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marian
anniversaries february
 February 24
Virgen de Guía, Alcaracejos, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain
Five Sierra Morena towns share the
custody and patronage of the Virgin of Guidance: Fuente la Lancha,
Villanueva del Duque, Hinojosa del Duque, Alcaracejos, and Dos Torres. One legend says
that a herder found the Virgin's statuette in the hollow of a holm oak
whose acorns bore a similar image on their caps. Another says that the
herder found it in the basin of a fountain near the present chapel in
Villanueva, and, thinking it a doll, threw it into his bag to give to his
daughter. But when he got home, the image was gone. The next day, he found
it in the same place, and the same thing happened: the man tried again to
take it home, but it mysteriously returned to the fountain. The original
bronze statue was lost during the Civil War in 1936; the present image is
a pine replica made in 1939. On February 24, the Virgin's Brotherhood, dressed as
Knights Templar, carries the statue from Villanueva to Alcaracejos to stay
until Easter. After processing through the streets of Alcaracejos,
the statue is placed in the parish church of San Andrés. After mass there,
members of the the Brotherhood go house to house bearing roast chickpeas, fava
beans, and wine.
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Adelante Alcaracejos
si es preciso pelear;
que es la Virgen de la Guía
la patrona celestial. |
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Forward, Alcaracejos
if fight you must
since the Guiding Virgin
is your heavenly trust.
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Sources:
 | Ayuntamiento de Alcaracejos, www.alcaracejos.net |
| "Picasa Web Albums," picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6_L9SILeW2pI99Ry1FrPDQ
(photo by Manuel) |
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Also commemorated this date:
| Santa Maria della Steccata, Parma, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (St. Mary
of the Fence). Church consecrated, 1539. |
| Madonna di Costantinopoli, Gimigliano, Catanzaro, Calabria, Italy (Madonna
of Constantinople). French colonel sacked town, 1807, & stole
icon, but returned it after seeing it glow in the dark. Feast Tuesday after
Pentecost. |
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