A statuette depicting Our Lady of Luján adorned with the typical white and light blue mantle was the gift received after the death of Pope Francis by the Rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Elena Beccalli, who found it at Casa Santa Marta, where she had gone to pay homage to the Pontiff’s remains. This is, according to a statement from the university, a final gift from the Pope, a token of gratitude following the affectionate meeting on April 16, during which he had once again expressed his gratitude to the managers and staff of the “A. Gemelli” of the Catholic University and the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of Vatican City State for the care he received during his long stay in the hospital in recent weeks. The presence of Our Lady of Luján now at the University makes that moment even more memorable.

“I will look at her once more,” Francis had said in his 2020 message, during the pandemic, to the Archbishop of the Diocese of Mercedes Luján, Monsignor Jorge Scheinig, “and once again, I will allow myself to be looked at by her.” Our Lady of Luján, a town located 70 kilometers from Buenos Aires, is the Patron Saint of Argentina, and the preparatory novena for the feast of the Morenita, as she is familiarly known, will soon begin. The May 8 anniversary is particularly dear to the Pope, who, as Archbishop of the capital, did not fail to participate in the traditional pilgrimage. Even after his election, he had maintained a very close connection with the shrine, a connection reaffirmed by his 2020 message in which he wrote: “We will share our worries and joys.” It’s impossible, in these hours, not to notice the analogy with the devotion to the icon of the Salus Popoli Romani preserved in the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major, where Francis has chosen to be buried.