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The Lord of Miracles Venerated In Chapel Hill
On October 27, a Mass and procession at St. Thomas More Church in Chapel Hill honored El Señor de los Milagros – The Lord of Miracles. The Lord of Miracles is actually a centuries-old painting on the wall of a church in Lima, Peru, and the celebration in that country lasts almost the entire month of October. In fact, October is known in Lima as el mes morado, the purple month, after the purple robes worn by societies of men and women devoted to the icon.
According to tradition, in 1651 an Angolan slave who had converted to Catholicism painted a picture of Christ on the cross on the wall of a building in the outskirts of Lima, and people began gathering to pray there. Four years later an earthquake struck the city, and the entire building collapsed except for the wall adorned with the painting. After that, 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, and officials eventually relented and built a church on the site – the church of Las Nazarenas. In the centuries that have followed the image has repeatedly survived earthquakes that devastated much of the city.
In Chapel Hill, Father Marcos Leon celebrated Mass with a replica of El Senor de los Milagros in the sanctuary. Then devotees of the icon, dressed in purple robes, carried a retablo, a raised platform with images of Our Lord and Mary, around the church property, as women participants incensed the images. “The incense,” Father Leon explained, “symbolizes our prayers going to heaven.”
Afterwards, the worshipers gathered for food specific to the celebration: turrón (a sweet layered pastry), anticuchos (grilled meat on skewers), and picarones (sweet fritters made with pumpkin or squash).
