October 26
Virgen del Amor Hermoso, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
In 1946, local sculptor Juan González Moreno made the statue of the Virgin of Beautiful Love for the Brotherhood of Our Father Jesus Resurrected in Cartagena, in southeastern Spain. The Virgin's feast day is May 31, but her great moment in the port city comes on Easter Sunday. All the dramatic events of Holy Week draw to an emotional conclusion as the Brotherhood carries the Virgin's elaborate processional "throne" into the Church of Santa María, while the crowd sings her special Salve. On October 26, 2003, the president of the Catholic University of Murcia and his wife stood as godparents as the Virgin of Beautiful Love received a magnificent crown donated by the University and the City of Cartagena.
Madre del Amor Hermoso, bella gema, dulce flor, es tu pecho fervoroso manantial de nuestro amor.Dios te salve, Dios te salve, blanca luz del corazón, ante tu divina imagen se abre el alma en oración.
(Mother of Beautiful Love, lovely gem, sweet flower, your fervent breast is the fount of our love.
God hail you, God hail you, white light of the heart; before your divine image our souls open in prayer.)
Picture and hymn from Agrupación de la Santisíma Virgen del Amor Hermoso, www.virgenamorhermoso.com.
Also commemorated this date:
 | Notre Dame, Pringy, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France. Black Virgin restored still-born infant to life, 1662, long enough to be baptised. |
| Notre-Dame de Verdun, Verdun, Meuse, Lorraine, France. Former fête at cathedral. |
| All-Holy Lady, Thessaloniki, Greece. Feast of the Mother of God and St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki. |
| Madre di Dio Nikopeia, San Vito dei Normanni, Bari, Apulia, Italy. Icon crowned, 1996. Festa last Sunday in October. |
| Iveron Mother of God, Moscow, Russia. Feast commemorates copy of Greek icon's arrival in Moscow October 13, 1648 (Julian date). |