Santuario de Chimayo, September 27

This past Saturday we went with friends to the Santuario de Chimayo in northern New Mexico.  This holy place has been a center for healing and prayer since 1806, when a farmer discovered a cross at the site.  Pilgrims come and scoop up "holy dirt" to use for healing, as others do with water from Lourdes.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the churches or the chapel of dirt, so words will have to suffice.  Entering a small room, we saw a wall of abandoned crutches from people who no longer needed them.  In the center of the room is a small hole where the dirt is.  People can scoop up a bit of dirt, so we did.  I have no idea where the dirt comes from - it must be replenished, but no details are given.
There is a beautiful chapel done in the New Mexican style, dating from the 1830s.  Another tiny chapel holds reserved sacrament in exposition.  But the most powerful chapel is the children's chapel.  Walls are covered with photos of children who died, and of children to be prayed for.  There are dozens of baby shoes, in honor of the tradition that when Jesus' family fled to Egypt, they had no time even to put on his shoes.  There is simply an overflow of love here.
Another chapel honors the mix of cultures in this place.  An altar shows a Native American version of the Last Supper.  I'm trying to upload a photo.  It reminds me of the complicated history of Christianity in this place.  Catholicism was imposed on the indigenous peoples, but over centuries they have made it theirs in distinctive ways.
Chimayo is like much of northern New Mexico - standing between cultures, between times.  I'm not exactly "in" the faith it represents, but I can feel the love and the pain and the hope that people bring there.  Please pray for all those in search of healing today.