Saturday, June 9, there was a thin overcast and the temperature was 63* when we left Amarillo and headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was not long and the temperature began to climb, another hot day!!! John is not fond of the state of New Mexico as he says that everything is brown!It was only about a five hour drove and we pulled into the Roadrunner RV Park and met up with our friends, Sharon and Fred. They had been there for several days sight seeing in the area. We set up our home and Fred and Sharon suggested that we go to lunch. They had been out sight seeing the day before we arrived and
had stopped in the little town of Chimayo, NM and had a great lunch. We thought was a wonderful place to go. Have to admit that the food was wonderful and the margaritas were some of the best we have had!!!After lunch Fred took us to the Santuario de Chimayo. The Santuario was built between 1813 and 1816, on the spot were the crucifix of Our Lord of Esquipulas was found in 1810 by Don Bernardo Abeyto.
There is no written testimony concerning as apparition of Our Lord in the Chimayo area.
What is known is tradition passed from one
to another by the people of El Potrero.
One tradition recalls that during Holy Week on the night of Good Friday in 1810, Don Bernardo Abeyta, was performing the customary penances.Suddenly, he saw a light springing from one of the slopes of the hills near the Santa Cruz river. Don Bernardo went to the spot and noticed that the shining light was coming from the ground. He started to dig with his bare hands and there he found a crucifix. He left it there and called the neighbors to come and see the precious finding.
Father Sebastian Alvarez, in Santa Cruz was notified of the finding and the priest and people set out for Chimayo. When they arrived at the place where the Crucifix was found, they picked it up and carried it in a joyful procession back to the parish church.The Crucifix was placed in a niche on the main alter. The next morning, the Crucifix was gone, only to be found in its original location.
A second procession was organized and the Crucifix was again returned to Santa Cruz, but once again it disappeared. The same thing happened a third time. By then, it was understood that El Senor de Esquipulas wanted to remain in Chimayo, and so, the El Santuario de Chimayo was built.
El Santuario has been a place of encounter with God from the beginning: a place to pray, to thank, to ask, to meditate and to experience peace of mind as well as of body. It has also been called the "Lourdes of America." The reference is,
due to the healings which have been attributed to the
dirt in which was found the crucifix of Our Lord.In time, the media paid attention to the little shrine in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Newspapers across the nation and several television news organizations have taken it upon themselves to inform the public about the Shrine.
Miracles? For some a miracle is something supernatural, something above nature. Others demand something less, and for them anything out of the ordinary is a miracle. As far as extraordinary happening at El Santuario, officially, the Church has never investigated any of the claims.
The "dirt" found at the room known as the "pocito" (well) is considered holy because in this spot the crucifix of Our Lord of Esquipulas was found by Bernardo Abeyta in 1810. Since then thousands of pilgrims and visitors have come to El Santuario de Chimayo searching for spiritual, emotional and physical healing.
Many written testimonies of favors granted have been received at the Shrine.
What is the "holy dirt"? Where does it come from? There are legends about how the dirt in the little well replaces itself in some extraordinary way. This is not true. The dirt is brought
from the surrounding hillside and everytime the little well is filled by the custodian, it is blessed by the priest. In itself the dirt does not have any curative powers.
Knowing this, some may still wonder why people come. If faith is the sole requirement, people do not need to come to El Santuario. God is in every place. The thing to consider is that people not only come when they want something, but also to pray, in thanksgiving and to worship God. Something about this place helps people experience their God, and that has been true since the days when only Native Americans lived here.
To learn more about the Santuario de Chimayo you can go to www.holychimayo.us
It was a very moving experience to sit in the little chapel and offer a prayer to God.On thy way back to Santa Fe, Fred noticed another small chapel sitting up on the hillside. We could not get close to the church as there was a fence around the area, but we did take some photos of the church and surround hillside.
Tomorrow we are off to Durango, Co. where we plan to stay for five weeks.
More later,
Candy and Johnny on the road again
