In Baltimore this weekend, the faithful turned out by the hundreds to celebrate nothing less than something miraculous:

Hundreds of Peruvian-American Catholics reinforced ties to their religious heritage yesterday as teams slowly carried an image of Jesus that is revered in their native country for its miraculous powers through the streets of Fells Point.

The procession, organized by the Catholic Community of St. Michael’s and St. Patrick’s, commemorates El Senor de Los Milagros, or the Christ of the Miracles, a Peruvian devotion to Jesus.

Every October, groups of Peruvian-Americans have gathered at East Coast cities such as Washington, Wilmington, Del., and Clifton, N.J., to remember the survival of this image through natural disasters and their belief in its miraculous powers. The Baltimore procession, held last, usually draws the most people, organizers said.

The processions mirror similar gatherings in Lima and other parts of Peru, attended by hundreds of thousands of people and followed by a marching band.

William Coronado, president of the Baltimore chapter of the Hermandad del Senor de Los Milagros, the fraternity that organizes the procession each year, said the devotion is important even for those who no longer live in Peru.

“We try to bring it here,” the Joppatowne resident said. “A lot of people can’t go there for different reasons.”

“It’s an extremely popular devotion throughout Peru,” said Curt Cadorette, religious studies professor at the University of Rochester and a Maryknoll priest who spent about 20 years in Peru.

Devotions such as these are an example of popular religiosity – Catholics could pray to the Christ of the Miracles for intervention, just as they would to saints.

“This is such a central part of Peruvian religious culture,” Cadorette said. “Lima shuts down for the Lord of the Miracles.”

The painting shows Jesus hanging on a cross with God, represented as a father, above and two women below.

According to a brotherhood Web site, a freed African slave named Benito was inspired to paint the image on a wall in the 1600s. The image remained intact after an earthquake in the 17th century and later a tidal wave.

“It was considered a miracle, because apparently everything in the immediate area crumbled,” Cadorette said. Since then, people have attributed miracles to the image.

The image, of a darker-skinned Jesus, also bridges identities between people of African, European or indigenous descent.

“The Lord of the Miracles acts like this glue despite our differences in race and class,” Cadorette said. “That’s why this devotion is so popular – the bulk of the population can identify with this image. It looks like them.”

There’s more about what this remarkable celebration entails at the link. The pageantry and devotion will be familiar to anyone who has ever witnessed the San Gennaro festival, a staple of many Italian-American communities.