May 2nd: Argentina - Our Lady of Lujan

Feast Day: May 8th

Argentine shrine, forty miles west of Buenos Aires. Its main object of devotion is a small doll-like statue of the Blessed Virgin; her head is surrounded by a golden aureole and is crowned with hundreds of diamonds and other precious stones. The Basilica of Our Lady of Luján is the most important pilgrimage center in Argentina. According to legend, in 1639 a peasant from Cordova, wishing to revive his neighbors' "belief in their early faith," ordered two statues from Brazil, one of the Immaculate Conception, the other the Blessed Virgin and her Son. When the caravan delivering them reached a small ranch on the outskirts of Luján, the driver could not urge the horses on until the statue of the Immaculate Conception was removed, indicating Mary's own choice of where her shrine should be. The treasured statue went through many housing vicissitudes. One Negro grew from boyhood to old age guarding her first in a small chapel, then in a church, then in a larger edifice. As the number of miracles grew, the crowds also grew larger. In 1910 an impressive cathedral was completed and today it is one of the world's famous shrines to Mary honored by papal coronation. Since 1930 the cathedral has been raised to the rank of a basilica. Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay now all claim The Lady of Luján as their official protectress. (Fr. John A. Hardon)

More detail is given at Hispanic Online and in this article by Zsolt Aradi at Catholic Culture.

The Church of Lujan was raised to the status of a basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1930. Over a million people take part in the main annual pilgrimage, and the shrine is visited by six million people every year.

Picture: Hispanic Online

Here is some general information about Mary in Argentina. Three major Argentine cities - Buenos Aires, Rosario and Mercedes - are named after Our Lady, as are many other towns and cities.

Finally, here is Pope John Paul II's homily at the Argentine National Church in Rome on the occasion of the enthronement of an image of Our Lady of Lujan in 1998.