From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   All bow down before wealth   
      
   All bow down before wealth. Wealth is that to which the multitude of   
   men pay an instinctive homage. They measure happiness by wealth; and   
   by wealth they measure respectability. . . . It is a homage resulting   
   from a profound faith . . . that with wealth he may do all things.   
   Wealth is one idol of the day and notoriety is a second. . . .   
   Notoriety, or the making of a noise in the world—it may be called   
   "newspaper fame"—has come to be considered a great good in itself, and   
   a ground of veneration.   
      
   John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Saintliness the Standard of Christian   
   Principle," (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1906) V, 89-90.   
      
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   November 9th - Our Lady of Almudena   
      
   The devotion to Our Lady of Almudena, patroness of Madrid, began in the 11th   
   century. Tradition tells us that when Dom Alfonso VI conquered Madrid in 1083,   
   he immediately ordered the purification of the Church of Santa Maria, which had   
   been profaned by the Moors.   
      
   Since the statue of Our Lady, which the Apostle St. James had placed in that   
   building in the early days of the Church, had disappeared, the King, together   
   with the religious authorities, made a procession praying to Our Lord to help   
   them find the statue. The pious cortege processed around the walls of the city,   
   singing and praying.   
      
   At a certain moment, part of the wall fell and they found the statue of Our   
   Lady   
   that had been hidden there for over 300 years. On either side of the statue   
   were   
   two candles - still lighted and burning - that Catholics had placed there in   
   homage of the Virgin before closing the niche where they had hidden her statue.   
   Almudena means market or granary, and this name was given to the statue because   
   the place where it was hidden was near the Moorish granary.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   This incident from History is most beautiful. In its beauty are two remarkable   
   points.   
      
   First, it is beautiful to see how Our Lady rewarded the faith of those   
   warriors,   
   those Crusaders, who did not find the statue but immediately made a procession   
   -   
   convinced that they would recover it because they were certain of the value of   
   their prayers. Then, they found it and named it, giving it the title Nuestra   
   Señora de Almudena because it had been hidden next to the granary of the   
   Moors,   
   in this way repairing the profanation the Muslims had made.   
      
   Second, it is beautiful to note how Our Lady also rewarded the faith of those   
   who had hidden her statue. They were Visigoth Catholics around the years   
   712-714   
   who saw that the Moors would conquer the city and were unable to carry the   
   statue away with them. So they closed up the statue in that niche inside the   
   walls of the city so that it would not be profaned by the Mohammedans.   
      
   It is interesting to observe that they lit two candles in homage of Our Lady   
   before they closed up the niche. One can easily see that they confided that the   
   statue of Our Lady would one day again be venerated. They made the small niche   
   like a small chapel and lighted the candles. To justify their confidence, a   
   miracle was worked. For more than 300 years those lamps burned continuously   
   inside the city wall. When the wall fell, they were still there burning. In my   
   opinion, it is a miracle as magnificent as the multiplication of loaves and   
   fishes reported in the Gospel. It is a truly marvelous thing!   
      
   This is to signify that even when the causes of Our Lady appear smashed and   
   defeated, there is always something irreversibly victorious in them. Those   
   burning lamps are the lamps of the confidence of the faithful Catholics. Where   
   confidence exists, there is the possibility of a resurrection, a restoration, a   
   victory. Even in the most hostile situations, Our Lady works miracles. For the   
   one who confides, nothing is impossible.   
      
   This is very important to our spiritual life. Nothing is impossible if we   
   confide against all hope. Even when the greatest reasons for discouragement   
   surround us, we must confide. Our Lady will reward us. The confidence that   
   never   
   weakens, that always maintains its flame alive, is never forgotten by Our Lady.   
   When the hour comes, she will reward that confidence with extraordinary graces.   
      
   The Scripture affirms: Residuum revertetur (the remnant will return). It is a   
   promise to those who have been defeated and smashed by the enemies of the cause   
   of God. The continuity of those who are faithful to God will be maintained.   
   This   
   should serve to stimulate in our souls the confidence to continue to burn, like   
   the two lamps of Our Lady,  It will come, as Our Lady predicted in   
   Fatima.   
      
   http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j153sd_OLofAlmudena_11-9.html   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy   
   of God, will make a  man go to Heaven.   
   -- St. Camillus de Lellis   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us: that we might be made   
   the justice of God in him. Sin for us... That is, to be a sin   
   offering, a victim for sin.  [2 Co 5:21]   
      
      
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   Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus   
      
   Most holy Heart of Jesus, hear me! Let the fire of thy heart animate   
   me! Let the thorny crown of thy heart render me patient! Let the   
   wounds of thy heart pierce me! Let the blood of thy heart make   
   atonement for me! Let the light of thy heart enlighten me! Let the   
   homage of thy heart sanctify me! Let the mercy of thy heart encircle   
   me! Let the love of thy heart bless me! My heart I unite to thine in   
   love! O Heart of Jesus! invite me to thee, that with all the angels   
   and saints, I may praise thee, here for a time, but there for   
   eternity.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)