Sunday, March 23, 2008

The Road To Chimayo

On Good Friday, the annual pilgrimage to Chimayo, NM, was in full swing. We drove NM 503 and CR 98 from Pojoaque to Chimayo - only about 15 miles of the trek. On that stretch of road, there must have been thousands of people from all walks of life - walking......walking.....walking.
Some were on crutches and some were in wheelchairs. Some were very young. Some, very old.

People come hundreds of miles to visit this sacred ground, which is said to have the power to heal - physically, emotionally, spiritually. The pilgrims consider that if Jesus can go through what he did, it should be of no consequence that so many could make a trek such as this. Some are physically healthy, some injured, some sick, some needing revitalization, some just wanting to pray. The reasons are many and are as varied as those who make the journey.

Below are only a few of the images I captured as we drove one of the routes the pilgrims followed. They are shown here in chronological order. (More can be seen by going to my Flick'r galleries. Click on the slide show in the right pane.)




This young lady still had 10 miles or more to go in her journey.



The trek took the pilgrims through some of New Mexico's most beautiful and rugged terrain.



People from all walks of life made the journey.



Weary or not, all were determined to complete their goal.



The immensity of the pilgrimage and the constant flow of people is hard to imagine unless one has seen it for themselves. Click on the image above to get an idea. The road winds to the left in the distance, and the stream of people is steady - as it was all along the route.



From another, less populated direction, two young ladies (on the right side of the road) and two older men (on the left) still have a few miles to go.


This was an eye-opening experience for me to see such a display of one's Faith in action. Even though I heard of Chimayo and was familiar with the story, I never imagined a pilgrimage of such proportions in today's day and time.




May you all have a safe and Blessed Easter.



1 comment:

Shelley said...

It was an amazing day. Love your shots.czb