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Miracle of Lujan's Virgin, province of Buenos Aires
The drover then understood that the only thing that was inhibiting the vehicle from moving was the Virgin’s wish to stay in that place.
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Image of Lujan's Virgin Photo: Ivan Grondona
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According to Juan M. Vigo, an Argentine historian, “the miracle of the presence of the Virgin”, in the city of Lujan, “is probably the oldest religious legend and, maybe, the one that has spread the most of all those that have been circulating from mouth to mouth in the last centuries in Argentina”.
In 1630, the Portuguese Antonio Farias de Saa brought from Paracaiba, Brasil, two images of the Inmaculate Conception for his Chapel in his farm in Sumampa, Santiago del Estero.
When arriving to the proximities of Lujan’s river, the wagon made a stop in Diego Rosendo’s ranch. The drovers could not move the wagon again, which was pulled by two pairs of oxen. The drover decided then to lighten the wagon taking out part of its load.
Even though the size of the Virgin was small, the oxen suggested the possibility of re-starting to move once the small box in which the Virgin was being transported was taken off the wagon. Therefore, they tried to fit the box again among the rest of the load. However, when they put the box with the Virgin back inside, the wagon stopped once again. Once it was taken out of the wagon one more time, the vehicle was able to move.
It seemed impossible that the small package and its minimum weight could prevent the wagon from moving. The drover then understood that the only thing that was inhibiting the vehicle from moving was the Virgin’s wish to stay in that place.
After a new attempt to take the Virgin out of the wagon and probing that the vehicle would restart moving, both the drover and the person in charge of the freight decided that the only thing stopping the wagon from continuing its journey was the Virgin’s wish to stay in that place.”
Thus, the virgin was left with Mr. Rosendo, who immediately dedicated a slave to take care of the Virgin and be sure that a lamp would be kept lit at the foot of the oratory that was prepared for her. The oratory became more and more popular due to the miracles that started to be seen.
Towards 1671, the image was moved to the city of Lujan. The first sanctuary for the virgin in Lujan was finished in 1762.
The first Catholic pilgrimage to worship the virgin in Lujan took place on December 3, 1872.
Today, the Virgin and the votive lamp complementing her, made with gold and silver from the vows to the miraculous one, are kept in Lujan’s Basilica.
About this article...
Author of the article: Grondona Olmi, Verónica
Sources employed:
- "El País que no Miramos" ("The Country we have not Seen"), a series of documentaries for television produced by Ivan Grondona. Archivo General de la Nación ("Argentina's National Archive").
- “Monumentos Históricos de la República Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Museos, Monumentos y Lugares Históricos. Secretaría de Cultura y Comunicación. Presidencia de la Nación”. (Historical Monuments of the Argentine Republic. National Commission of Museums, Monuments and Historical Places. Secretary of Culture and Communication. Presidency of the Nation). Year 2000. Page 146.
Translated by: Veronica Grondona
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