Assumption Day (by Michelle)

Wednesday was Assumption Day, the day that Catholics commemorate the Virgin Mary's assumption into heaven. It is an important religious holiday in the older neighborhoods of Madrid. It was also the day that I had to spend with Alex in Madrid (we are taking turns taking the kids to Madrid one-on-one.) After spending the morning touring the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Museum (and appropriately we even noticed several paintings of the assumption of the Virgin Mary), we rushed off to the other side of town to visit the Iglesia de la Virgen de la Paloma.

Once a year at this church they display a painting of the Virgin Mary found by some children in the late 1700s. Soon afterwards there were miracles credited to the image and it is now revered as a sacred relic.

We arrived too late to attend mass, but just in time to be in the throngs outside waiting for mass to finish (including a TV news camera on a dolly above the crowd peeking in through the open doors of the church). Alex and I squeezed in and were too short to see what everyone was looking at. Once the mass appeared to be over there was oohing and awing and even loud cheering and clapping at times! We were surprised. It was hot and crowded and a bit chaotic. There were at least 4 TV cameras there with reporters!

Once inside it was surprisingly easy to get quite close to the front on one side of the chapel. It seems everyone else wanted to be in the line on the other side of the chapel so that they could kiss the image. We were shocked to see many of the older women down-right fiesty about getting their turn. At one point a passionate woman (in a dress with roses) and several of the people around her got pushing and arguing with a guard (see the pictures). A few minutes later this woman somehow made it past the guard (and a lot of people in front of her in line) because I noticed her taking her turn at the relic! Later desperate parents started handing their small children up through the crowd of strangers (rock concert fashion overhead!) so that at least their children could kiss the relic. It was an interesting afternoon. I was disappointed that I didn't get better pictures.

Alex was a trooper throughout this whole outing. We did lots of waiting in hot crowds of people and it wasn't always interesting. After visiting Spain last time I said that if I ever were to travel the world, Alex would be one of my first choices for travel companions. I still feel this way. He is interested, fun, patient, smart and almost always "game" for any adventure.