This was literally going on outside my front door this afternoon. The devotees dress in purple tunics and carry this large frame with the image of the Lord of the Miracles for hours. It weighs at least a ton. A band playing solemn music follows the procession. Women walking in front of the procession carry large incense burners and sing hymns.
In the back there is an image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus:
This gentleman was lifting up babies and small children to touch and kiss the image:
I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo, but a few ladies and teenage boys were also helping to carry the frame:
Carlos preferred to watch from the porch:
You know, when I first saw this procession about two years ago I thought it was a New Orleans type funeral. I even told Carlos that it was the kind of funeral I wanted when the time came. He looked at me like I was crazy (he does that quite often) and said "Lynne that's not a funeral, that's something the people from Peru do!" I am such a dummy!
Well it's starting to get dark-I'm going to see if this procession is still going on. I think I still hear the band playing. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Peruvian culture.
Psssst-you can also click on the photos to see the beautiful details especially the first two pictures.
4 comments:
very interesting. it's a yearly thing? is there any significance to this date? how long did it last?
Diana the following is from www.kleph.com:
"The Lord of Miracles, or El Señor de los Milagros as it is known in Spanish, is actually a centuries-old painting on the wall of a relatively obscure church in central Lima.
According to tradition, in 1651 a slave who had converted to Catholicism painted the depiction of Christ on the cross on the wall of a building in the outskirts of Lima where new devotees to the faith gathered to pray.
When a devastating earthquake struck the city four years later the entire building collapsed except for the wall adorned with the painting. Over the next several decades, the image became associated with miraculous incidents. More and more people, particularly the descendents of slaves, began to worship at the site.
This concerned both the church and Spanish authorities and, in 1671 the image was ordered destroyed. According to legend, workers were not able to do so. But, for whatever reason, officials eventually relented and built a proper church on the site – the church of the church of Las Nazarenas.
When another huge earthquake struck Lima in 1687, the chapel was destroyed but, once again, the wall adorned with the painting remained standing. This cemented the importance of the image to the faithful and church leaders ordered a painting of the image to be taken out in procession that October – the tradition that continues to this day.
It is the earthquake of October 28, 1746, that cemented the image’s importance to Lima and Peru. The disaster claimed more than 18,000 lives and almost every building was leveled. All 74 churches and 14 monastic buildings in the city were seriously damaged including the church of the church of Las Nazarenas.
Yet, once again, the image and the wall that held it were unscathed. From that time, the importance of the image to Peru has grown dramatically."
I believe in Peru the procession lasts for 24 hours, but in my neighborhood it started at noon and lasted until sundown.
Very nice pictures ,Lynne and very interesting to read!Sorry but I never heard before from this procession. But know I learnt from you about this event.Thank you!
Steffi ;O)
Hello!
Beautiful pictures! What a procession!
greetings Tina
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