Institute of Studies of Our Lady of Lujan

“She wished to remain there, and the soul of the Argentine nation understood that there she would keep her natural center. Upon entering that Basilica, whose two spires are like two cries of joy rising up to heaven, it seemed to us that we had reached the depths of the soul of the great Argentinian people. For they, like all Christian peoples, know that honoring the Mother of God, as She herself prophesized, is a fundamental aspect of Christian life.”

“Our Argentinian homeland is called the Land of Hope... This invites us to meditate on the epiphany of 'María de Luján; because as long as she is our star in Argentina, we will abound in goods and we will transform this land into the Promised Land... The Holy Virgin Mary herself, the Pure and Stainless Conception from the Luján River, has become our Queen and Mother, and the Patroness of the Argentine people for the well-being of all her children.”

“We gather together this evening before the beautiful basilica of the “Pure and Stainless Conception” of Luján to pray at the altar of the Lord. To the Mother of Christ and the Mother of each one of us, we want to ask that she present to her Son the yearnings of our pained hearts, and our thirsts for peace. To She who, since the 1630s, maternally accompanied so many who approached her here to implore her protection, we today wish to beg for encouragement, hope, fraternity.”

Negro Manuel noticed that some nights she would be missing from the niche but that by the morning he would find her there again, however with her mantle and skirt full of thistles and burs, and at the hem, dust and some med. On these occasions he would say to her, “My Lady, what need does Thou have to leave the house to remedy any necessity, being as powerful as you are? How is it that Thou art such a friend of sinners that you would leave in search of them, when you see that they treat you so poorly?”