Today is a holiday in here in Madrid, Spain, celebrating Our Lady of the Almudena, the image of the Virgin Mary that is the protectress of the city. It will preside over an open-air Mass in the Plaza Mayor and then be carried through the streets in a religious procession.

The charming (but highly improbable) story of how it came to exist is the subject of this month's home page article on my formal website: http://www.sue.burke.name