When you read this, the Easter holiday is in full swing, with Easter egg hunts, Easter brunches, and family get-togethers. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated by some as a holy day. Chatting with my optometrist assistant who was testing my eye, I told her I was training for a backpacking trip and that I had trouble seeing clear contours on the ridges in the distance. She told me she used to walk and take part in the Penitente pilgrimage locally. For her, from where she lived, it was a 30-mile walk beginning on Good Friday and extending into the night, taking 15 hours at least, until they reached the Penitente chapel and crucifixion site. “Did you train for it?” I asked. “I could do it when I was younger. “Now I have to train,” she said sadly, reminiscing about the past. In New Mexico, Penitente pilgrimages surged after World War II. As many Hispanos lost their lives in the war, families sought redemption. The Hermanos Penitente, a brotherhood of religious fervors, practiced their faith with flagellation and austerities. The brotherhood originates from 12th-century Spain and became connected to Christianizing indigenous Southwest people. The Spaniards as they colonized the SouthWest, enslaved native Americans in the 17th and 18th century. The Spaniards offered the Penitente rituals to a social and cultural outcast at the end of the enslavement period, in order to give them acceptable social status. (learn more)
In modern times, to be chosen to be the Christ and carry the cross is (and was) a real honor. Of course it takes courage and a deep reliance on one’s faith to complete the Penitente as Christ. Carrying a heavy cross for 5 or 10 miles takes extra-human force. Faith can do marvels for people. The human potential knows no bounds when it comes to accomplishing extraordinary feats driven by faith. Any faith, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and many minor pagan denominations have their miracle stories. The mind is an amazing tool. As a meditator, I can vouch for that.
I have a story of faith and coincidence for you. When I visited the Baja peninsula in Mexico with a friend, I wanted to show my friend a historic site: A Jesuit church built in the 1700s, tucked away deep inside the mountains of the Gigantes range near Loreto. The Jesuits brought their faith and instructed the natives in farming and religion. The natives accepted farming but had trouble with the Christian religion. But the church, with its high arches and perfect acoustics, was an impressive setting for sermons. The gold picture frames around depictions of saints and holy people, including mother Mary, would impress anyone who lived a subsistence life. Miracles may have occurred in this church in the 1700s, but they definitely happened when I visited.
My friend and I entered the church. It was a Sunday morning. No church service was going on. Some tourists sat in the pews. As we entered, a deep and melodic voice reverberated through the church. A maybe 40-ish Mexican woman with long curly black hair stood near the nave in her cropped pants and blouse; with her cell phone playing background music, she belted out the Ave Maria. No sign announcing a performance, no collection plate. Her performance left us spellbound. Maybe her trained mezzo-soprano voice compelled her to explore the acoustics. After the Ave Maria, she continued with another aria. The people listening were silent, awestruck, and surprised with this unexpected gift. After two more songs, she took a break and we left the church, letting this gift of grace work inside us. I’m not religious, but in moments like this I believe.
I believe the world holds more than meets the eye. I believe that higher vibrations come through for those who can hear and see them. This woman, with her innate talent, was communing with a higher consciousness as she sang with obvious love for the object of her song, Maria and God. Her singing took her and us to a place of transformation. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Whatever we let into our mind will affect our outlook. I let myself be open and led my friend to an event that not only connected us with the history of faith but also to a transformative experience. My coaching business is named Transformation-Travel. I have learned that there are ways to have transformative experiences as we travel through life. Sometimes they happen sitting in meditation, sometimes on a long trek, sometimes they happen while shopping in the grocery store, sometimes in a historic Jesuit church deep in the mountains where you expect this the least. It takes a Penitente, a pilgrimage of sorts, to open you up and let the experience happen. May the new season of rebirth and resurrection transform you while you listen to the voice on the video. Happy egg hunting!
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What a blessing, that moment in the church. I'm not religious, either, but there are some churches I have entered where I believed that I have been touched but something divine. It happened most recently at a church in Granada, Spain, a small ancient white-washed church that turned me upside down. Whatever that was, it was real. Whatever that was. Easter to me is a new beginning. Whatever your faith, we can all believe in new beginnings.