Virgin of Luján: the story of the miracle and why his day is celebrated on May 8

Antonio Farías de Sá I could not know that the patron saint of the Argentineans, the Virgin of Luján, was going out of her demand. The story goes through the viceregal era: it dates back to 1630. He was a Portuguese proprietor, residing in the city of Córdoba del Tucumán at the time of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata . He was building a chapel on a ranch in Sumampa, a region now owned by the province of Santiago del Estero. He wanted to expose and crown his building with an image of the Virgin Mary in the invocation of the mystery of the Immaculate Conception.

He requested the order from a navigator friend who lived in Pernambuco, Brazil. In March 1630, the ship of captain and merchant Andrea Juan arrived at the port of Buenos Aires with the order of Antonio Farías de Sá. The Virgin Mary was clbadified and packaged in a drawer; in another box, a gift from the sender: the motherhood of the Virgin. The story is summarized by an excerpt from the book written by Father Juan Guillermo Durán From the border to Villa Luján – The beginnings of the great basilica: "On the royal road leading to Cordoba, in early May, when the troupe of carts was on the banks of the Luján River, in a place called" The Tree only ", the image representing the Immaculate Conception determined to remain miraculously in this place of refuge and veneration of the inhabitants of the region. Conversion over the years as the patron of the former Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata; and then the sister republics of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay"

The image of the Virgin did not arrive in Córdoba. Troperos rested on the Rosendo Ranch in Trigueros, on the banks of the Luján River. When the next day they wanted to continue the journey, they could no longer move the cart. There was no way, every effort was useless. They decided to release the load to check if it was rolling. They removed the box that bore the Maternity of the Virgin and the oxen could not move from there. They made it load and they lowered the other, that of the Virgin of Luján: the cart departed with normality. They understood that the Immaculate Conception did not want to leave this place, they interpreted it as a divine purpose..

First the wonder of tropers and witnesses of singularity transformed into a miracle. After that, respect and devotion emerged: they decided to transfer the image of the virgin to the home of the Rosendo family because it was the closest town to the royal road. They delivered it, deposited it in a hermitage and improvised a precarious altar, where, according to the publication of the father Duran, the sacred image began to be venerated. The troperos followed the trip towards Sumampa payments with the drawer that loaded the Maternity. There, the shrine of Our Lady of the Consolation of Sumampa was finally set up, in the province of Santiago del Estero, the travel companion of the Immaculate Conception of Luján.

One version contradicts the point on the map where the discord has occurred. Some historians suggest that the cart remained motionless in an area of ​​Pilar, where a ford of the river Luján persisted, in the city of Villa Rosa. Today, the chapel of the miracle Our Lady of Luján is erected there. Her story tells that the virgin was lodged by a slave called "Negrito Manuel" until the death of Rosendo in 1671 and the abandonment of land. The Virgin was acquired by Ana Maria Matos, owner of a ranch located on the right bank of the river, in Luján District. Those who accredit this story say that around the chapel and the worship that inspired, the city began to develop.

The sculpture measures only 38 centimeters and is in terracotta (terracotta). In 1763, the first sanctuary was inaugurated, but the annual celebration corresponds to May 8, 1887 when Pope Leo XXVII celebrated the canonical coronation of the image, with the presence of high dignitaries of the Roman Church and the metropolitan ecclesiastical chapter.

Under the new anniversary of his canonization, the municipality of Luján is organizing a series of celebrations in honor of the Blessed Virgin of Luján. At 8:30 am, the national flag of Belgrano Square was lifted. Half an hour later, extraordinary sitting of the honorable Deliberative Council at the Municipal Museum of the city, followed by a performance of the Municipal Folklore Ballet on Belgrano Square. At two o'clock in the afternoon, procession and an hour later, Mbad at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján.