With the first rays of the May sun, Argentina is dressed in light blue and white because there is the joy of celebration, the warmth of the Homeland… time that, as a people, we remember our history to savour, value and give thanks for Freedom, as a gift from God and the heroic action of those men and women who dreamt, decided and brought about the First Patriotic Government on 25 May 1810. From that day on, a free country would begin to be glimpsed because the longed-for independence was too close and thus […] “To ensure the benefits of Liberty, for us, for our posterity and for all men of the world who wish to inhabit Argentine soil…” (Preamble of the Argentine Constitution). (Preamble of the Argentine Constitution)
Argentines, in order to pass on to new generations and keep the memory alive because “The people want to know what it is all about! “We are used to recreate the square in front of the Cabildo, in colonial Buenos Aires, where that morning the different characters, among them the beautiful ladies and elegant gentlemen interacting with the street vendors or retailers who offer their products (empanadas, candles, fresh water) using very funny announcements to encourage sales: “hot cakes for the old people without teeth!” … “Buy a candle to take to the Virgin!
May also allows us to celebrate the passing of our saintly foundress on Argentinean soil, who left her first mark on May 8, 1896 with the opening of the Santa Rosa School in the city of Buenos Aires.
Coincidentally, on May 25, 1899, Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Annum sacrum, asked the whole human race to consecrate themselves to the Heart of Jesus and Mother Cabrini, wishing to respond to the request of His Holiness, declared that she would dedicate one of her new foundations to this devotion.
In 1901, during her second trip to Argentina, Cabrini founded the Caballito School and an orphanage in the district of Flores (Buenos Aires) on 10th May. She then went to Santa Fe where, on May 13th , she opened the International School of the Rosary.
In the midst of so many foundations, Mother Cabrini was unable to visit her family in Argentina, but her brother Juan Bautista surprised her by taking the same train from Rosario to Villa Mercedes, San Luis. By the goodness of the Lord, the brother and sister will be able to enjoy the meeting for part of the journey. (Letter of August 7, 1901 Vol. III, p. 610).
On May 23rd at 4.30 p.m. she arrived in the city of Villa Mercedes, the following day she received the keys of the house to set up the new school, on the 25th she took part in the commemorative acts of the anniversary of the Gesta de Mayo of 1810 and finally, after meeting at the train station the Missionary Sisters who were arriving to form the new community, she founded the Sacred Heart School on May 26th.
As a people we have been celebrating 211 years of that sacred cry for freedom and together with us Mother Cabrini continues her work, impregnated with blue and white for more than 120 years, forming free hearts and transmitting the Love of the Heart of Jesus.
In the photos we see the celebrations with typical clothes and dances (such as the National Pericón) in the Bethany Community in Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Commemoration Day of the Revolution of 25 May 1810.
