A spiritual journey


ANNA MACIAS AGUAYO | Associated Press
March 26, 2005

CHIMAYÓ — Betty Cordova has made a Holy Week pilgrimage to Santuario de Chimayó for 24 years.

The 66-year-old great grandmother wasn’t about to let a fractured ankle, her dependence on an oxygen tank and intermittent snow and rain keep her from finishing her 25th journey this Good Friday.

With encouragement from a large extended family, she walked eight miles along muddy dirt paths and paved roads with quiet determination to reach the sanctuary where many Catholics believe the soil has healing powers.

“Our Lord made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Why shouldn’t I make this sacrifice for him?” said a tearful Cordova, who also ails from diabetes, hypertension, the pain of knee and back surgeries and bouts of dementia. Her daughter helped her grab handfuls of sand from a hole in the sanctuary floor to rub on her knees and back.

Cordova is among the estimated 30,000 pilgrims who flocked to the tiny adobe church to keep alive an old Catholic tradition of making sacrifices and penance to atone for sins. The santuario will stay open day and night through Easter Sunday.

The Rev. Julio Gonzalez, pastor of the Chimayó parish, said many of the pilgrims — including some who carried with them heavy, life-sized wooden crosses — are seeking to emulate Jesus Christ.

“Most people flee from pain and suffering,” the priest said. “But in our Catholic teachings, suffering is not something that happens at random. It is something that teaches us lessons and helps us grow spiritually, if we accept it.”

The faithful

Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan held an early morning prayer service at the nearby Santa Cruz Cathedral, where he urged the faithful to walk with him as an expression of genuine faith.

“We do this whether there’s rain, sleet or snow,” the archbishop quipped. “We are not fair weather friends of the Lord.”

Clasping a wooden walking stick topped with a crucifix, he led about 50 pilgrims on a seven-mile hike over hilly terrain. Along the way, he joked with followers and blessed those who asked for his prayers.

“I’m walking for several intentions,” said David Medina, 50, of Albuquerque. “I’m praying for the needs of friends and family, for my own needs and for peace in the world.”

Medina started his 26-mile trek along the highway in the dark of night. En route, he befriended a man who was the victim of a shooting at the entrance of the sanctuary decades ago. Medina listened to the man’s story and helped him carry a heavy stick.

“I’m also fasting today to make the sacrifice greater,” Medina added.

Among the faithful who kept vigil at the church on Holy Thursday were the renown brotherhood of Penitentes, a group of men who offer God their own sufferings to redeem themselves and others of sins. The men chanted and prayed a 300-year-old version of the rosary.

“The pilgrims, like the Penitentes, have something in common,” Gonzalez said. “Through their journey here and their many sacrifices, they find a way to liberate themselves of their worries, anxieties and sins.”

The story of Christ’s suffering also was brought to life Thursday when Chimayó’s parishioners re-enacted Christ’s passion in a graphic play.

Faith Hutson, 40, said she found the play moving even though she’s not Catholic. “I came to Chimayó to reaffirm my faith as a Methodist,” she said. “This play really puts you in the mood for Holy Week. It makes me think that there is eternal hope for all of us.”

Believing in miracles

The Rev. Casimiro Roca, who helped found the shrine at Chimayó after it was donated to the archdiocese in 1929, said visitors this year would be impressed with the recent restoration of many of the sculpted saints and religious paintings that cover the santuario’s walls.

“I used to walk around the church talking to all the statues, telling them they were dirty and hadn’t washed their faces in 200 years,” the jovial priest said jokingly. “Now, I tell them they look pretty, clean and fit to be saints.”

Roca said he likes to dispel myths and superstitions about the santuario. “The dirt does not heal people,” he said. “It is Christ that makes miracles happen.”

Shelly LeBlanc of Albuquerque carried an ornate wooden cross 12 miles from the bottom of Nambé hill. The cross — decorated with rosaries, jewels and glitter — was painted with the names of three people in need of healing, including LeBlanc’s 18-year-old son, Lucas, who lives in Louisiana. LeBlanc said she was going to collect earth to send to her son, who has been sick after receiving an immunization shot when he was 4 months old. She said she hopes a paste of healing earth and holy water will help Lucas’ seizures and help him to not need his feeding tube or oxygen tank anymore.

“If God said to walk (the pilgrimage) every day for my son, I would do it,” said LeBlanc.

Safe walk

State police said this was a quiet year along the pilgrimage route, with no arrests, disturbances or major accidents. Roads were patrolled heavily by some 40 officers representing five law enforcement agencies.

Sheriff’s deputies worked with state and tribal police and fire departments this year and conducted the maiden voyage of their $278,000 Incident Command Vehicle. The 25-foot trailer was paid for with federal homeland-security funds and is a central command post for the more than 20 emergency agencies working together to keep pilgrims safe.

Solano said there were no major incidents, but some people were treated for exhaustion.

There were some sad tales of critters found on the walk, though.

Kate Rindy, director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, said by 4 p.m. Friday, nine dogs found on the walk were taken in by the shelter. She said during the days of the walk and just after it, the shelter picks up between five and 20 dogs every year.

“It happens in two ways. People take dogs with them and they get loose, and people abandon dogs at Chimayó, thinking people will take them in,” Rindy said.

She said most dogs that end up at the shelter are not wearing identification. She added that anyone who lost a dog on the walk should contact the shelter at 983-4309 and go by to look for their dog.

New Mexican staff writer Yasmin Khan contributed to this report.