L.A. procession and Mass celebrate Peruvian devotion to "El Señor de los Milagros"

More than 1,500 welcomed Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, archbishop of Lima, Peru, who traveled to Los Angeles to celebrate a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Oct. 16. Archbishop José H. Gomez concelebrated that Mass, along with many priests from throughout the archdiocese. The procession was organized by the Hermandad del Se√±or de los Milagros — the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles. El Se√±or de los Milagros is a Peruvian devotion that began in 1715.

It is a simple depiction of the crucified Christ with his mother and St. John. An unknown Angolan slave painted the image on the adobe wall of a building in 1651. In 1655, an earthquake shook Lima, killing thousands and destroying much of the city. The storehouse containing the image collapsed entirely except the wall with the image of El Señor de los Milagros.
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