Outside Reading (2): Skylar Minick

El Santuario de Chimayo: 

        El Santuario de Chimayo is a small church located in the center of a small village named El Potrero. The church is widely known across the country for its special origin and supposed powers. This little unassuming church is so popular it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, most who are on a sacred journey or pilgrimage to experience what this holy structure has to offer.  While there are a few stories about how El Santuario de Chimayo gained its healing abilities and earned its special place as a sacred site, the most widely accepted is a story that begins with the man Don Bernardo Abeyta. In 1810, on the holy night of Good Friday, Abeyta observed a beam of light peeking out from the hills near a river in Chimayo. Naturally, he followed this light to find it was originating from the ground, then he began to dig. He unveiled a crucifix. His next move was to alert the priest, who decided to seize the crucifix and relocate it to his church in Santa Cruz. However, the crucifix did not stay put overnight and it was found the next morning back at its original location. This led them to believe that is where their lord Esquipulas resided. It was then Abeyta had a vision that the grounds where the crucifix lie would also bring great healing powers. Having come in contact with something so divine Abeyta pleaded for a chapel to be erected on the site to preserve the site and to give glory to their lord. People come from all over to be in the presence of the site where the crucifix lied. In fact, under the chapel or shrine, the sandy earth that covers the ground is the very earth that was said to have healing powers in Abeyta’s vision. Some who visit for that divine power, mix the earth with water, and ingest it, or apply it to the surface of the skin. This site attracts as many as 300,000 pilgrims to voyage there each year, due to its miraculous healing powers. 

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