September 18 – Our Lady of Meritxell (Andorra) The Pieta on the shoulder of this world racing champion One hardly has to look far for symbols of Lewis Hamilton’s religious devotion. An image of Pieta, Mic [...] sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling the body of the dead Christ, is inked on his shoulder. Tattoos, though, are only the half of it. These days, the four-time world champion’s faith is so integral to his life [...] Sundays, I can’t wait, because I go to church. I go with a couple of my close friends and we leave feeling enlightened and empowered. It’s like a re-centering. Most of the time you leave and think, ‘Wow

Jerusalem to evangelize Spain, he brought an icon of the Virgin to Madrid for the future crown (according to a manuscript dated 1640). In the 11 th century, the King of Spain Alfonso VI was eager to relocate [...] November 10 – Our Lady of Almudena (Madrid, Spain) - Saint Leo the Great, Pope (d. 461) Two candles were still burning near a painting of Mary 300 years later! A very old tradition holds that when the [...] nobility and the people of Madrid. When they passed in front of a storage place for wheat called the almudith (from the Moorish word almud meaning measure), a cascade of stones fell out of the wall and exposed

December 30 - Our Lady of the Miracles of Saint Celso (Milan, Italy, 1485) The Madonna dei Fiori of Bra (II) The "Madonna dei Fiori" of Bra, repeatedly flowering out of season as it has done for 650 years [...] those from the College of Agriculture at the University of Turin) have carried out detailed studies establishing that these incredible blackthorns are in every respect identical to those that grow just about [...] still grow vigorously behind their railings, are prunus spinosa, to use the Latin name, but are commonly known as "blackthorn." They belong to the rose family and usually flower once a year, in March if the

statue of Our Lady set at the top of the building in Jerusalem, a sculptor, Roger de Villers, used the statue of the Virgin as a model for a second seven and a half yard-high statue of Notre-Dame of France [...] October 14 - Our Lady of the Fountain (Italy, 1320) Notre-Dame of France and Cardinal Verdier's Wish (I) The story of Notre-Dame of France began in Jerusalem when the French Assumptionist Fathers built [...] a very large edifice overlooking the city, completed and crowned with the great statue of Our Lady (Notre-Dame of France) in 1904. The buildings were heavily damaged during the conflict between Israeli

Gregory XIII changed the name of the feast to "Our Lady of the Rosary" and moved this feast to the first Sunday of October (the day of the actual victory). Today the feast of the Rosary is celebrated on [...] July 17 - Our Lady of Humility (Italy, 1490) The Word Rosary Means Crown of Roses (IV) On October 7, 1571 the naval battle of Lepanto took place, in which the Christians defeated the Turks. The Christians [...] orders to ring the bells and have a procession. A few days later, messengers arrived with the official news from the victorious Christian army. Later, Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Victories

15 – Our Lady of Kiev (Ukraine) Those were tears of healing (I) Last winter, while in jail (in Vanier, Quebec), I heard from a friend, a priest in Poland, that there was the possibility of a visit to Vanier [...] Vanier by a priest who was on pilgrimage with a replica of an icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, or, “the Black Madonna.” Father Peter West, of H.L.I., had begun the pilgrimage two years earlier and was making [...] conception and of the grave harm of abortion and of the need for God’s mercy and forgiveness if one has been involved in an abortion. He spoke the truth in love to women – mothers – whose children had been

March 15 – Our Lady of Fossolovara (Italy) – The last tears of the Madonna of Civitavecchia (Italy, 1995) – Death of Saint Louise de Marillac (1660) Two hundred years before the dogma of the Immaculate [...] apparitions of the Rue du Bac in Paris, at a convent of the Daughters of Charity, shortly before the apparitions of Lourdes), when the sisters would renew their consecration to Mary. Louise used to have her [...] desire to enter the convent, after she met Saint Vincent de Paul, Saint Louise de Marillac (1591-1660) devoted her life to organizing charity work. She first helped direct Saint Vincent’s Ladies of Charity

January 28 – Our Lady of the People (Italy, 1771) - Saint Thomas Aquinas The giving of the Green Scapular On January 28, 1840, the Blessed Virgin appeared to a Daughters of Charity novice during her first [...] cross, with the words: "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death." That same day, an inner voice revealed to Sister Justine the meaning of this vision. She understood that this [...] Virgin appeared to her ... The Virgin held in her right hand her heart surmounted by flames, and, in the other hand, a scapular made of green fabric. On one side of this scapular was the image of Mary and, on

January 8 – Our Lady of Prompt Succor (New Orleans, USA) The Virgin Mary Protectress of New Orleans Our Lady of Prompt Succor is the patron saint of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, in [...] Sisters of the convent for a vigil of prayer in their chapel, imploring Our Lady of Prompt Succor. The Mother Superior promised an annual sung Mass of thanksgiving to Our Lady if the defenders of the city [...] threatened to ravage the city. On one such day, the Mother Superior of the Ursuline Convent had ordered everyone to evacuate the building. Before leaving, one of the Sisters placed a small statue of the Madonna

October 30 - Our Lady of Mondevi (Italy, 1540) With the Name of Mary on Their Lips As a missionary, Father Louis Marie de Montfort found himself in a boat going up the River Seine packed with at least [...] moments in the company of these shady horse dealers and fishmongers, when Father de Montfort adjusted his crucifix to the end of his walking stick. He then prostrated himself on the floor of the boat and exclaimed [...] and sniggered at this invitation. So, turning to Brother Nicholas, the Saint ordered, "On your knees and we shall recite our Rosary!" Under an avalanche of gibes, the two men, their heads bared and their