El Camino del Norte a Chimayó Pilgrimage
A route to America's
popular pilgrim destination.
An effort was made in the summer of 2012 to create a pilgrim
route to the Santuario de Chimayó in northern New Mexico
beginning in Denver, Colorado. Chimayó is a popular pilgrim
destination in the US
with tens of thousands of pilgrims making the pilgrimage by foot every year,
particularly during Holy Week.
Unlike the caminos in Spain, no network of pilgrim houses
exists appropriately spaced to facilitate the pilgrimage. The feasibility of a
pilgrim house system in Colorado and northern New Mexico was tested in
the pioneer effort. The route originates in Denver,
crosses the mountains between Monument and Woodland
Park, again at Cripple
Creek to Canon City, and into the San Luis Valley at Pass Creek
Pass.
On 20 July 2012 a handful of peregrinos (pilgrims) left Our
Lady of Guadalupe church in Denver, Colorado to embark on the first organized pilgrimage to
travel along the backroads of Colorado and
northern New Mexico
to El Santuario de Chimayó. They hope to inspire the creation of El Camino del
Norte a Chimayó, a pilgrimage route similar to that of Camino de Santiago de
Compostela (The Way of Saint James) which passes through the southern tip of
France and northern Spain.
Twenty days and 360 miles later the remnants of that
original group arrived at Chimayó. The peregrinos entered the Shrine dedicated
to Santa Niño de Atocha, the patron saint of peregrinos. At the Santo Niño de
Atocha shrine they entered the tiny Prayer Room to give thanks for their safe
completion of this pilgrimage.
It is hoped that this pilgrimage will serve as a focal point
for the establishment of a permanent camino route to serve those individuals
who seek the enlightenment that inevitably occurs from such a physical and
spiritual journey.
Anyone interested in making this pilgrimage is encouraged to
contact the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at 303 477 1402 or the Santuario de
Chimayo at 505 351 9961.
[ this text taken from http://www.elsantuariodechimayo.us/ ]
El Santuario de Chimayo
The Legend of "Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas"
Legend has it that the Santuario de Chimayo, also called the
Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas, was built after a local friar
performing penances saw a strange light burst from a hillside near the Santa
Cruz River.
Curious, the friar sought the source of the light, which was
coming from the ground. Dropping to his knees and digging in the sandy soil
with his bare hands, he uncovered a crucifix, later christened Nuestro Señor de
Esquipulas.
Three times this crucifix was taken in procession to the neighboring
village and three times it disappeared, only to be found again back in its hole
in the hillside. Deciding that Our Lord of Esquipulas wanted to stay in
Chimayo, the people built a small chapel on the site of the discovery.
Soon the miraculous healings began, and by 1816 the original
chapel had been replaced by the current Santuario.
An Historical Overview of El Santuario de Chimayo
The compound maintained by the Sons of the Holy Family
contains two buildings of particular historical significance. The first is El
Santuario de Chimayo, the tiny shrine that is built on the site of what many
believe to be a miracle associated with the crucifix of "Nuestro Señor de
Esquipulas" (Our Lord of Esquipulas). El Santuario de Chimayo is also the site
of "el pocito" the small pit of Holy Dirt which many people attribute
as possessing remarkable curative powers.
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