I shot these photos today (Good Friday) on my
40th birthday. I walked 12 miles farther into Middle Age.
Good Friday means the annual pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo. It
is said that El Santuario contains a pit of sacred dirt that has
miraculous healing powers. According to legend, sometime around 1812,
a priest was digging on the site where the church now stands when he
found a crucifix in the ground. He dug up the cross and brought it to a
church in Santa Cruz. It disappeared. The next day, the priest found
the crucifix back in its original hole. He again brought the cross to
Santa Cruz. The cross again disappeared from Santa Cruz and reappeared
in the hole. The same thing happened a third time. The priest decided
it would be easier to build a church than to retrieve the cross every
day, so he built a fine little church, keeping the little dirt well
where the cross had been found intact. Now the pit where the cross was
found yielded dirt with miraculous healing powers. Word of the "Lourdes
of New Mexico" began to spread, and ever since, people have made an
annual trek to the Santuario on Good Friday.
This year, traffic out numbered walkers. Signs of the time were visible
on walkers, such as the yellow ribbon (supporting troops in Iraq)
visible on one woman's backpack.
My friend Elizabeth and I walked to El Santuario from Our Lady of
Guadalupe church near Jacona. Our 12-mile journey took three and a half
hours. We were happy to reach the Church. Elizabeth was observing
Passover. I am not Catholic, but I've made the pilgrimage now for the
past 13 years -- the first year from the seat of a wheel chair. It
didn't take much to convince me to keep going back every year!
Once inside the tiny church, people scoop the holy dirt into little
plastic bags to take home with them. Scooping is frenetic. Some People
utter prayers or recite the Hail Mary as they scoop. Some people make
off with great quantities of blessed dirt. Others apply the dirt to
their afflictions in the prayer room next door to the altar. I content
myself with a small amount of dirt -- I figure since it's holy, a pinch
goes a long way.
Holy dirt purists gather their dirt from the actual hole where the
mysterious crucifix first appeared nearly 100 years ago. The holy pit
is located in a tiny room off the prayer room.
The prayer room holds crutches that were discarded by the healed as well as a
number of religious folk art pieces, many home made. It is always nice to
see the additions that appear from year to year. This year's
favorite newcomer for me was a beautiful handmade Glitter Jesus. I like
the simplicity and clean graphic quality of the Glitter Jesus more than
I liked His nearby neighbor, the Ostentatious Frame with Satin Jesus.
Vendors have taken root outside the Santuario and it environs these
days. Pilgrims can buy burritos (meatless and meaty varieties),
sno-cones, nachos and roasted sweet corn, as well as religious
accouterments such as holy water vials, crucifixes and candles.
Mercifully, they are not yet serving Funnel Cake or Giant Turkey Leg at
the Santuario. One person who was selling huge rugs had set up shop
right next door to the Santuario. What I found most disturbing about
the rug vendor's display is that it forced me to ponder who is the
greater super hero: Spider Man or Jesus. I think I know the answer to
that one ...
Happy Easter everyone!
James Rickman
Photography © 2003 James Rickman
Craig's Picture of the Day © 2003 Craig Hollabaugh
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