SW News: Thousands of Madrid residents thronged the streets of the capital on Tuesday, November 9, to welcome their patroness, Our Lady of Almudena. When the centuries-old miraculous statue of the Virgin was taken in procession through the streets of Madrid after a gap of more than a year, believers greeted Her with loud rounds of applause. As the statue was slowly taken through the streets, devotees were left misty-eyed while many sang devotional songs.

Believers came with traditional offerings of flowers for the Blessed Mother as well as non-perishable food items that were meant to be distributed to the poor and homeless people. The feast day of Our Lady of Almudena began with the solemn High Mass in the Plaza de la Almudena offered by Archbishop of Madrid Cardinal Carlos Osoro and other auxiliary bishops, episcopal vicars. It was telecast live on local television channels. Adhering to tradition,

After the High Mass, the richly decorated statue of the Virgin was taken in procession through Bailen Street towards the Royal Palace and around the Plaza de Oriente.

As per custom, Mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez Almeida renewed the Vow of the City by thanking the Virgin for protecting the residents, especially during the pandemic. He sought the blessings of Our Lady as the city prepares to confront a post-Covid era. The mayor also asked the Holy Mother to provide solace to the families and loved ones of those who perished in the pandemic.

He also prayed that the Virgin reminds everyone of Her Son’s mandate, “If anyone wants to be the first, let him be the least of all.” The Vow of the City is renewed every year since 1646 by the mayor of Madrid.

According to tradition, the statue of the Virgin bearing the Child Jesus was carved by none other than St Nicodemus and polychromed by St Luke. It was then brought to Hispania (the Roman name for Spain) by St James the Apostle. He handed it over to St Calocero who enshrined the sacred image in a chapel in Cuesta de la Vega, where Madrid is now located.

When the Moorish Muslims from North Africa overran the Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century, believers in Madrid hid the statue in a niche in one of the ramparts of the fort and placed two lit candles on either side before walling it up in the year 714. During the Muslim occupation that lasted three centuries, the shrine of Our Lady was turned into a mosque. Over the next three hundred years, the whereabouts of the statue were forgotten. In 1083 King Alfonso VI re-conquered Madrid and the ancient shrine was rededicated to Our Lady. But repeated attempts to trace the statue ended in a fiasco.

King Alfonso ordered novenas, fasting and acts of penance seeking divine help to find the location of the statue. During the end of the novena when a procession went around the city walls on November 9, a portion of the wall collapsed revealing an astonishing sight -- the statue of Our Lady flanked by two candles that were still alight. The following day, the holy image was solemnly carried in procession to the shrine by four bishops. Devotees began to call the statue Our Lady of Almudena as it was found near a Moorish granary.