Desert Diva

Only the Good Friday is hosted by the eclectic, but multi-talented Shelly.

El Santuario de Chimayó

Recently, while in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a friend and I took a drive up to Chimayó to visit the chapel and the surrounding town.  Whether or not you are Catholic, (or even Christian) it’s a beautiful area and peaceful and serene.

The Potrero plaza of Chimayó is known internationally for a Catholic chapel, the Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas, commonly known as the Santuario de Chimayó. A private individual built it by 1816 so that local people could worship Jesus as depicted as Esquipulas; preservationists bought it and handed it over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. The chapel is now managed by the Archdiocese as a Catholic church. For its reputation as a healing site (believers claim that dirt from a back room of the church can heal physical and spiritual ills), it has become known as the “Lourdes of America,” and attracts close to 300,000 visitors a year, including up to 30,000 during Holy Week (the week prior to Easter). It has been called “no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.” The sanctuary was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Chimayó is also known for the weaving traditions of the Ortega and Trujillo families, who have been weaving in the Spanish Colonial tradition for many generations and now operate weaving businesses near the Plaza del Cerro and in the placita of Centinela. Their traditional craft is but one of several still practiced in the region, including tin smithing, wood carving, and making religious paintings.

My friend Luz and I toured the chapel, walked through the town sampling the chile, and visited the old cemetery.   We even met a local woman who turned out to be the wife of the maker of the cross that Luz purchased (and the maker of a bracelet she bought).

What heals?  Is the “dirt” really holy and a conduit of special powers, or is it the faith of the person seeking?  The site itself is anticlimactic – a small hole with uh, “dirt” (tierra bendita) with plastic scoops like one would see in a child’s sandbox.  Nevertheless, people flock to the site and apply the dirt to themselves as well as take it in various packages to loved ones.

For me, the “miracle” was to visit a beautiful place and to be attuned to “the Divine in nature.”  Somehow, that seems enough…  The entire Flickr set of Chimayó is here.