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Workshop on knowledge, data mining, information processing April 9 at Lab

Monday, April 01, 2002

On the road to Santuario de Chimayo

Good Friday draws thousands of people each year to the Santuario de Chimayo. Pilgrims from far and near fill the roads on the way to the church, some carrying crosses or other paraphernalia. Once the journey is over, people can sometimes wait hours in line to enter the small church so they can take home a small bag of dirt purported to have healing powers. The Santuario's history began around 1810 when, as stories have it, a young friar noticed a bright light coming from a hillside. Digging at the location of the light, the friar found a crucifix. He took it to a nearby church. That night the crucifix disappeared. The friar found it in the hole where he had dug previously. He took the crucifix back to the church. It disappeared and was located again at the site of the light. The same series of events are reported to have happened again, at which time the friar and his associates decided to erect a church at the spot. They built the Santuario, and soon word spread that dirt from the hole in the back of the church had healing powers. The Santuario de Chimayo is listed in some travel publications as "The Lourdes of the United States." Photos by James E. Rickman, Public Affairs

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