Chicagoland

Peruvian devotion finds new home after church closes

By Michelle Martin | Staff writer
Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Peruvian devotion finds new home after church closes

The Peruvian Catholic community has a strong devotion to El Senor de los Milagros or Our Lord of the Miracles. On Oct. 16, 2022, members of the community gathered for a special Mass relocating the Shrine of Our Lord of Miracles from St. Ignatius Church to St. Gertrude Church, 1420 W. Granville Ave. St. Ignatius Church closed as part of Renew My Church. This slideshow also includes photos from past celebrations to El Senor de los Milagros, which commemorate an image of Jesus that survived a devastating 17th-century earthquake that destroyed Lima. For many years, the local shrine was housed at St. Ignatius Church. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Men prepare to carry the image in the procession on Oct. 21, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Women take turns carrying the icon during a procession on Oct. 21, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Women take turns carrying the icon during a procession on Oct. 21, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Yolanda Sosa carries a fragrance as procession leaves from St. Ignatius Church on Oct. 21, 2007. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Men prepare to lead a procession on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A girl prepares to release a bird at the start of a procession on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Young men release doves into the crowd prior to the procession on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Silvia Lozano and Gloria Fajardo release incense and sing during the procession leaving from St. Ignatius Church in Rogers Park in celebration of El Senor de los Milagros on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Edward Henriquez kisses his daughter Sara, 2 months, after bringing her up to blessed near the icon on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Men prepare to carry the image in the procession on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Men prepare to carry the image in the procession on Oct. 19, 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Alfredo Chumpitaz carries Natalie Ocampo back to her mother after bringing her up to the icon to be blessed during a procession in October 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A man holds a child up to be blessed near the icon during a procession in October 2008. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
A woman distributes incense during a procession from St. Ignatius Church in Rogers Park in celebration of El Senor de los Milagros on Oct. 15, 2017. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Band members play during a procession from St. Ignatius Church in Rogers Park in celebration of El Senor de los Milagros on Oct. 15, 2017. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Members of the Peruvian Catholic community gathered for a special Mass relocating the Shrine of Our Lord of Miracles from St. Ignatius Church to St. Gertrude Church on Oct. 16, 2022. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Auxiliary Bishop Mark Bartosic addresses participants at the Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Participants listen during Mass. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
October is Mes Morado (or purple month) in Lima, Peru, and the faithful dress in purple as a sign of their devotion to El Senor de los Milagros. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
October is Mes Morado (or purple month) in Lima, Peru, and the faithful dress in purple as a sign of their devotion to El Senor de los Milagros. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

Peruvian Catholics gathered Oct. 15 at St. Gertrude Church, 1420 W. Granville Ave., to continue their devotion to el Señor de los Milagros, or the Lord of Miracles.

The devotion started with a miracle in Peru more than 300 years ago, when an image of a crucified Christ, painted on an adobe wall, survived an earthquake that destroyed everything around it. It came to Chicago because of a vision in a dream in 1979, with a painting of the image commissioned for the area’s Peruvian community.

It is always celebrated on the third Sunday of October, said Maria Luisa Ugarte. Ugarte, who came to Chicago with her parents at age 5 in 1960, is the niece of Teresa Mazzari, who had a dream in 1979 that the devotion should be brought to Chicago.

So Mazzari, her husband, Ugarte’s parents, and friends of the family commissioned the image and started the Chicago brotherhood, or “hermandad,” of el Señor de Los Milagros. The back of the image is a painting of Nuestra Señora de la Nube, or Our Lady of the Cloud, a Marian devotion popular in Peru and Ecuador.

They invited their Peruvian friends and relatives, creating a brotherhood of 19 at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, said Ugarte, who is making a documentary about the devotion to el Señor de los Milagros in Chicago.

A couple of years later, the shrine and the devotion moved to St. Ignatius Church, 6559 N. Glenwood Ave., because it was easier to organize a procession on the residential streets that surround the church rather than on busy Ashland Avenue.

The Mass and procession could not be held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then St. Ignatius Church closed.

St. Gertrude pastor Father Richard Prendergast invited the Peruvian community to continue their devotion at St. Gertrude Church, he said.

Ugarte and others are working with Luis Galvez Sr., one of the original six people who started the Chicago brotherhood.

This year’s celebration did not include a procession because plans got started too late to organize one, Ugarte said, but the group plans to bring the procession back next year. In preparation, a carpenter modified the litter, or “anda,” that the image is carried on, making it lighter; it was originally 1,200 pounds and now it is 800 pounds.

Because it is so heavy, the brotherhood asks 16 men to carry it each year there is a procession, Ugarte said, and being selected is an honor.

“It’s carrying Christ,” she said.

While Ugarte does not remember participating in the devotion in Peru, she has seen pictures of herself as a small child, wearing the purple habit that people in the procession wear. Galvez, who came to the United States as an adult, has clearer memories of the processions, which take place over three days in October.

“It is very big in Lima,” said Galvez, 86. “With the inspiration of Our Lady, we talked about it and said, ‘Maybe we can do something like we did there.’ Today we have 43 years with the inspiration of Teresa Mazzari. We are really happy to have this chance again.”

Galvez is the last surviving member of the group of six who started the devotion, and Ugarte is one of the new generation trying to keep the tradition alive.

“It’s a big job,” Galvez said. “It’s not an easy job, to have people willing to participate and people who will do everything that has to be done and to do it the way it is done in Peru.”

“People are praying, ‘Please grant us this miracle,’” Ugarte said. “It could be any life struggle.”

But with their prayers comes acceptance of God’s will, she explained.

“It doesn’t mean God will grant you a miracle because you ask for a miracle,” she said. “It means that God will do what he sees fit. Whatever it is that happened is because God made it so.”

Topics:

  • devotions

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