As the year draws to a close, we’re continuing to publish some of the stories we couldn’t get to earlier this year.

 

Dozens of parishioners from St. Philip Neri Church in Bedford Park joined together in celebration of the ‘Lord of the Miracles’ with a procession along the Grand Concourse on Sunday, Nov. 6.

 

Gianmarco Ramirez is president of the “Hermandad del Señor de Los Milagros del Bronx” [The Bronx Fraternity of the Lord of the Miracles], the group which organized the procession. He explained that central to the procession was the carrying of an image of Jesus Christ on the cross atop a wooden structure, adorned with flowers and religious symbols.

“It is a celebration that started back in the 1600s in Peru,” Ramirez said. “The image was painted as a mural in Lima, Peru by an African slave from Angola, after the city was hit by a massive earthquake and a big part of the city nearly disappeared.”

 

He went on to explain that after the earthquake, the mural was left standing. “The Spaniards who were ruling in Peru during that time decided to erase the mural, and the person[s] who [were] sent to erase the mural [weren’t] able to do it because some divine power wouldn’t allow [them] to do it,” Ramirez said.

He added that after the Spaniards’ failure to erase the mural and some subsequent natural disasters, people began calling it a miracle.

 

Ramirez continued, “Ever since, there has been a procession in Lima, Peru, and in the 1970s, the first procession in the United States was held in New York City. Similar events are held today across New York City, as well as in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Virginia, keeping the tradition alive.”

He said the celebration of the “Lord of the Miracles” usually begins in late September and ends with the “Hermandad del Señor de Los Milagros del Bronx” event in November.

 

He added that the procession consists of the reciting of prayers, music, and the wearing of purple garments. The procession also included a group of women, also dressed in purple with white head scarves who carried containers of burning incense, as well as a marching band. Young children, also dressed in purple, were seen participating in the event on the day as well.

According to Ramirez, the Bronx-based brotherhood was founded in 2013 and is based out of the St. Philip Neri Church on the Grand Concourse. The first procession was held in 2014, Ramirez said.