Day of the Captive Lord of Ayabaca in Peru

There is a festival in northern Peru that celebrates, every year, a Christ trapped among the faithful. The celebration takes place in the district of Ayabaca, located in the highlands of Piura. Leaving from the departmental capital, you have to continue along the route to Sullana and climb more than 200 km along a road, until you reach that fertile valley with a pleasant climate, surrounded by mountains.

In this town, every October, the people gather in religious communion to meet their saint. The feast lasts from October 1 to 15, although the main date is October 13. The pilgrimage gathers thousands of visitors from all over the world, mainly from Lima, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Tumbes, and the neighboring countries of Ecuador and Colombia. The devotees wear habits of different colors; they carry banners and musical instruments.

It is said that in 1751, the Spanish priest García Guerrero wanted his congregation to have an image of the Lord. For this, he chose a cedar trunk from the Sahumerio hill, in the Jililí area, which, it was believed, had the virtue of bleeding. In those days, three horsemen arrived in Ayabaca dressed in impeccable ponchos, mounted on three albino horses. They introduced themselves as carving artists and undertook to carve the cedar statue on the condition that no one would reveal anything about their arrival, nor would they be interrupted, except to receive their food at dawn.

Time passed and the curiosity of the Ayabaquinos overcame their patience. The villagers approached the place, knocked insistently and, getting no answer, believed that the carvers had made fun of them. So they forced the door open and, upon entering, were surprised to find that the workshop was empty. Even the food remained untouched. Deeply disappointed, they searched the entire room and suddenly came upon an imposing statue of Christ the Nazarene. It was six feet tall and had its hands crossed.

The legend was born, according to which the sculptors had been emissaries of God dressed as chalanes. Thus, people began to speak of the Nazarene as a "work of angels".