El Santuario de Chimayo - A Place of Prayer

As far as anyone can remember, people have sought out Chimayo as a place of prayer; first there were Indians, then the Spaniards and the Mexicans, and now people from all nations.

If it weren’t for the modern road that leads almost to the front door of the church, an old footpath worn in the soil by millions of feet, it would still be visible.

The people who come here know that prayer is a way of communication with God, and whether it is because of the sacred earth, the camaraderie of the pilgrimage, or the peace and quiet of the location, many people who come to Chimayo say that they feel closer to God at the little chapel. When they offer their prayers, they say it is like talking to an old friend, one who always listens.

The question of whether or not the prayers are answered is raised mainly by people who don’t pray. It is as if they were saying, “What’s in for me? What can I get out of prayer?” People who pray, really pray, don’t ask these questions because, like one woman on the pilgrimage said, they know that “sometimes when we ask God for things, the answers aren’t what we expect. But they are always what we need.”

Give us hope of new and better days,
when your promises will all come true in us.
Walk with us, O Lord, as we walk with you.

A Place of Thanksgiving by Margaret M. Nava
A Place of Miracles by Margaret M. Nava
El "Pocito" (The Little Well) by Margaret M. Nava
Testimonies

Photograph courtesy of Richard L. Rieckenberg

Text courtesy of Margaret M. Nava