Mary, Our Lady of Luján Basilica, Luján

Forty-three miles (68 km) west of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, stands the city of Lujan, famous for its great basilica dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of Lujan. Called Nuestra Senora de Lujan in Spanish, its construction was begun in 1887 and completed 48 years later in 1935. Our Lady of Lujan is considered the Patroness of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The origin of the holy place dates back to 1630 when two small statues of the Virgin were brought to Argentina from where they were crafted in Brazil. According to legend, Antonio Farias Saa, a Portuguese landowner based in Sumampa (the current province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina), wanted to erect a chapel in honor of the Virgin Mary to invigorate the practice of Christianity in his region. He asked a friend, a resident of Brazil, to send an image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. For a better choice, his friend sent him two statues. When the statues of the Virgin arrived at the port of Buenos Aires, they were placed in two boxes and, along with other cargo, put on an oxen-pulled cart. After three days of travel, the town of Zelaya halted the cart overnight near the present city of Lujan.

But the next day, the oxen were unable to move the cart. The oxen were changed and most of the wagon’s contents were unloaded yet the replacement oxen still were unable to pull the wagon. Then, someone noticed that two small boxes had been left in the back of the wagon. Upon inspection, it was found that each of these boxes contained a different statue of the Virgin: one represented the Immaculate Conception, and the other was of the Virgin holding the baby Jesus. First, the box with the statues of Mary and Jesus was removed, but the oxen were still unable to move. However, when the box containing the statue of the Immaculate was removed, the oxen proceeded easily. The assembled witnesses were astonished and so decided that the statue of Our Lady desired to stay there and travel no further. The statue was transferred to the nearby home of Don Rosendo Oramas, who built a rustic chapel for it. In 1763, the statue was moved to a larger shrine in the city of Lujan, and its final sanctuary was completed in 1935. In 1930, Pope Pius XII gave the sanctuary the title of Basilica, and it was declared a National and Historical Monument in 1998. (The second statue, depicting Mary holding the child Jesus, reached its destination and is today worshiped under the title of Our Lady of Consolation.)

The two main towers of the Basilica are 106 meters tall, and the interior is done in a French Gothic style, with beautiful stained glass windows. The terracotta statue of the Virgin is only two feet high (38 cm). It has a pure gold crown, which is set with 365 diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, 132 pearls, and several enamels depicting the emblems of the Archbishop and the Argentine Republic. In 1887, the statue was given a solid silver covering to prevent its decay. It is usually clothed with a white robe and sky blue cloak, these being the colors of the Argentine flag. The papal coronation of Our Lady of Lujan by Pope Leo XII took place on May 8, 1887.

Approximately six million people visit the shrine each year, many of them coming during four major pilgrimage periods. One of these, the Peregrinacion de los Gauchos (Gaucho's Pilgrimage), takes place on the last Sunday of September and is considered one of Argentina's most picturesque cultural events. Gauchos are the cowboys of Argentina's vast grasslands, and during the pilgrimage, it is common to see their horses waiting outside the church. A week or so later, on the first Sunday in October, is the Peregrinacion de los Jovenes (Pilgrimage of the Young), when around a million youths walk the whole 68 kilometers from Buenos Aires to the Basilica in a display of faith and gratefulness. The feast days of Nuestra Senora de Lujan are celebrated on May 8 and December 8. During these times, nautical pilgrimages take place in the Lujan River, with statues of the Virgin aboard a boat.