{"id":34734,"date":"2023-04-10T13:32:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T19:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/faith-guides-catholic-pilgrims-to-historic-new-mexico-sites\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:20:21","slug":"faith-guides-catholic-pilgrims-to-historic-new-mexico-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/faith-guides-catholic-pilgrims-to-historic-new-mexico-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith guides Catholic pilgrims to historic New Mexico sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jaime
Jaime Gonzales, from Rio Rancho, and other family members carry a 150-pound cross along Santa Fe County Road 98 on their way to Santuario de Chimayo, Friday, April 7, 2023. Thousands of people made the Good Friday pilgrimage to the sacred Northern New Mexico church. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thousands of Catholics made the trek to a historic adobe church in the hills of northern New Mexico as part of a Holy Week tradition that spans generations, carrying heavy wooden crosses and praying as they make their way through the high desert landscape.<\/p>\n

El Santuario de Chimay\u00f3 just north of Santa Fe, is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage centers in the U.S. Some travelers are drawn to the holy dirt, believed to have healing powers. Others come to see Nuestro Se\u00f1or de Esquipulas, a crucifix that, according to legend, was discovered at the site in the early 1800s.<\/p>\n

Most pilgrims begin the journey on Good Friday, with state transportation workers, law enforcement agencies and other volunteers stationed along the roadways to ensure safety.<\/p>\n

In an Easter message, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester reflected Thursday on the season and urged the faithful to be mindful of how they can promote peace and help their neighbors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are called to promote the sanctity of human life, to defend the rights of the oppressed, to search out the lost, and to offer prayers for the good of our church and the world,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The Santa Fe Archdiocese is one of the oldest in the U.S. and is made up of many missions that date back centuries, to when Spanish conquistadors and the priests who traveled with them sought to convert to Christianity the pueblo people who lived throughout the Rio Grande Valley and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

Pueblo people who inhabited the Chimay\u00f3 area long before the Spanish conquest believed that healing spirits were to be found in the form of hot springs. Those springs ultimately dried up, leaving behind earth many still believe to have healing powers.<\/p>\n

A National Historic Landmark, El Santuario de Chimay\u00f3 is decorated with original examples of 19th century Hispanic religious folk art, including santos and religious frescoes. The walls of one room are covered with notes of thanks from those who say they had ailments cured, while discarded canes and braces are meant to serve as proof that miracles happen at El Santuario.<\/p>\n

In central New Mexico, pilgrims also make the trek to El Cerro de Tom\u00e9, a small hill that rises up from the Rio Grande floodplain. Three crosses sit at the top of the hill and hundreds of petroglyphs on the basalt rocks that make up the landmark serve as evidence that the spot has been a focus of ceremonies and prayers for centuries.<\/p>\n

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Catholic
Catholic pilgrims pray at the top of Tome Hill, in Los Lunas, N.M., as part of an annual Good Friday pilgrimage, Friday, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo\/Felicia Fonseca)<\/span>Felicia Fonseca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Catholic
Catholic pilgrims journey to the top of Tome Hill as part of an annual Good Friday pilgrimage, in Los Lunas, N.M., Friday, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo\/Felicia Fonseca)<\/span>Felicia Fonseca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Catholic
Catholic pilgrims journey to Tome Hill, in Los Lunas, N.M., as part of an annual Good Friday pilgrimage, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo\/Felicia Fonseca)<\/span>Felicia Fonseca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ezequiel
Ezequiel Reyes, left, and Roberto Gomez, from Albuquerque, catch their breath at a cross on a hill, alongside Santa Fe County Road 98, on their way to Santuario de Chimayo, Friday, April 7, 2023. They have walked from Buffalo Thunder Resort. Thousands of people made the Good Friday pilgrimage to the sacred Northern New Mexico church. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Catholic
Catholic pilgrims journey to Tome Hill as part of an annual Good Friday pilgrimage, in Los Lunas, N.M., Friday, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo\/Felicia Fonseca)<\/span>Felicia Fonseca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"People
People walk and drive along Santa Fe County Road 98 to get to the Santuario de Chimayo during a Good Friday pilgrimage, Friday, April 7, 2023. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Javier
Javier Lopez, Raul Gonzales and Jaime Gonzales, from Rio Rancho, take turns carrying a 150-pound cross along Santa Fe County Road 98 on their way the Santuario de Chimayo, Friday, April 7, 2023. Thousands of people made the Good Friday pilgrimage to the sacred Northern New Mexico church. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jesus
Jesus Valdez, from Albuquerque, walks along Santa Fe County Road 98, on his way to Santuario de Chimayo, Friday, April 7, 2023. Thousands of people made the Good Friday pilgrimage to the sacred Northern New Mexico church. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Eddie Moore<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gonzales, from Rio Rancho, and other family members carry a 150-pound cross along Santa Fe County Road 98 on their way to Santuario de Chimayo, Friday, April 7, 2023. Thousands of people made the Good Friday pilgrimage to the sacred Northern New Mexico church. (Eddie Moore\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)Eddie Moore Thousands of Catholics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-34734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82719,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34734\/revisions\/82719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34734"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=34734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}