Amid applause, chants and “long live the Virgin”, thousands of people, mostly young people and family groups, left at 10 o’clock from the parish of San Cayetano, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Liniers, towards the Sanctuary of the Virgin de Luján in the 48th edition of the Youth Pilgrimage.
In this festive atmosphere, the image of the “mother of Luján” left the parish accompanied by prayers and the cry of “Long live Maria! Don’t leave us alone, we are going to accompany her” on a sunny spring day.
While the pilgrims accompanied the image of the Virgin through Cuzco Street, where San Cayetano is, towards Rivadavia Avenue, the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Devoto, Juan Carlos Ares, blessed the faithful in the street.
“I ran 15 years ago from (the Buenos Aires district of) Trenque Lauquen to Luján, about 384 kilometers, to give thanks because my daughter’s operation went well. They operated on her breasts and it was benign; this is the second time I have come and this Sometimes I do it walking with a friend. You always have to believe in something,” Rodolfo Miguel Romero, 56, told Télam.
Accompanied by a flag with the name “open doors of the Hogar de Cristo”, a group of young people sang at the door of the parish and applauded minutes before starting the walk that will conclude on Sunday in Luján.
“It’s the first time that I’m a pilgrim, I’m looking for peace and to cure myself once and for all,” Lucas, 38, who is admitted to a clinic to overcome his addiction problems, told this agency, which he came to through the Home of Christ.
This edition of the traditional pilgrimage to Luján is carried out under the motto “Mother, look at us tenderly, we want to unite as a people.”
Before starting the walk, the pilgrims participated in a mass that began at 9 and was followed both inside and outside the Sanctuary of San Cayetano, in Cuzco 158, where a crowd gathered.
From there, the image of the Virgin of Luján, which was blessed by Pope Francis in Brazil on the occasion of World Youth Day 2013 and which visited the entire country, began its journey of nearly 60 kilometers to reach the sanctuary of Lujan.
This year, the Diocese of Morón will be in charge of moving the religious image along the road, while Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, will preside over the traditional mass on Sunday at 7 in Plaza Belgrano, in front of the Basilica of Lujan.
Photos Pepe Mateos
