El Senor de los Milagros in Pachacamac
Two days from now, October 18, Lima will be gripped by El Señor de los Milagros fever. That’s the day when hundreds of thousands of purple-clad devotees take part in an elaborate street procession to celebrate a 350-year-old miraculous Christ icon.
(See my post on “Purple Month and the Lord of the Miracles,” Oct. 10, 2008).
While Lima’s procession draws the largest crowds, towns throughout Peru celebrate with equal fervor.
Images made of flower petals are painstakingly arranged along processional routes, to be trod upon by hundreds of devotees singing, chanting and carrying a replica of the miraculous Christ image. Children, parents and elders take part. Some people fall on their knees and weep, imploring El Señor to protect their loved ones in the coming year.
I was particularly drawn to these images from a procession for El Senor de los Milagros held in Pachacamac, about half an hour south of Lima. They’re posted on Pachacamac, Peru, a website maintained by the city of Pachacamac, which also is home to one of the most extensive pre-Columbian ruins in Peru. (Click here to learn about ongoing archeological explorations at the site.)
These photos show the face of small-town Peru: ordinary people of humble means, but possessed of great faith in something beyond:
A tagline under the uncredited photographs reads:
Somos pequeños instrumentos, pero muchos pequeños instrumentos en las manos de Dios pueden hacer milagros…
Barbara
I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.
2 Comments
Ward Welvaert
Those are great pictures. The procession of Señor de los Milagros was held in our neighborhood here in Cusco on Oct 12. Here are some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28078186@N08/2954416837/
Regards,
Ward Welvaert
A US – Belgian expat in Peru. What the heck do stamps in a passport mean anyway?
http://www.lifeinperu.com
Barb
Ward, I enjoyed visiting your blog for the first time and checking out the photos. It seems that El Senor de los Milagros is everywhere these days (hmmmm).
I see on your blog that you’ve assigned your business students in Cusco a hypothetical exercise setting up a coffee shop on the Plaza de Armas. What a great exercise! (Readers of this blog: visit Ward’s site and look under entries for September.)
Maybe funding exists to make the project a reality in Cusco. Given the infiltration of US conglomerates on the Plaza de Armas, there is a growing sense that Peru-based businesses should be given preference there. A person who’s talented at writing grants could leverage that perspective into grant dollars for supporting a local business (maybe a cafe that features local or organic coffee). That way you’d be helping farmers as well.