As every year, thousands of faithful from different parts of Santiago del Estero congregated in the city of Mailín, department of Avellaneda, to celebrate the great festival of the Lord of the Milagros de Mailín, this year with the particularity that it is the first time it was carried out since it was appointed primed archdiocese of Argentina by Pope Francis.
With the motto With the Lord of Mailín, Pilgrims of Hopethe central ceremony took place on Sunday, June 1 and was chaired by the Archbishop of Santiago del Estero and Primado of Argentina, Cardinal Vicente Bokalic Iglic, who gave his homily A strong social imprint, calling a greater commitment to fraternity.
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God was present to choose the Pope
In the first place, having participated in the conclave that chose Leo XIV, the purple thanked the faithful for their prayers that “helped us choose the new Pope,” he said.
“These things are from God, who was present to quickly choose the Pope we needed in this time in the world,” he said.
As for Leo XIV, he considered that he will continue with the line of Pope Francis to build a “synodal, evangelizer, missionary church, who goes out to meet the poor, who is involved in work for justice, for peace.”
The encounter with the Lord fills our soul of Consuelo
The cardinal then referred to the image that summons so many faithful and that it is a symbol of popular faith: “Blessed be the Lord who allowed us to reach this sacred place, where the image of Mailín left us,” he said with gratitude, ensuring that “the encounter with the Lord fills our soul of comfort, understanding, goodness, encouragement for our life.”
In that sense, he considered that bitterness and hopelessness “are transformed into new airs when we are as a people”, especially in this place where “we discover that Jesus accompanies us.”
“Sometimes we are tempted to look for shortcuts to dodge the challenges of our lives and this in the long run they leave us empty and destroy our dignity,” said Cardinal Bokalic. Therefore, he called to look and let himself look through the crucified and thus make “something new in the heart.”
The one who blesses the indifference of his heart
Putting his gaze on today’s society, he observed that he is “beaten by poverty, discouragement, violence of all kinds.” Selfishness, he warned, “does not allow us to meet the brother and take charge.”
And reflecting on the Gospel of the Festival of the Ascension of the Lord, stressed that Jesus “returned to the Father’s house blessing his own.”
“Blessing is a gesture of love, blessing is to desire good to people, for their health, for their well -being. The one who blesses off his heart feelings such as indifference,” he said.
“We cannot bless and at the same time live condemning, rejecting, hating others. We cannot bless with these feelings,” he added, warning in society “expressions of aggressiveness, contempt for others, especially at the think of and feels different,” which generates disunity and division.
Punctually, he referred to the behaviors that do not allow the encounter with “the forgotten children”, with “so many elders who are silenced in their fair protest” and with “the sick who are despised and treated as a burden.” He also warned about the danger of letting the feeling of xenophobia enter the heart.
Therefore, the archbishop called the commitment to “work for a more just, more human, more integrative society,” and to honor the Lord of Mailín “being merciful to the brother fallen on the side of the road.”
The history of the Lord of Mailín Milagros
In 1780, the old man Juan Serrano observed, at the foot of a carob tree, a powerful light. As he approached the place, he discovered that there was a wooden cross with an image of Christ painted, that he had a skull under his feet.
There was then a temple dedicated to this Christ, which eventually became popularly called the Lord of the Miles of Mailín.
The Mayor Church began to be built in 1870, at the initiative of General Antonio Taboada, and the building of the current temple, where the original image of the Christ is preserved, began in 1904.
Over time, Mailín became a pilgrimage destination, not only for Santiago but also for Argentines in general. Its central party is celebrated on the day of the ascension of the Lord, with a procession that is religious but also cultural expression of Santiago del Estero.
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.