One day of our retreat included a trip to Chimayo, a place of great healing. Our group had a healing service at the outdoor altar. We read the 9th chapter of the gospel of John, the story in which Jesus heals the blind man by putting mud on his eyes. Chimayo has a room off of the church that contains holy dirt (that IS what they call it) collected from a nearby riverbed. Our healing service included making a cross on the top of our hands using the holy dirt. It was powerful.
The public is welcome to take some of the holy dirt so I filled a bag with about three cups. Now we will have an additional means of healing for use at St. John's. The holy dirt, aside from being holy, has an amazing physical property, quite different from any substance I have ever encountered.
Chimayó is believed by many to be the site of a miracle which occurred about 200 years ago.
Miraculous healings are believed to have occurred at the site where a wooden crucifix was unearthed. Because of this a chapel was built in 1816 called el Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas. This chapel, now commonly called el Santuario de Chimayó, is the destination of thousands of pilgrims and travellers each year who come for various reasons; some hoping to be healed, some simply for curiosity, and some hoping to be restored spiritually by the tranquility and hospitality of the surroundings.
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