HUNTERSVILLE — In Peru Our Savior is also known as “El Señor de los Milagros,” the Lord of Miracles. Parishioners at St. Mark Church paid homage to El Señor and their Peruvian heritage with a novena, Mass (offered by Father Brian Becker) and an outdoor procession coinciding with the feast day of the Lord of Miracles, Oct. 28.
The Huntersville celebration echoed larger celebrations in Lima, Peru, which run Oct. 18-28 each year.
The origin of the miraculous image of “El Señor de los Milagros” dates back to 1650, when an unknown Angolan slave painted it on an adobe wall in Lima.
Other black slaves began gathering around it to worship the Crucified Lord on Friday nights. In 1655, a powerful earthquake devastated Lima, almost destroying the city. However, the wall where “El Señor” was painted remained undamaged, and people began venerating the image. The first procession took place in 1687, after another massive earthquake shook Lima.
Women called “sahumadoras” (“incensers”), dressed in purple robes and white ropes and their heads covered with white veils, and men called “cargadores” (“carriers”), also clad in purple robes and white ropes – members of the “Hermandad de Cargadores y Sahumadoras del Señor de los Milagros del Perú” (“Confraternity of Carriers and Incensers”) – led the outdoor procession of a replica image on the campus of St. Mark Church.
— Photos provided by Amy Burger
