On 25 September 1983, Gladys Quiroga de Motta, a housewife in a small Argentinian city 143 miles (230 km) north of the capital, noted in her diary: “I saw the Virgin for the first time.” Now, nearly 20 years and over 1000 appearances by the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) later, around 300,000 pilgrims descend on San Nicolás de los Arroyos on the anniversary of Gladys’s vision (25 September) every year and have changed the face of the city (population 140,000) for good.

Until the Virgin picked her out, Gladys Motta led the unremarkable life of a quiet, 46-year-old Christian, housewife and mother.