Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - A group of people from Latin America bearing an image of the famous Señor de los Milagros were among the thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus with Pope John Paul II on Sunday 24 October. The group had made a procession through the streets of Rome with this image so dear to the people of Peru. On the second Sunday of October the image set out from the Campidoglio to the church of St John of the Fiorentini, where it stayed for a week. On Sunday 24 accompanied by thousands of Peruvians it moved to St Peter’s Square where the Pope had special words of greeting for “Spanish speaking pilgrims particularly the Hermandad del Señor de los Milagros, as well as Peruvians and other Latin Americans living in Rome, who have come to this Square with the venerated image. Thank you for your presence and your prayers!".
After the Marian prayer the Latin American delegation, including diplomats, went into St Peter’s for a Mass presided by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez at which many priests concelebrated. In his homily the Cardinal mentioned the catechism of Saint Toribio di Mogrovejo and a beautiful prayer by Saint Francis Solano, both of whom died in Lima.
This was the second time that the famous image was brought to the Vatican and the third time it was carried through the streets. There were similar Señor de los Milagros processions in Milan, Torino, Bergamo, Genoa, Pesaro and other large towns.
Devotion to this image was brought to Italy by Peruvian immigrants, today about 50,000 (about one third of Latin Americans in Italy) according to Rome Caritas offices. El Señor de los Milagros, an image of Christ painted in 1600 in a district of Lima, is carried every year in procession by men in purple tunics with a white cord at the waist with knots as a sign of penance. The annual procession in Lima draws thousands of people to the capital and for several days the stops the traffic is at a standstill. (S.M.) (Agenzia Fides 26/10/2004; Righe 24 - Parole 339)
