Madonna has been keeping a relatively low profile since she was spotted in the company of Brazilian model Jesus Luz down in São Paulo last month (tho she did surface solo in London but before the New Year). It was rumored that she would be ringing in the New Year with Jesus in London but there were unsubstantiated reports that Maddy jetted off with the kiddies (and Jesus?) to celebrate in the Maldives. Irregardless of where she was around New Year’s Day (and with who), Maddy is back home in NYC this week … and was spotted with her newest child David Banda at the Kabbalah Centre last night:

With all the craziness going on in Madonna’s life … her divorce from Guy Ritchie, her rumored affair with Jesus Luz … she continues to stay grounded with the two most important things in her life — her children and her religion. If you would’ve told me that this is what Madonna’s life would be based around 20 years ago, I never would’ve believed it. Madonna has a cunning way of still staying Madonna but also maintaining a life that is still fairly traditional, at least in some respects. And look, it appears that David Banda is already acclimating himself to the paparazzi sitch his life revolves around now. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2009 holds for Madonna and her children … now that she’s single again, it should be a very interesting year of innuendo and speculation … can’t wait.

[Photo credit: INFdaily, Splash News]

Here are new pics of Madonna and her children Lourdes and David Banda (little Rocco was there as well but he was hidden behind his mum scrum) making their way out of the Kabbalah Centre in NYC yesterday after attending services. Altho they look a bit dour-faced, it seems clear that Madge and her children remain resolute in their unity in the wake of the sad news of the dissolution of her marriage:

Honestly, it looks like biz as usual for Maddy and the kids. Even when she was “happily married” to Guy, the sight of Madonna and the kids making their way into and out of various Kabbalah Centres on a weekly basis was the norm. There are some reports that Kabbalah actually played a big role in the demise of the Madonna-Guy marriage (ie. that Guy wasn’t fully on board with the religious practice) but only the two of them know the truth reasons for the end of their union. As strong as Madonna is, I still feel sad that her marriage didn’t work out. I really believe that she and Guy were truly happy for a long time … for much of their 7 1/2 year marriage. She may not like to show it but I’m sure she’s hurting … deep down inside … somewhere. But, again, she is a rock and I know she’ll be totally fine after all is said and done. At least, that’s what she’ll make sure we all see on the outside.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

This past Monday was the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Happy Belated New Year to all my Jewish peoples) and Madonna, being the good Kabbalist that she is, made sure that at least one of her kids and she attended services together at the Kabbalah Centre in NYC. Here are a few ADORABLE photos of Maddy with her young son David Banda (who was rockin’ a pretty spiffy yarmulke, if I do say so myself) making their way into and out of the Kabbalah Centre this week:

Madonna whisked her Malawian son David off to worship at a Kabbalah centre while on a break from her Sticky and Sweet tour in New York last night. The three-year-old, dressed in a white outfit, clung to his superstar mother as they arrived for a service at the temple. The 50-year-old, dressed in a floral print frock and long black cardigan, was also accompanied by her manager Guy Oseary. Across the globe, husband Guy Ritchie was enjoying a night out with the couple’s son Rocco, 7, at London’s Cipriani restaurant. Madonna made no secret of her plans to raise her youngest son as a follower of Kabbalah when she first took over as his carer, but insists he is free to be a Christian like his biological father when he’s older. The singer, who began studying the mystical offshoot of Judaism in 1996, has raised her biological children Lourdes,11, and Rocco, 7, as Kabbalists with the help of husband Guy. David regularly wears a red Kabbalah bracelet on his wrist and Madonna has previously said: “I believe in Jesus and I study the Kabbalah, so I don’t see why he can’t too. If David decides he wants to be a Christian, then so be it.” Madonna is gearing up to perform four dates in Madison Square Garden, New York this month and will end the tour will end in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on December 18.

So cute … I think the yarmulke really suits little David, don’t you? It’s impressive that while Madonna is currently consumed with a world tour of pretty epic proportions she still manages to carve out vacation time and worship time for and with her children. Madonna is proof positive that you really can have it all if you work hard enough. Love it.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Here are a couple pics of Madonna making her weekly visit to the Kabbalah Centre in NYC this weekend but you will note that her left ankle is securely wrapped in bandages as she hobbled her way inside:

There are reports that Maddy had very noticeable difficulty going up the stairs on her bad ankle and that she had to be ushered into an elevator for her express use. Now, as always, these reports could be grossly exaggerated but still … a wrapped ankle ain’t a good sign, especially with that world tour coming up. HMMM … should we be worried?

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Madonna’s marriage managed to survive another week of rumor and conjecture as reports of the dissolution of New York Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez’s marriage to his wife Cynthia swirled in the tabloids … not to mention the drama that her brother Christopher Ciccone is trying to kick up with his new book. Making very sure to stay as far away from A-Rod’s messy break-up with his wife (and totally mum on her brother’s book), Madonna and her family continued to put forth a united front together. Here are pics of Maddy and her entire family as they made their way out of their weekly Sabbath visit to the Kabbalah Centre last night:

Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie put up a united front as they clasped hands during a family visit to the Kabbalah Centre in New York. They did a good job of playing the happy couple in a week which has seen the pop veteran rocked by divorce rumours and allegations she is behind the marriage break-up of baseball player Alex Rodriguez. The 49-year-old has also had to endure hurtful allegations from brother Christopher Ciccone who claims in his tell-all book that she loves her career and herself more than her husband. In one of many barbed comments in the book Life With My Sister, which is due for release on Tuesday, Ciccone wrote: “I hope that it is Kabbalah’s lesson that she is not the centre of the universe.” But yesterday Madonna showed she had bounced back from a miserable week and the smile on her face suggested she found some spiritual peace at the Kabbalah Centre, which preaches about the mysterious Jewish movement followed by the star. Dressed in a casual black tracksuit and sunglasses, the pop star emerged with Ritchie having arrived late at the venue. Also in attendance were children Lourdes, Rocco and adopted baby David Banda … Madonna has refuted reports she is behind the £50million marriage break-up of Rodriguez, the world’s most expensive baseball player, and his wife Cynthia. Her denial follows reports that Rodriguez, 32 – in the first season of a £139million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees – made a series of visits to Madonna’s New York flat, and that he converted to Kabbalah. Cynthia, 34, has filed for divorce earlier this week. In a statement Madonna said she has “nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study”.

Folks, Madonna is made of sterner stuff than all of this drama that is whipping up around her. Some maintain that she and Guy are merely holding their marriage together until after she completes her Sticky & Sweet World Tour but I maintain that they are just dealing with the same old shizz that they’ve been dealing with for years now. She’s keeping her family together, that says a helluva lot about the woman, I think.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Source]

Last weekend, we saw photos of Madonna making her way to services at the Kabbalah Centre in NYC with her kids but without her husband Guy Ritchie (who was reportedly attending Kabbalah services in London on his own at the same time) and this weekend we get to see pics of the happy (?) couple attending services together again:

I dunno why Maddy looks like she just got dragged out of the bathtub but I can understand her desire to recenter herself with her husband at her place of worship after the tumultuous week they endured together. All the rampant rumors about their marriage must’ve been a strain on the both of them and it’s encouraging to see them soldier thru it all and remain steadfast together. I admit, I don’t know much about the teachings of Kabbalah (tho, I am reading up on them) but I hope that Madonna and Guy are able to find the strength they need to endure and survive as a couple. I really like them together, I want to see them succeed :)

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

With rumors swirling at a fever pitch that Madonna’s marriage to Guy Ritchie is (yet again) on the rocks, it makes sense that Maddy would want to regroup and center herself at her place of worship. Actually, Madonna makes it a habit of attending services at the Kabbalah Centre of whatever city she’s in on a weekly basis but maybe this weekend’s visit is especially necessary for her considering the reports going around about the alleged dissolution of her marriage. Here are a few pics of Madonna, her children Lourdes, Rocco & David Banda and her daughter’s father Carlos Leon making their way into the Kabbalah Centre in NYC last night:

With no wedding ring on her finger and no husband in sight, Madonna and her three children – and Carlos Leon, 11-year-old daughter Lourdes’s biological dad – visited Manhattan’s Kabbalah Centre Friday night for Sabbath services and returned again on Saturday. So where was Guy Ritchie, rumored to be splitting with Madonna? British tabloid reports had him in London, but headed to New York this weekend. Britain’s Sun has an unnamed source saying Ritchie seeks to keep the couple’s marriage going, although Madonna is focused on rehearsals for her upcoming world tour. On Thursday, it was reported in the London Times Madonna had consulted noted divorce British attorney Fiona Shackleton, who had represented Paul McCartney and Prince Charles in their bitter divorces from, respectively, Heather Mills and Princess Diana. On Friday night, Madonna’s group [arrived at the Kabbalah Centre] in three waves … The service had just about ended, with a dinner about to begin. Madonna stayed some 20 minutes before leaving with Rocco and David for her home on Central Park West, according to a source. On Saturday, Madonna and her three children returned to the center for services. Her presence didn’t create any kind of stir, as congregants gave her hardly any notice. With Lourdes at her side, Madonna sat in a front-row seat, wearing a black baseball cap and tight black T-shirt. David, in a white baseball cap and Rocco sporting a Yankees cap, spent much of the time playing quietly with some other children on the floor of the sanctuary. A bar mitzvah took place, and at its conclusion Rocco joined all the congregants in throwing Sunkist fruit gem candies at the bar mitzvah boy. At the service’s conclusion, Lourdes wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and gave her a big, long hug.

People magazine also reports that Maddy is in NYC right now to prepare for her upcoming Sticky & Sweet World Tour, sticking to a regiment where she works out at home in the morning before heading out to a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to rehearse with her dancers for the tour. I don’t imagine that all the speculation about her marriage helps out with all of the stuff she’s got going on in her life these days but I’m not ready to jump aboard the divorce bandwagon just yet. Madge and Guy have been rumored to be heading for divorce for years so these latest reports just sound like more of the same. In any event, Madonna’s got work to do and she’s gonna do it, no matter what difficulties come her way.

[Photo credit: Splash News, INFdaily, Source]