Every year in October, hundreds of thousands fill the streets of Lima, Peru, including pilgrims from all over the world, to witness the procession of El Señor de los Milagros, a mural of Jesus Christ dating back to the 17th century. According to tradition, the image was painted by an Angolan slave on an adobe wall of a small monastery in Lima. In 1655, an earthquake decimated the city, including most of the monastery, but the wall remained standing. Subsequent earthquakes and other threats also failed to destroy the wall.

The name “El Señor de los Milagros,” meaning “The Lord of Miracles,” refers both to the mural’s own survival as we well as countless miracles attributed to its veneration over the years. The image is also known as “Cristo Moreno” or “Brown Christ.”

Bishop Kevin Vann lookson during El Senor de los Milagros/ provession of the Altar on Octboer 30, 2021, at Christ Cathedral campus. (Photos by Chuck Bennett/Diocese of Orange)

Today, the mural resides in the Sanctuary and Monastery of Las Nazarenas in Lima. Every year, a replica of the original image is processed through the city on an altar weighing roughly 2 tons, carried by 32 men known as La Hermandad del Señor de los Milagros, or the Brotherhood of the Lord of the Miracles.

This year, the procession will be preceded by a Mass inside Christ Cathedral for the first time. Following the Mass, the brotherhood will process with its own altar weighing approximately 1.3 tons around Christ Cathedral campus. Singers and musicians will accompany the procession, and festivities including Peruvian cuisine will follow.

The procession is expected to last about two hours and draw approximately 2,000 people. A small fraction of the attendance of the Lima procession, the smaller numbers make the icon more accessible to attendees, Paseta said.

Full story at Orange County Catholic.