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Pictures of the Celebration: |
Feast of the Lord of Miracles in Pacasmayo The school recently assumed by the Vicariate of
Chulucanas in Pacasmayo is named after “El Señor de los Milagros”, literally
translated, "The Lord of Miracles." It is the most universally popular
devotion throughout Peru and in a sense could be considered its “patron
saint” for the fact that the devotion e In Pacasmayo this is also not only the feast of the school, but also of a Sanctuary that is dedicated to the Lord of the Miracles. The sanctuary was build around 1960 by a local landowner and given to the Augustinian community that maintained the parish of Pacasmayo at that time. With both the school and the sanctuary dedicated to the
Lord of the Miracles, large numbers of people participate each year in the
feast. In order to allow greater participation, in Pacasmayo the feast is
always celebrated the last Sunday of October. This year Fr. Eleodoro
Villanueva presided at the vigil mass which was centered on the theme of the
Mother of God. Fr. John Lydon, with some of the professed students traveled
there from Trujillo to preside at the central mass of the feast with the
homily focusing on the contrast between lightness and darkness in the
painting and how that reflects upon our mission to reflect the light of
Christ in our world. The main mass was at 10 am and lasted close to two
hours. Then the painting is prepared for the afternoon procession through
the entire town. This begins at 4 pm and goes until 2 am. At 4pm the members of the cofraternity in charge of the organization of the feast day (the Hermandad del Señor de los Milagros) gathered in the church and with the band playing outside the procession began. All during the procession the sacred picture is carried by different volunteers and pauses at institutions that which to render homage to the crucified Lord. They paint on the street religious art, or they fill the street with flowers to give what is considered a dignified welcome to the Lord of Miracles. At the same time prayers and dances are offered giving a very typical festive mode. The procession moves forward slowly so that everyone has the opportunity of participating during some part of the 8 hour long devotion.
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xists
in every corner of the country. Its history is rooted in the 1650’s when a
powerful earthquake caused the collapse of most of colonial Lima. A wall
with a painting of the crucifixion on it remained standing. It was a
painting done by an artist who was an African slave (Peru like most of the
Americas participated in the African slave trade and many African blacks
were brought to Peru). The wall stood in disrepair for 15 years before it
started to become a place of prayer for the afro community in Lima. Because
of the earthquake and the surviving wall, the painting became popular as a
source of protection against future earthquakes destroying the city once
again. Eventually in 1687 a painting reproduction of the wall crucifixion
scene was done on wood so that it could be taken out in procession to
protect the city from earthquake devastation. From that time the tradition
of the Lord of the Miracles spread to all parts of Peru and the procession,
held annually on the 18th and 28th of October is one
of the largest processions in the world with almost 2 million participants
in Lima.
