Pope sends greetings to Archbishop of Luján to mark Our Lady's feast day

By Vatican News

May 8 marks the Feast Day of Our Lady of Luján. Prior to this date, Pope Francis wrote a letter to Archbishop Jorge Scheinig of Luján. The Pope assures the Archbishop that his “heart travels to Luján” for this celebration.

The city of Luján is located some 70 kilometres northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pope Francis was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 28 February 1998 until his election to the papacy on 13 March 2013.

Gaze upon Our Lady

In the letter dated 4 May, Pope Francis writes that he will be in Luján “spiritually” to visit Our Lady. There, he says, “I will gaze upon her once more and, once again, I will let her look at me with that motherly gaze that renews you, takes care of you, gives you strength”.

The Pope adds that, in doing so, he knows he will not be alone, “but together with the holy, faithful people of God who love her so much, a faithful and sinful people like me”.

Pope Francis then writes that he, along with the faithful, will tell Our Lady of their “worries” and their “joys”.

Grace of forgiveness

Finally, the Pope writes that he will “ask her to take care of us”.

He added that “because I am a sinner, I will ask her to give us grace to always ask for forgiveness, to not tire of asking for forgiveness... because we know that Her Son never gets tired of forgiving”.