Chimayo, NM * 01.22.2023
We wanted to go someplace extra special to pray for some special people. We chose Santuario de Chimayo because of its’ history for healing. The mass there is probably mostly for tourists like us and modern Pilgrims, but no mass this Sunday. So instead, we ended up at mass at the nearby locals parish. Check out this sweet parish called Santo Nino Chapel. The priest was amazing, so warm and funny, with a thick south Korean accent doing some of the mass in fluid Spanish, with said thick Korean accent. There was a fryer that also helped with mass. He had about 5 silver hoops in one ear and looked like he rides a Harley.
After mass we went back to Santuario de Chimayo to pray for our friend and family member with the holy dirt. Cool history on the place and said holy dirt. Around 1810, a Chimayo friar was performing penances when he saw a light bursting from the nearby hills.
Going to check it out, he began to dig where the light shown. Buried under the light he found a crucifix. A local priest brought the crucifix to Santa Cruz, but three times it disappeared and was later found back in its original hole. With this, everyone understood that the crucifix wanted to remain in Chimayo, and so a small chapel was built on the site. That is when the miraculous healings began.
The crucifix still resides on the chapel altar, drawing over 300,000 modern pilgrims every year who come here to pray for healing. In addition to the crucifix and its’ healing powers, pilgrims and tourists alike come to visit El Posito, the “sacred sand pit” from which the crucifix was found. This pit is in a little room off the main sanctuary and is basically… well… a little pit of dirt or as they say… the dust bin o’ heaven.
The Prayer Room, which is in the sacristy of the church (next to the pit), is filled with discarded crutches, braces, and scary, handmade shrines that look more like something you would find in New Orleans than a Catholic Church. If ever on a pilgrimage or just passing through, this is a special place to stop, ponder and pray in the dirt.
