Today, when I went to morning Mass, a different statue of Blessed Mother stood  in the front of the church. I learned it is the feast day of Our Lady of Lujan

Here is her story:

Our Lady of Lujan is a terracotta image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception which is about 14 inches tall. It has been venerated in Argentina since 1630.

That year, a Portuguese ranch owner tried to take the statue from Buenos Aires via caravan to his ranch.

After three days of travel, the oxen pulling the statue’s cart stopped moving near the Lujan river about 42 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. After much failed coaxing, the ox driver unloaded the image and found the oxen would again move. The caravan took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary wanted the statue to be venerated at that place.

Many years later, the statue was to be moved again and three time she disappeared and showed up back at the first ranch. Finally, the bishop, parish priest and all the town’s people formed a procession taking the statue to her new home and only then did she remain. It is said sometimes at night the statue will disappear to go to heal someone and then reappear again in the morning.

Many miracles have been attributed to Our Lady of Lujan’s intercession. Prayers honor her as the foundress of the city of Lujan.

(Photo courtesy of CNS)

Pope Francis places flowers before Our Lady of Lujan, the patroness of Argentina. May 8 is the feast of Our Lady of Lujan.

Pope Leo XIII honored the statue in 1886 with a papal coronation. Pope Pius XI declared Our Lady of Lujan to be the patroness of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in 1930. The statue is now housed in the Basilica of Lujan.