore, from now on you will always live rather like a

beast, at ground level, eating only things you would find

on the ground; not speaking to anyone and not standing

ever again nor raising your eyes up to heaven, because

you are not worthy of It. And if God takes pity on you

and forgives you, He will let you know so you do not

doubt.

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After confessing, it came the atonement. Gar went back to Montserrat again ready to spend all his

remaining years of life among weeds and vermins,

crawling like a scoundrel. He would live a painful

existence that is not considered proper for a human being

and he was also sad, nevertheless satisfied to meet a hard

penance in line with the wickedness of his acts.

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Time went by and Gar strangely adapted to his new environment, to the extent that his initial sadness gave

way first to a devoted conformity and then to a type of

joy to discover the greatness of the Creator also in this

little universe that had within reach of his eyes, hands

and feet.

The punishment had become revelation. Would this be

its purpose? Had the kindness returned to invade the soul

of Joan Gar?

Maybe God is less interested in imposing penalties on

the wretched ones who have done wrong than achieving

them to be good again

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The thing is that, after a few years, seven they say, some hunters found Gar while he was drinking water in

the river, which he used to do with his eyes closed not to

see the sky reflected in the water, as ordered by the Holy

Father.

They were very surprised. We have never seen an

animal like this they said. And it was that over time

Gars clothing had spoiled and his whole body had

covered with hair. He had wholly changed to the point

that he could not be recognized.

Lets bring it to the Count!. They were very pleased

with their finding, and even more to realize the docility

of Gari, who did not resist them.

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When they arrived at the palace of the Count of Barcelona Gar was left in a cage, like an animal. He

accepted it with serenity, seeing in it another episode of

penance that was still to be met.

He stayed a few days in this way, but Providence had not

abandoned him

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It happened that the count Guifr had another son, Prince Mir, and the day came to baptize him. When the

feast started and to amuse the guests, the Count proposed

exhibiting that rare animal that had been found in the

forest.

They pulled Gar with a leash around his neck. All they

marveled. The nursemaid who was carrying the infant in

her arms came closer so the boy could see it better and

then came the miracle. The little boy addressing the

prisoner, spoke these words: Stand up Gar, God has

already forgiven you!.

Everyone froze. Then Guifr faced Joan Gar and asked

angrily: You, Gar Where is my daughter? What did

you do to her?. Gar told the sad story and offered his

chest to the Counts dagger, but he stopped and said I

can not punish one whom the Almighty has already

forgiven.

The hermit said the princess was buried near his cave.

Guifr left immediately with his men to Montserrat.

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When they reached the place Gar told them, they began to dig and remove the earth. They did it with care

not to damage Riquildas body. They found the body to

realize that the girl stayed as beautiful as when she was

alive. Her father went to hug her and she opened her

eyes. She had returned to life!

In front of this new miracle, all present fell to their

knees. Riquilda then proclaimed her desire to retire to a

religious life and the noble Guifr offered to build a

monastery in the middle of those mountains that she

would govern, to accommodate women who also wished

to devote their lives to God.

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Joan Gar regained his own appearance. He became human again. God had shown to him everywhere: in the

forest, among the animals and in front of the whole

world, but especially in his own heart. He did not need

anything anymore and he would still live many years in

peace in his cave of Montserrat.

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There are several legends like the one we just explained.

They are stories about very religious men who fall into

sin, undergo a severe penance and are eventually

forgiven. Apparently, Joan Gari, or Fray Garin, comes

from an earlier legend appeared almost at the beginning

of Christianity, which went changing, even being

versioned by Islam, and went to Montserrat in different

ways. Here it found a special echo, mainly because its

relation to the origin of the monastery and the country

itself: of course, it is not an accident that the action

passed in the ninth century, in times of Guifr el Pels

(Wilfred the Hairy).

It was popular for a long time. But the modern world is

not interested on hermits, whether saints or sinners,

demons, guilt, terrible punishments, acquittals or

miracles.

After all, if we wish traditions still alive, we believe that

narrators should take certain liberties. For example, the

classic versions just talk of Gars penance as a debasing

sentence, a punishment that will put him down even

more. Instead, we wanted to highlight its regenerative

aspect here, presumably because an essentially good man

ends up seeing the magnificence of God in all

circumstances, and therefore the punishment has already

served its purpose and should cease.

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Regarding the illustrations style, as we are fully into the

medieval world, the choice has been made for a

naturalistic figuration, it has seemed appropriate in order

to evoke both the faraway atmosphere as the heros

moral trip.

We will discuss a couple of illustrations. In order to

symbolize the great guilt that Gar has been

experiencing, we have represented him at the bottom of

kind of a pit. There are two references for this scene. On

the one hand, the rocks, near Collbat, in Montserrat,

known as Gars bed and footprint that show a

concave shape which, according to tradition, were

formed by the weight of his shame as he passed by. On

the other hand, they say that when Gar had confessed

his crime to the Pope, he drew a circle with his cane

around him and said: If the great sin youve committed

can not be forgiven the earth under your feet will sink to

take you to hell. And we already know that it did not

happen because Gods mercy is infinite

Finally, the tingling proclaiming Sum vermis (I am a

worm) in the image on which the viewers-readers could

more easily identify themselves with the main character,

since his hand could be theirs, wishes to remind a poem

by the Catalan poet Mosen Cinto.

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