May 8 Nuestra Señora de Luján Luján, Argentina.
May 8 Nuestra Señora de Luján Luján, Argentina.
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Our Lady of Luján (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Luján) is a celebrated 16th-century icon of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The image, also known as the Virgin of Luján (Spanish: Virgen de Luján) represents a famous Marian apparition. The image still exists; it is on display in the Basilica of Luján in Argentina. The feast day of Our Lady of Luján is May 8.
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Miracle of Our Lady of Lujan, in Zelaya.
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The Luján image was made in Brazil and sent to Argentina.[1] Tradition tells us that a settler ordered the image of Mary Immaculate in 1630 because he intended to create a shrine in her honor to help reinvigorate the Catholic faith in Santiago del Estero, his region. After embarking from the port of Buenos Aires, the caravan carrying the image stopped at the residence of Don Rosendo Oramas, located in the present town of Zelaya.
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When the caravan wanted to resume the journey, the oxen refused to move. Once the crate containing the image were removed, the animals started to move again. Given the evidence of a miracle, people believed the Virgin wished to remain there. The image was venerated in a primitive chapel for 40 years. Then the image was acquired by Ana de Matos and carried to Luján, where it currently resides.
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Among the Popes who have honored Our Lady of Luján are Clement XI, Clement XIV, Pius VI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, and John Paul II. In 1824, Fr. John Mastai Ferretti visited the shrine on his way to Chile. He later became Pope Pius IX and defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 1854.
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Because of the reputation of the shrine, Pope Leo XIII decided in 1886 to honor the miraculous statue with a papal coronation. On September 30 of that year, he blessed the crown, which was made of pure gold and set with 365 diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, 132 pearls and a number of enamels depicting the emblems of the Archbishop and the Argentine Republic. The papal coronation of Our Lady of Luján took place on May 8, 1887. The celebrant chosen by the Pope for this event was Archbishop Aueiros, who at that time made a pilgrimage in thanksgiving to Our Lady for sparing his archdiocese from the scourge of cholera.
In 1930 Pope Pius XI declared Our Lady of Luján Patroness of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
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Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli served as the Papal Legate to the XXXII International Eucharistic Congress held in Buenos Aires in October 1934, and visited the Basilica on October 15. When he became Pope Pius XII, he made a radio address to the pilgrims in Luján on the occasion of the First Marian Congress in Argentina in 1947.