Monthly Newsletter - October 2008

Every October in Lima there is a host of ceremonies to celebrate Lima’s patron saint: El Señor de los Milagros, or ‘The Lord of Miracles’. Thousands of people gather to participate in South America’s chief procession – amongst the largest of its kind in the world - in what is one of Peru’s most significant catholic festivities.

HISTORY

El Señor de los Milagros is symbolised by an image of Jesus Christ that was painted in colonial times by an Angolan slave on the walls of a poor church in the Pachacamilla plantation. The painting, also known as ‘The Black Christ’ and the ‘Christ of Pachacamilla’, portrays a dark skinned Jesus Christ on the crucifix. Above the cross are God and the Holy Spirit; depicted below is the Virgin Mary with her heart punctured with a spear of sadness; and Mary Magdalene appears on the bottom right. The image was highly controversial during the Spanish Viceroyalty and withstood the many endeavours of the colonial ecclesiastical hierarchy to erase it (which peculiarly included mysterious illnesses to those who were commissioned to do so).

Over the course of almost one hundred years, three natural disasters hit Lima. The violent earthquake of 1746 was the last wherein the church wall bearing the image again remained, miraculously standing amidst the rubble. News that the wall had astonishingly survived, yet again, spread and the swarms of followers quickly gathered to partake in a magnificent procession. Legend has it that the ground stopped quaking as the procession advanced. Thus, Señor de los Milagros joined rank with Santa Rosa, whom at the time was Lima’s only patron saint of 75 years.

The Church of the Nazarenas has been constructed around the legendary wall and the painting has been elevated and mounted in silver. In a vision, one of the Nazarene nuns responsible with the protection of the painting received the design of a purple habit. Originally, the religious garment was to be use for the nuns of the church. However, avid devotees adapted the design for its use in the three-day procession.

In modern times, the powerfully religious image has become the most venerated in all of Lima and is fiercely protected by the city’s clergymen.

CELEBRATION

October or “purple month”, marks the celebration of El Señor de los Milagros with the main event taking place on the 18th; the 24 hour procession begins at the Church of Las Nazarenas. Christ’s image sits atop an elaborate 2 ton litter that is adorned with silver, gold and flowers. It is carried by a select few followers dressed in purple tunics – the symbolic color of the saint. They pray and sing hymns solemnly as they cross downtown Lima heading for the church of La Merced in Barrios Altos, where the procession is completed.

Hundreds of thousands of people gather on the streets of Lima to join the procession which advances amidst clouds of incense and tolling church bells, and many hope to benefit from miraculous healing powers that the saint is said to possess. Vendors are at hand to provide festival goers with a delicious array of Peruvian foods and desserts, including the famous soft nougat candy made almost exclusively in October: Turrón de Doña Pepa.

October is also marked by a popular bullfighting season which bears the same name as the procession. It is held at the Plaza de Acho bullring which dates back centuries, and is attended by some of the most prolific bullfighters from Spain and Latin America. A host of concerts and a firework display also set the festival alight with the spirit of Latin fiesta.

This year, you can take part in the celebrations in September with a customized tour package of Lima. Please contact our travel advisors for more information on the procession or for tickets to the bullfight!

By Simon Ross-Gill & Stephanie Byrd

Source:
Hermandad del Señor de los Milagros de Baltimore
iexplore
PerúTravelsNet
Time
Wikipedia

PAST NEWSLETTERS:

• Newsletter August 2008
• Newsletter July 2008
• Newsletter June 2008
• Newsletter May 2008
• Newsletter April 2008
• Newsletter February 2008
• Newsletter January 2008