Señor de los Milagros

Around 1651, in the Pachacamilla district of Lima, Peru, an Angolan slave belonging to a confraternity of Black Christians painted an image of Christ crucified on an adobe wall. On November 13, 1655, a terrible earthquake devastated Lima, but the wall with the image remained standing while the buildings around it fell.

People began to gather there to pray, and despite attempts by authorities to erase the image, it remained. After another strong earthquake in 1687, a copy of the image was carried in procession through the streets for the first time. The Monastery and Sanctuary of Las Nazarenas was later built around the original wall. Over the centuries the Lord of Miracles, also called the Cristo Moreno and Cristo de Pachacamilla, became the central devotion of Lima and of Peruvians around the world.

October is the purple month in Peru. Devotees wear purple habits, and the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles carries the heavy image through Lima in huge processions, traditionally on October 18, 19 and 28, accompanied by incense, hymns and carpets of flowers.

Families eat turrón de Doña Pepa, a sweet linked to the feast, and Peruvian communities in Miami, New York, Madrid and many other cities hold their own processions.