HISTORY

The Sanctuary honoring our Mother Virgin Mary under the invocation of “Immaculate Mother of The Divined Eucharistic Heart of Jesus” was built through the work of pilgrims and helpers

Once all construction permits and licenses were obtained, the construction finally began on May 1st 2001. On that date a Cross that was donated specifically for that purpose was installed at the base of the hill. The sanctuary is at the top of the hill, and to get there you must travel a walking path through the forest that is one mile long and with 1500 feet in elevation. The hill is right next to the “Three Hills” neighborhood and is the highest of all hills surrounding the city of Salta.

It is also that same May 1st the date since when the Holy Rosary is prayed every Saturday with an ever growing congregation of pilgrims from all over the world. Pilgrims also started climbing the hill during the week.

By that time the walking path was the only way to get to the top of the hill, making it extremely difficult to get the construction materials to the top in order to begin the construction of the Sanctuary. But with the effort of thousands of pilgrims and our beloved mother, 60000 pounds of material were taken from the base to the top, by hand. All building materials were placed on the base in bags of 10 pounds each. The pilgrims would grab these bags and walk the mile carrying it all the way to the top. All the materials needed for the construction where taken up by these means; nails, cement, sand, building wires, etc, even the water which was placed in bottles for easy carriage. It was an hour walk with some extra pounds on your back and on a path that would turn very steep at some places. As if not enough, some pilgrims were even doing it more than once a day. There were also some special days on national holidays when pilgrims would generate big chains to get materials from the hill itself such as stones and slabs. Pilgrims would gather at the hill and build big “human chains” in order to move materials around while praying and worshipping our Lord and the Immaculate Mother of The Divine Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Other days people would gather before dawn and help taking materials up top to then stay up there and help building the walls or roof of he Sanctuary until the pray of the Holy Rosary. It was endless weeks with thousands of pilgrims doing such a fulfilling job all under the blessing of our Mother so that her wish could be accomplished. All along, there was only one employee working on a salary basis that took care of the place besides helping in several ways. Day after day Gods providence kept manifesting itself either by donation of materials or by giving they own time to help the cause.

Thanks to all this effort the construction of the Sanctuary was able to start and on the 8th December that same year, our Beloved Mother was enthroned.

The building of the road started in August 2001 thanks to the grateful donation of one of our Mothers devotee. Construction was finished right before the enthroning of our Holy Mother, on December 8th 2001. By the time the road was finished, most of the construction at the Hill top was finished. There was also a huge work of land moving and landscaping also done by the pilgrims effort.

The site then started a never ending improvement period. Lots of resting facilities and praying areas were constructed for the pilgrims to be able to rest and pray in peace. Days went by and services were added by the minute. Paths, restrooms, electricity, water medical sites, parking lots, roads, ramps, stairs, signs.

Stamps, rosaries and prays are distributed freely at the site, where no alimony nor valuable objects are accepted at all. All type of commerce or sale is completely banned from the base of the hill to the very top, where the Sanctuary is located.

Since December 8 2001 to June 2003 more than 200,000 stamps were given away. All this to pilgrims that visited the site to pray to the Holy Mother and receive the intercession pray.

The “Intercession pray” is prayed every Saturday after the Holy Rosary and is done by the lady that receives the messages from the Holy Mother. This is a very special pray where Mother Mary asks to our Lord Jesus Christ for all the needs and intentions of the pilgrim. This is an individual pray in complete silence from heart to heart in the presence of Mother Mary and our Lord. This pray, which is only seconds with each individual, can go over five or six hours, sometimes finishing after 10pm.

Nowadays the sanctuary has adequate roads and parking lots for vehicular Access as well as well signaled walking paths, sanitary and medical services in case of emergencies and installations that can hold ten thousand pilgrims around the Sanctuary.

Every Saturday two hundred servers of the Immaculate Mother work from very early hours in different areas and roles to make sure everything goes along in perfect harmony and silence.

May 2001

On May 1st, the cross was installed at the base and the construction of the Sanctuary got started.

At the top of the hill chosen by Virgin Mary, a small group started praying the Rosary every Saturday. The first groups were pilgrims that used to get together during weekdays at their own houses to pray the Rosary plus some other pilgrims that by different means had heard what was going on. These reduced groups were never more than 100 pilgrims.

In 1990 Virgin Mary had revealed to Ms Maria Livia the place chosen for the Sanctuary but had asked her to hold it in secret until God allowed the Word to be spread about that place.

The beauty of the place is amazing. The particular geographic placement of the hill allows you to look in all directions losing sight in the horizon. It looks into the valley of Lerma as if being a guarding tower for it.

Its proximity to the city, the beauty and the abundant nature lets you recognize right away it is an extremely privileged place, not only for being chosen by God and Mother Mary for such an important task but also for its natural resources.

July 2001

Every Saturday during the following months the Rosary was prayed at the top of the hill. The climbing path was cleared and consolidated and all needed construction materials were carried up to the top of the hill.

August 2001

The Sanctuary at the top of the hill was ready to receive the image of the Immaculate Mother which was not yet finished. By this time the group of pilgrims that would climb every Saturday for the preying of the Rosary had grown to approximately 300.

December 2001

Between august and October 2001 a car-path was constructed that allowed vehicle to reach a higher place in the hill allowing and thus leaving a shorter walk path to the hill top. People that for some reason were not able to walk the path to the top where driven there in four wheel drive vehicles. These were the only ones that could reach the top of the hill close to the Sanctuary.

Every Saturday more and more people without any previous knowledge of the place kept joining the pray of the Rosary. Pilgrims would just show up to the place and start walking, following the paths and getting to the Sanctuary.

The silent call of Mother Mary started to spread and mothers with kids, families, elders and sick pilgrims were slowly incrementing the number of visitors every Saturday to the Sanctuary. By November 2001 the Saturday congregation was already within the thousand.

On December 8th 2001 the image of the Immaculate Mother was enthroned in the Sanctuary. The image was built by the “Barefoot Carmelitas” at the convent of St Bernard in the city of Salta. The Carmelitas had been accompanying Maria Livia since 1995, when she detailed to the nuns the physical appearance of Mother Mary to her.

Nor the pouring rain nor a completely muddy and slippery path where able to stop the pilgrims in their devoted desire to be with Mother Mary the day she was enthroned, which took place on December 8th 2001. The event was not promoted in any way but the private call of Mother Mary congregated that day pilgrims from all over the country and even from other countries. Everybody wanted to share the moment when Mother Mary finally got to the place she had chosen, to spread from there the grace of her love.

July 2003

From there on the call of the Mother kept recruiting people from all over the place making the number of pilgrims every Saturday increase by the hundreds.

By July 2003 the congregation was estimated to be close to the 6000 pilgrims. The local pilgrims where then joined by periodic pilgrimages from the neighbor states of Jujuy and Tucuman. Almost every Saturday, buses where bringing pilgrims from Jujuy and every other Saturday they were joined by buses bringing pilgrims from Tucuman together with hundreds of private cars coming from remote places. It was not long before the buses started coming from cities as distant as Buenos Aires or Cordoba. On August 2003 more than 1500 pilgrims arrived from Buenos Aires.

It is worth mentioning that these pilgrimages are organized solely by Misionaries from the different places and nor the “community” nor any of the servers get any kind of retribution for their collaboration. Everything that happens around the Sanctuary is one hundred percent free and any kind of commercial activity or benefits or tips or whatever monetary is strictly forbidden. Not even donations for the “community” are received at the Sanctuary.

Pilgrims from all over the planet keep visiting the Sanctuary attracted by the presence of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and increasing the congregation every Saturday.

Nowadays approximately 6000 people join on Saturdays with a parking lot full of buses and private cars exceeding well over 500 vehicles. No noise of any kind is permitted; noisy cars and motorcycles are parked well away of the Sanctuary to make sure the peace and silence is not disturbed. In the same way, all kind of radios or speakerphones or any kind of noice making devices are completely banned. The Sanctuary is a place of rejoice and pray in absolute Silence, a signature characteristic of this place consecrated by the Holy Mother, Virgin Mary.

The community grows every day. Past and present are known but the future is in the hands of Divine Providence. In our hearts is the answer to the endless love of God.

 

 

 

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