El Santuario dE Chimayó
The
journey For the faithful making their way to this beloved shrine, the Good Friday pilgrimage is a public — and yet, intensely personal — reflection on hope A crucifix overlooks Juan Medina Road during the pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó on Good Friday. luiS SáNChez SaturNo/the New mexiCaN
Caroline Lujan makes her first pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó in 20 years on Good Friday, to honor her mother, who died five years ago. photoS by Gabriela CampoS/the New mexiCaN
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t had been 20 years since Caroline Lujan’s first pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó, when she walked alongside her mother for more than 100 miles from their hometown of Chilili in Bernalillo County. Her mother died about five years ago. Just a couple of miles from the santuario Thursday, Lujan became emotional, remembering her mother and praying for other loved ones who have died in recent years. “This cross is to honor her,” said Lujan, 58, carrying a miniature crucifix across her shoulder on a handmade rosary of white beads. She’s embarked on many pilgrimages across the state, she said, but returning to this place — the beloved 19th-century Roman Catholic shrine in the Northern New Mexico village of Chimayó — was her “ultimate” experience. Each year during Holy Week, tens of thousands of people visit the santuario, a National Historic Landmark built at the site where a wooden crucifix was unearthed over 200 years ago. The crucifix hangs in the shrine’s chapel. In an adjoining room is a pit holding soil that many believe has healing power. They make the pilgrimage in pursuit of a miracle. At the start of Lujan’s first trek to the santuario two decades ago, she said four white doves had flown alongside her, her mother and two other family members. When the other two pilgrims turned back, she said, a couple of the doves also disappeared. As she and her mother reached
the shrine, four doves were perched atop it, appearing ready for their arrival. “It’s an amazing story,” she said, clutching her rosary. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.” About halfway through this week’s 100-mile journey, a trek spread over four days, Lujan said she saw another white dove. She believes it was no coincidence. “She’s watching over me,” she said of her mother. As she walked, she prayed, recited the rosary and sang “Amazing Grace” too many times to count. She also sang Spanish hymns passed down from her grandmother. Dimas Barela, her fiancé, drove along with her in a white pickup, glancing in his rearview mirror every few miles to make sure she was safe. He took her home each night when she grew tired and then, in the morning, drove her back to the spot where she had stopped. “I’m very blessed to have her,” Barela said. “She’s truly a prayer warrior.” Faith is her identity, Lujan said, and giving thanks to God has transformed her from the inside out. “It’s changed me into being more graceful, more kind, and to not get so angry,” she said. On the last stretch of her journey Thursday, Lujan’s pace quickened, her face lit with a smile. With the shrine in sight, she felt certain a white dove would be there to greet her.
‘this cross is to honor her’
Olivia Harlow
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