“It’s not the dirt that makes the miracles!” the Rev. Casimiro Roca said with exasperation.

True, discarded crutches line a wall inside the Santuario de Chimayo, a small adobe church in this village of northern New Mexico known as the Lourdes of America.

True, tens of thousands of pilgrims walk eight miles or more to the shrine on Good Friday, some bearing heavy crosses and others approaching on their knees. Scores of people visit every day the rest of the year, many hoping to cure diseases or disabilities with prayer, holy water and, most famously, the healing dirt, which visitors collect from a hole in the floor inside the church.

Now the disparagement of the dirt was jarring, coming from Father Roca, who has devoted much of his life to creating the present-day shrine and is its revered eminence. At 89, he wears a beret that reveals his Barcelona origins.

Some 50 years ago, he took over the abandoned, nearly ruined site of the church, which was first constructed in 1816. He oversaw the rebuilding of the sanctuary — holy hole included — into the spotless place it is today, with bright paintings and statues inside and giant cottonwoods out back that he planted as saplings. It has become a stop for tour buses taking the scenic route to Taos as well as for local residents in search of solace or cures, and was declared a national landmark in 1970. Visitors bring their own baggies or containers or can buy little plastic containers marked “blessed dirt” at the church’s gift shop.

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Filed under: * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

1. Tom Roberts wrote: Good, but overly brief, article on popular piety in northern New Mexico. Considering the milieu of cultural and religious backgrounds in this state, from crypto-Jews to Mormons, I can understand the exasperation that the Padre feels after 50 years. Keep in mind that it is not just Roman Catholics who come to Chimayo, so Father Roca can’t exactly expect theological purity. February 23, 12:00 pm | [comment link]

2. Fr. Greg wrote: I think I’ve got some of that dirt - somewhere. OTOH, II Kings 13:20-21;  Acts 5:15, 19:12;  Matt. 9:20-22 (and parallels). From the Catechism of ‘79 BCP:  Q:  Is God’s activity limited to these [sacramental] rites?  A:  God does not limit himself to these rites;  they are patterns of countless ways by which God uses material things to reach out to us. February 23, 1:50 pm | [comment link]

3. Alta Californian wrote: I visited Chimayo a couple of years ago.  I was wondering whether and how they replenished the dirt.  This answers a question I was too timid to ask at the time.  I do remember the gift shop with the wall of dirt carriers for sale, from little glass vials to elaborately etched boxes.  Good for Padre Roca.  I’ve long wondered whether or not I have a mission in the Catholic Church, to teach the joy and meaning of Christian symbolism (as a Catholic friend used to say “It shouldn’t be an ‘obligation’, it should be a joy d—-it.”).  This confirms that it would be an uphill struggle, perhaps as hard as convincing TEC of the beauty of Christian orthodoxy. February 25, 4:59 pm | [comment link]

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