Once again, the Virgin of Luján attracts faithful from all over Argentina. This time, within the framework of the “golden anniversary” of this union between the people and the Mother, which is the traditional Youth Pilgrimage, which will take place on the weekend of October 5 and 6, starting from the Sanctuary of San Cayetano , in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Liniers.
The rector of the Basilica and National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Luján, Father Lucas García, explained to ACI Prensa that this year, the particularity of the pilgrimage is, precisely, that it marks 50 years since the first one. Although he clarified that “it is not the oldest pilgrimage,” it is an important number and “it is nice to be able to celebrate it like this, with great joy.”
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When this initiative began, “what was going to come next was not foreseen,” the priest acknowledged: “Almost a million people walk here, to Luján, year after year. So what is special about this pilgrimage is that number, it is 50 years walking to see our Mother and feeling cared for and protected by her,” he said.
The rector of the basilica highlighted that the message that this pilgrimage leaves in society is “the unity of the country, taking care of each other.”
“We really like – especially thinking also about the 400 years of the Virgin – to feel like brothers, brothers among all of us and I think that walking together gives us the dimension that we continue to be a people, the people of God who walk to see to his mother, the Virgin,” he noted, on the way to 400th anniversary of the miracle for which the Virgin chose to stay in Lujánwhich will be held in 2030.
In the pilgrimage to Luján “the people of God are manifested, where it does not matter who we are, where we are from, what condition we have: we all walk and we all have the goal of reaching our Mother,” he added.
“Mother, under your gaze we seek unity”
“From the beginning of the pilgrimages, a motto was always thought of that had these two relationships: the Virgin… look at the Virgin, and also look at the needs of the Argentine people,” indicated the priest. This year’s motto reads: “Mother, under your gaze we seek unity.”
“Unity is an important principle of a society,” Father García explained. “That is to say that in unity we do not seek the good that one seeks, nor the good of the other, but the common good of all. And then the unit looks for the best in everyone,” he summarized.
The Virgin calls us to brotherhood among Argentines
Regarding the social context that exists in Argentina, the priest observed that social and cultural changes require a long time. “There are many things that are missing, and the Virgin calls us to this,” he assured. “She, as the mother of a family, always seeks the unity of her children, even if they are different.”
”The Virgin calls us and helps us to look at ourselves from that place. And what we want is for the pilgrims to respond by living it in their concrete lives,” he encouraged, calling to have “those own values that represent us as Argentines: solidarity, giving a hand to those in need, not confronting each other.”
In each pilgrimage, the priest noted, “many fruits, many riches” are produced, which are manifested in the confessions, in the dialogues and in the faces of the people. “Some we see personally, others are in the lives of each person (…) then, the fruits actually occur in the hearts of each of the pilgrims who come.”
“I think that the fruit that is most sought after is brotherhood: walking together makes us brothers among ourselves,” he summarized. For this reason, he considered that one of the greatest riches at this time is “to go on a pilgrimage to Luján to feel like a different society and to feel that the Virgin continues to accompany and protect us.”
Different ways of pilgrimage, different ways of feeling love
Finally, to those who are hesitating to participate in the pilgrimage, the priest clarified that “there are different ways to pilgrimage.”
“The first is precisely walking, but you also make a pilgrimage helping, you also make a pilgrimage by praying, you also make a pilgrimage with your heart open to the grace of Jesus and the love for our Mother. So there is no single way of pilgrimage.”
“The pilgrimage is an event where many walk and it is very nice to do so because it is a joy to be next to the Virgin, to feel how the people encourage you. But if one cannot do it that way, I think there are other ways to be able to make a pilgrimage. Ultimately, the pilgrimage has to do with our lives and we want this: that we all feel the love of the Virgin and the love between all of us.” Therefore, “every time one loves one’s brother, one is in some way also making this pilgrimage.”
“I don’t know if you are going to walk, but do not hesitate to love, do not hesitate to meet the Virgin, do not hesitate to tell her how much you love her and do not hesitate to discover how much the Virgin loves you. “That is the most beautiful message we can take away from this pilgrimage,” he concluded.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.