Santuario de Chimayo

My favorite place that I visited while in New Mexico was the Santuario de Chimayo, a sacred shrine just north of Santa Fe. The story goes that about 200 years ago the sanctuary cross from a nearby church began disappearing every night and miraculously appearing in a small family chapel in town. As this started to happen, many people were healed and experienced an awakening of their faith.

Today, the small family chapel has been made a shrine and is maintained by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Thousands of pilgrims travel to the shrine each year! The dirt of Chimayo is said to be sacred and visitors are encouraged to take some of it as a remembrance of God's faithfulness.

The area is very conducive for prayer. Multiple statues have been erected on prayer walks throughout the tiny campus and a catechetical chapel in honor of Santo Nino de Atocha has been built as well. The chapel is brightly colored to appeal to children and houses a statue of Santo Nino. Surrounding the statue and chapel are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pairs of baby shoes representing infants and children being lifted up in prayer. The sight of this devotion is overwhelming!

I have attached a picture of the Santo Nino statue and some of the shoes. Anyone interested in learning more about Chimayo should start here: http://chimayo.us/.

Peace turtles!