- Peregrine
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Editor Pick
Santuario De Chimayo
- March 22, 2008
- Rated 4 of 5 by
MikeInTown from Norristown, Pennsylvania
El Santuario de Chimayo is located in the small town of Chimayo, approximately 30 scenic miles north of Santa Fe. This quaint Spanish-style Catholic church is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.
The mystery that has made El Santuario de Chimayo legendary occurred in 1807 when a friar dug up a crucifix he was draw to by a light emanating from a hillside. Although the friar, relocated the crucifix to a church in Santa Cruz, NM several times, the cross always ended up in the same pit in Chimayo where it was originally found. After the third time the cross disappeared from Santa Cruz and reappeared in Chimayo, it was decided to leave it in Chimayo. A small chapel was built on this holy ground. Soon after, people began to tell stories of the miraculous healing they received from visiting the chapel. A larger shrine had to be built in 1816 as more and more people came to the site hoping to be healed.
We took a look inside the dark, rustic sanctuary but did not linger. The 11 AM mass was going to begin soon. Worshippers had already arrived and were praying the rosary aloud.
The original crucifix found in 1807 can still be seen on the altar of the main sanctuary, but it is the miraculous healing powers of the dirt pit in the chapel attached to the church that continues to draw visitors.
We entered the tiny chapel and saw the mementos left by the people that have been healed. They've left behind their crutches, canes, photos, and more. At the back of the chapel, there is a room containing the small, round dirt pit. There were two small sand shovels in the pit and some disposable cups on the window sill for visitors that wanted to take some of the dirt. Outside the chapel, I saw a few people rubbing the dirt on their bodies.
There are a handful of souvenir shacks on the premises that sell mainly religious items. The vendors are so friendly and pleasant to talk to. One of the shopkeepers was telling us that during Holy Week (week before Easter), more than 10,000 pilgrims come to Chimayo to pray and see the live Stations of the Cross reenactment. She has met people that have walked from as far as Albuquerque - 90 miles away!
There is a sign in the back of the main sanctuary indicating the Catholic Church has not officially recognized any miracles in Chimayo. The dirt comes from the surrounding desert and is blessed by the pastor just as he would bless water and other items to make them holy. However, spending a short time here and seeing all the testimonial items people have left behind, it is not a stretch of the imagination to believe that something extraordinary is going on here. My wife and I agreed that of all the places we visited during our road trip, El Santuario de Chimayo felt the most sacred.
From journal Santa Fe and Around the Way
Editor Pick
El Santuario de Chimayo
- June 13, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
beckilena from Fort Collins, Colorado
During our drive from Taos to Santa Fe we stopped off in a town called Chimayo. This small rural New Mexican town is the home of El Santuario de Chimayo—the oldest church in the United States. The Adobe building of El Santuario was built between 1814 and 1816 but was rebuilt as a Romanesque style church in 1888. On July 19, 1850, Pope Pius IX created the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico and appointed Father Jean Baptiste Lamy as its first Bishop. Bishop Lamy arrived in New Mexico in the summer of 1851. Lamy worked mainly with the construction of new churches, the creation of new parishes, and the establishment of new educational and medical facilities. Archbishop Lamy died on February 14, 1888 and is buried under the sanctuary floor of his beloved St. Francis Cathedral. Close to 300,000 people come to El Santuario a year as a kind of spiritual pilgrimage. Upon entering the church you are confronted with evidence of healing all around you. The walls are covered floor to ceiling with devotional images and statuary of Christ. There's an array of crutched to the left as you enter as evidence of some sort of healing. The walls are also covered in photographs that are left behind of loved ones in need of healing or letters. One prominent letter speaks of a blind man and his pilgrimage to this specific site. There is a small room towards the back of the side entrance that houses the healing dirt. There is a hole in the floor of the church and a shovel, encouraging you to take some of the healing dirt of Chimayo. As you enter the place of worship there is an incredible Spanish Colonial altar piece. Services are still held here and many people are there praying, so I suggest being respectful and quiet, refraining from taking pictures and instead support this establishment by purchasing the post cards in the gift shop. As we were exiting a woman there gave us a prayer candle to light and thanked us for coming. The grounds around the church also offer a place for worship or quiet contemplation. The chain linked fences separating the church from the nearby stream are covered in main shift crosses that people construct and leave behind as a kind of marker. There was a little boy selling bing cherries in the parking lot locally grown on his parents land and if you see him there it is a bargain for $2 a bag. The church has no funding and recently fell upon hard times with their septic system so be prepared to make a small donation or at least pick up something in the gift shop.
From journal Weekend Excursion in Santa Fe
Editor Pick
El Santuario de Chimayo
- March 26, 2002
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Peregrine from , New Mexico
The Santuario is a beautiful old adobe church (built in 1816) and one of the most recognizable landmarks in New Mexico, thanks to hundreds of paintings and photographs of its exterior. It is also one of the most revered and has acquired the nickname "Lourdes of New Mexico".
We were here a week before Easter and the roadsides were already crowded with people making the annual pilgrimage to El Santuario. Some walked alone, some in groups, some carried crosses, others swigged long-neck beers. Now and again, we spotted a pair of porta-potties along the roadside. By Good Friday, the trickle of pilgrims walking from Santa Fe and Española would swell to thousands making their way to Chimayo.
It is a small church and the inside has heavy, carved vigas supporting the ceiling, carved pews, a beautifully painted alter screen, and retablos throughout the church. We were there during Mass, and the church was filled to capacity and then some as pilgrims crowded the courtyard outside the main doors.
The focus of the annual pilgrimage is the healing powers that comes from dirt taken from a small hole in the ground behind the alter. Early in the 19th century a local friar saw light burst from a hillside wherein was found a crucifix. Each time the crucifix was taken to a nearby church, it reappeared in the hole where it was found. Eventually, the friar caught on and the crucifix remains Chimayo, but it is the dirt from the pit where the cross was found, that seems to have the powers to heal, as is evidenced by the room near the alter filled with crutches no longer needed by their owners.
The church is well worth a detour off the main highway. Chimayo is one of the little towns on the High Road to Taos (think The Milagro Beanfield War which was filmed a bit further north in Truchas). Once you turn off Hwy 285, the road winds its way through the cottonwoods, giving up glimpses of adobe houses along the way. Then you turn a corner, come out of the trees, and the whole world is spread before you. This is the New Mexico landscape I just adore. Red earth, sculpted by the wind of eons, hills blending in series until they disappear on the horizon dotted with the dark green of juniper and piñon.
There is a small gift shop outside the church and a taco and burger place, though I’d recommend going down the street to Rancho de Chimayo for a meal.
From journal The City Different