Christians Celebrate Good Friday Throughout U.S.

Hundreds of pilgrims hike a desert highway in New Mexico to the Santuário de Chimayó church, Friday, April 18, 2003. Locals say the earth found in a small room in the back of the church holds miraculous healing powers. An estimated 10,000 pilgrims walked to the 190-year-old church at Chimayó in honor of Good Friday, a Christian holiday to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilgrims have come to the church at Easter for more than 100 years, often traveling the nearly 30 miles from Santa Fe on foot. Legend states that while praying on a hillside in Chimayó in 1812, the crucifix on the altar miraculously appeared in a hole in the ground before Bernardo Abeyta, the builder of the church. The hole in the side room of the church, where pilgrims and the faithful gather the dirt is alleged to be the hole where the crucifix was discovered.

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Filename: Good_Friday_06.jpg
Copyright: © Kevin Moloney, 2002
Image Size: 3008x1960 / 801.2KB; religion Good Friday Christian Easter holiday pilgrimage pilgrim Catholic
Contained in galleries: Chimayó, New Mexico

Hundreds of pilgrims hike a desert highway in New Mexico to the Santuário de Chimayó church, Friday, April 18, 2003. Locals say the earth found in a small room in the back of the church holds miraculous healing powers. An estimated 10,000 pilgrims walked to the 190-year-old church at Chimayó in honor of Good Friday, a Christian holiday to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilgrims have come to the church at Easter for more than 100 years, often traveling the nearly 30 miles from Santa Fe on foot. Legend states that while praying on a hillside in Chimayó in 1812, the crucifix on the altar miraculously appeared in a hole in the ground before Bernardo Abeyta, the builder of the church. The hole in the side room of the church, where pilgrims and the faithful gather the dirt is alleged to be the hole where the crucifix was discovered.