{"id":14866,"date":"2026-05-11T12:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/?p=14866"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:10:36","slug":"the-miracle-of-our-lady-of-lujan-in-montevideo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/the-miracle-of-our-lady-of-lujan-in-montevideo\/","title":{"rendered":"A Promise Fulfilled: The Miracle of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n in Montevideo"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sergio Carri\u00f3n, Communication Officer, Province of Argentina\/Uruguay, with the collaboration of Sr. M\u00f3nica Scavuzzo<\/em><\/p>\n

On May 8, 2026, sisters and partners-in-mission in Argentina and Uruguay celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n, the patron saint of Argentina. For these two countries, which serve the mission as one single province in the Congregation, this date is not just another feast day. It reminds us of one of the most beautiful, mystical, and providential moments in our history along the Rio de Plata estuary, which borders both countries: the promise and the miracle that gave rise to the church at our second foundation in Montevideo, Uruguay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Serious illness and unshakable faith<\/strong><\/h4>\n

At the end of the last century, the history of our province crossed paths with the Virgin Mary in a miraculous way. Venerable Mother Mary of Saint Augustine of Jesus \u2014 born Josefa Fern\u00e1ndez Concha in 1835 in Santiago, Chile, who worked directly with St. Mary Euphrasia \u2014 was visiting the Provincial House at Buenos Aires, Argentina, when her health took a critical turn for the worse.<\/p>\n

A serious and painful condition in her ear led doctors to decide that she had to undergo surgery, which was extremely serious at that time: they had to open her skull. With the date of the operation set, the community turned to prayer. They began praying a novena to Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n fervently, making a promise: if Mother Josefa recovered, they would dedicate the church they planned to build in Montevideo to Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The archives record a faithful record of the the story of how the church came to be built.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The oil and the miracle<\/strong><\/h4>\n

During these nine days of prayer, the sisters brought oil from the lamp at Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n\u2019 shrine and soaked a small piece of cotton with it to place in Mother Josefa’s ear.<\/p>\n

What happened on the eve of the operation left the doctors astonished. A small bone fell out of the affected ear. Without fully understanding the significance of what had happened, the sisters showed it to the surgeon, Dr. Segura. After examining the patient, the doctor, astonished, declared that the operation was no longer necessary: the ear was completely healed. Mother Josefa, a woman who dedicated her entire life to promoting the dignity of women across the continent, had experienced the healing touch of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

The child\u2019s approval<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As often happens with God\u2019s great works, the path was not without difficulties. After the miracle, the initial benefactors were forced to withdraw from the project for reasons beyond their control. Many years passed, and it seemed that the promise ran the risk of being lost to time.<\/p>\n

However, in 1927, Providence revealed herself again under the guidance of Sr. Mary of Saint John Berchmans Salcedo. A generous benefactor, Don Rafael Algorta Camusso, visited the community and asked why the church hadn\u2019t been built. Upon learning of the lack of resources, he spoke the now infamous words on behalf of himself and his wife: \u201cSister, begin the construction, and Helmira and I will be the laborers<\/em>. \u00bb<\/p>\n

\"\"Another deeply mystical moment occurs at this point. Since she was a young girl, Mother Josefa had always carried with her a small image of the Child Jesus (pictured), which accompanied her to every mission and every place she visited. When one of the leaders who was visiting at the time was asked about whether they should accept Algortas\u2019 proposal, the answer came with a heavenly wink that seemed to connect the past and present of the Congregation: \u201cThe Child wants the church to be built<\/em>. \u00bb<\/p>\n

A heritage of faith that beats today<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The plans were immediately entrusted to the architect Guillermo Armas, and what began as a miracle of physical healing in Buenos Aires took shape in bricks, faith, and gratitude in Montevideo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Over the years, the Church has always celebrated the Feastday of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, as we contemplate the identity of the Province of Argentina\/Uruguay in the face of restructuring, this historical account reminds us that borders fade when faith is great. The Church of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n in Montevideo is not only a place of worship; it is the living testimony of a small dislodged bone, a promise that withstood time, a Child Jesus who gave his wink of approval, and a maternal mantle that, from Luj\u00e1n, continues to provide shelter along the journey of our entire Good Shepherd community.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In recognition of her commitment to social justice, the Congregation established the Fondation Madre Josefa<\/a> in Chile which you can learn more about ici<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sergio Carri\u00f3n, Communication Officer, Province of Argentina\/Uruguay, with the collaboration of Sr. M\u00f3nica Scavuzzo On May 8, 2026, sisters and partners-in-mission in Argentina and Uruguay celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Luj\u00e1n, the patron saint of Argentina. For these two countries, which serve the mission as one single province in the Congregation, this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-argentina","category-uruguay"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Photo_article_fete_BMD_20180608_ed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14866"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14878,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14866\/revisions\/14878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}