Laura Vicuña patron Saint of the Argentine Province

Argentina. On 22 January 2026, the liturgical memorial of Blessed Laura Vicuña, a young student of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, is celebrated. She was born in Santiago, Chile, on 5 April 1891, and died in Junín de los Andes, Argentina, on 22 January 1904, at the age of just 13. Her mortal remains are kept in the FMA chapel in Bahía Blanca, Argentina.

On 31 January 2023, the three Argentine Provinces merged into the Laura Vicuña Province (ARG). At the event in Córdoba, Mother Chiara Cazzuola was present, who saw in this gesture of resignification an encouragement for children and young people to live holiness like Laura Vicuña, the result of the preventive system of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.

Approaching the life and spirituality of Laura Vicuña, of whom the Argentine Province is the only one to bear the name, inspires countless sentiments and initiatives that revitalize the faith of the Educating Communities. Young people in particular feel drawn to her proposal of holiness lived in situations very similar to their own, finding in Laura a simple and profound role model and companion for their lives.

Her feast day on 22 January coincides with the summer season for the Southern Hemisphere, without school activities, but with youth experiences typical of free time: camps and summer camps, volunteering in mission areas, oratory. Laura’s novena and celebration are experienced in this climate of recreation and relaxation in communion with all FMA communities, with the opportunity to participate in the celebrations held in Junín de los Andes through the social media.

Two key places are spaces of memory, a destination for pilgrimage, prayer, and encounter with the life and spirituality of the Blessed:

Bahía Blanca

• On the 22^nd of each month, the Eucharist is celebrated in the Chapel of  Mary Help of Christians School, where the remains of “Laurita” rest, with the participation of various communities and parishes of the city and with the transmission via Facebook.
• On 22vJanuary of each year, the Archbishop of Bahía Blanca presides over the Eucharistic celebration, together with some priests.
• During the year,  many pilgrims are welcomed, families and groups from different points of the Country and from neighboring Countries. An FMA welcomes visitors, tells the story of Laura’s life, provides resources and relics, and accompanies the prayer to ask for graces.
• In the context of Jubilee 2025, the Chapel of Laura Vicuña was declared a “Holy Door” with the possibility of receiving a plenary indulgence every 22^nd of the month.
• In a space adjacent to the Chapel, the Laura Vicuña Memorial, has been set up, with direct access from the street, to present the main stages of her life through a panel, an image of Laura next to the painting of Mary Help of Christians, and the exhibit of the relics of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.

Junín de los Andes

• Guided tours of Laura’s places are carried out by an FMA and trained lay people, in collaboration with the Tourist Office of the tourist city San Martín de los Andes. (CES Laura)
• Novena in preparation for the feast of 22 January. Starting on 13 January, the faithful gather at the Sanctuary of “Our Lady of the Snows and Laura Vicuña” to recite the rosary every day with a reference to Laurita’s life. Intentions are written in a notebook. The novena is broadcast on the city’s social networks and radio stations.

  22 January – Feast of Blessed Laura Vicuña. The Community and pilgrims will celebrate the feast in three moments starting at 8:00 pm. There is Holy Mass in the Sanctuary; followed by the torchlight procession through the streets of the city to the “glorieta”, the shed which is located on the same land as the “Ranchito” near the School where Laura lived her last illness in the company of her mother, for the final celebration. A gesture reserved for this moment and which closes the celebration is to set fire to the intentions that pilgrims leave written throughout the year in the memorial. Songs and prayers accompany the fire until it goes out, as a prayer that arrives in heaven with faith and gratitude.

Other activities carried out in 2024 and 2025 or are still ongoing:

• At the initiative of the Provincials of Argentina and Chile, a study and research group was established between the two Countries, on the archives of each of the places where Laura Vicuña’s material is preserved (Santiago de Chile, Almagro, Junín de los Andes, and Bahía Blanca). The current work consists of collecting, cataloging, and sharing these materials with the aim of writing together a unique historiography, a gift to the Institute for the 150 years since the arrival of the first missionaries in America.
• 2024: Participation of FMAs and aspirants in the pilgrimage to the hermitage of Saavedra (Province of Buenos Aires) to present the figure of Laura in a stand. One of the young women is dressed as Laura Vicuña to bring her figure even closer and attract the attention of the pilgrims.
• Participation in the annual youth pilgrimage to the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Fortín Mercedes on the occasion of the feast of Mary Help of Christians.
• Reflection encounter with the young people of the Oratory in Bahía Blanca.
• In January 2025 there took place the 1^st Province encounter of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) “Laura Joven, Mi vida por la tuya” (Young Laura, my life for yours) in Junín de los Andes, with the participation of around 400 young people from all over the Country, culminating with the celebration of the January 22nd feast day together with the local people. Throughout the year, the reflection initiated by the encounter continued with the sending of various resources, to deepen Laura’s spirituality in the youth groups.
• At the encounter “Young Laura” the mother of the family, who received the grace of recovery of her health through the intercession of Laura Vicuña, emotionally recounted her experience, combined with the growth in faith and unity of her family, and the commitment to spread God’s saving action thanks to Laura’s mediation, for her prompt Canonization.
• A group of young people is carrying out the revision of the statute of the association “Friends of Laura Vicuña” (ALVI), which brings together children and adolescents from FMA works and is present in various houses of the Province.

The places of Laura’s life are the destination of numerous pilgrims and youth groups who testify that the Blessed’s message is always timely for both young people and adults who trust her, to ask for family harmony and a life to be fully spent according to her virtuous example.

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