With the snowy To the In the background are several dozen cowboys in wool ponchos and families on wooden horse-drawn carts who lined up to receive a priest’s blessing on the vast esplanade in front of the national shrine of Maipú on Saturday.
“I come every year to fulfill a vow,” said Joshua Contreras, 30, on a shiny black horse. Lolaand wears the traditional equipment of the Chilean “huaso” or horseman, including extra-long spurs and intricately carved, closed wooden stirrups.
The gigantic sanctuary on the outskirts of Santiago was built in the 1970s on the site of a church built to celebrate Chile’s victory in its War of Independence in the early 19th century. It is dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen, or Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the country’s patron saint, whose feast day is July 16.
Many horse-drawn carts were decorated with Chilean and Vatican flags. Some of the riders, like Contreras, belonged to a group called Cuasimodo, who traditionally bring communion to the sick and homebound on their horses on a Sunday in April.
The July celebration, which also includes masses and traditional dances on the steps of the sanctuary, has weathered multiple COVID-19 lockdowns, major scandals within the country’s Catholic Church and mass protests in 2019 that left a subway station was set on fire right next to the huge building.
On a sunny winter Saturday, Carlos Ortiz brought his wife and young daughter to see the booted and sparkly costumed dancers who belonged to a group called “In Mary’s Arms”.
“It’s very important because you want to pass it on to your family so the culture doesn’t get lost,” says 40-year-old Ortiz, who danced in a similar group between the ages of 10 and 30 because of a promise to them Virgo.
That year, he took advantage of a business trip from his new home in Bakersfield, California to attend the celebration.
Javiera Astorga and her boyfriend only had to drive about 20 miles from a nearby town to pay their respects, using a horse-drawn cart typically used to take construction debris to the landfill.
They don’t usually go to church, “but you come to see the Virgin — it’s a tradition,” she said.
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