Ric Francis

OUR LORD OF MIRACLES

Peruvians have an annual celebration in honor of Our Lord of Miracles (Senor de los Milagros). It is marked by an outdoor mass and procession.

Our Lord of Miracles is rooted in African culture. According to tradition, in 1651 an enslaved man from Angola, who had converted to Catholicism, painted the depiction of Christ crucified on the wall of a building in Lima. In 1655 a major earthquake hit the area destroying the building but the wall adorned with the painting was unharmed. Another earthquake, in 1687, caused the building to collapse and again the wall with the painted image remained intact. This cemented the importance of the image to the faithful.

A replica of the image (with the Virgin Mary on one side) was created and is taken out in procession through the streets of Peru annually. The veneration of the image has national as well as international significance and it is associated with miraculous incidents.

Thousands of Peruvians gather downtown to celebrate Senor de los Milagros (Our Lord of Miracles).
  
A man sells photographs marking the celebration of Senor de los Milagros (Our Lord of Miracles) in downtown Lima.
  
Peruvians gather downtown to celebrate Senor de los Milagros (Our Lord of Miracles).
     
  
Peruvians gathered downtown to celebrate Senor de los Milagros (Our Lord of Miracles) wait for the procession bearing his image.
  
Women dressed in traditional purple capes watch as a procession carrying a painting adorned with the image of Our Lord of Miracles arrives.
  
A child is held aloft before the image of Senor de los Milagros (Our Lord of Miracles).
     
  
Women dressed in traditional purple capes offer blessings to those following the procession of Our Lord of Miracles.
   
The faithful greet the procession bearing the image of Our Lord of Miracles.
   
Thousands of Peruvians gathered at an outdoor mass and procession in honor of Our Lord of Miracles (Senor de los Milagros). It's the country's most widely attended religious event and was founded by Afro-Peruvians.
     
  
A woman dressed in a traditional purple cape follows the procession of Our Lord of Miracles.
  
Peruvians position themselves to view the procession of Our Lord of Miracles as the painting adorned with his image is returned to the Church of Nazarenas.
   
The procession bearing the image of Our Lord of Miracles heads back to the Church of Nazarenas.