Prior to coming to South America I honestly hadn't done any research into the country, or even the places I was visiting, minus googling my accommodation in Argentina to see what the pool looked like. This was all in line with my take it as an adventure, no expectations, go with the flow approach to the trip. What I did know about different places was based on what people at work told me based on their knowledge and personal experience. So going into the trip one of the few things I had heard was there was a dichotomy between the churches and the rest of the country. I expected therefore for there to be some fancy churches, but was not prepared for the extent of what I saw.
As soon as we arrived in the city centre I knew it was an important part of the city. Every centimetre of grass was well cut, every scerrick of rubbish was removed, and there were cleaners walking around everywhere with their eyes peeled for people making any mess. The paint on half the buildings surrounding the square was a brilliant shade of yellow (that I want to use someday) and in the middle was a fountain made in 1650, also in immaculate condition.
Each church that we went to got more and more extravagant. We visited the cathedral too which was an extra level on top of that. The most distinctive feature common to all the churches was the use of gold and gold leaf almost everywhere. Each church also had within in several chapels on the sides, all with a completely different style. There was a lot of European influence on the architecture and decor, with a lot of paintings, tiles and furniture imported hundreds of years ago from countries like Italy and Spain in particular. The architecture of each church was different too, with influence from the baroque and colonial periods as well as the Incas. Nothing seemed to match necessarily with anything else, and it appeared to me in some cases like a church themed episode of hoarders. Every nook and cranny that could possibly be filled was filled with another statue or column or painting.Don't get me wrong I saw some amazingly beautiful places, all with but I couldn't help but feel it wasn't a little too much, and couldn't help but wonder if it was helping anyone's faith experience. I had a discussion with one of the priests traveling with us, telling him my thoughts about it and he said: "what you need to remember is that it is a completely different culture to ours... In the history of South America there has been a lot of problems and the people have always had the church as their constant support, so because the church gives them identity they want to give everything to the church, and that is why they have grown and grown in extravagance because the more people receive from the church in the faith, the more they want to give back."
Suddenly it all made sense, and even though all the chapels seemed unnecessary to me, without fail, while the masses were happening (it was a Sunday so they were going all day no matter where we were) there were two or three people praying at each chapel. Living in my own little bubble sometimes I forget that everyone has a different experience of faith, and that varies based on a variety of things, but what I loved, was regardless of what the church looked like, or where someone was standing in a church, and despite my inability to speak Spanish, every so often I would hear a word I recognised, or feel a familiar pause and felt at home.The church of San Francisco was the first place we visited and surprisingly my favourite part was the roof. It was a rich orange/pinky colour and I loved that I could see puzzle pieces in the roof. I did feel awkward though walking around taking photos while people were in mass, but I kept the flash off and made sure I didn't point the camera at any people.
I was surprised when I walked down one side over a grate in the floor and saw some stairs littered with bones that led down to what looked like a small chamber filled with more bones. At closer look I could see that on the very top step was sitting a skull as well. Not having been to many big churches other than St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, I wasn't exactly used to seeing bones under the ground so I had no idea what they were there for. I found out that they were catacombs of Catholics who had died when they didn't have access to a cemetery.
After this we went to the San Domingo Monastery where I fell in love with the courtyard and could imagine having it as my personal backyard. It was so neat and had so many different rooms and areas everywhere you looked.
I don't know if anyone remembers the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, but the scene where Charlie and Uncle Joe sneak into the bubble room while the rest of the group move on, but that was me when I found a room full of relics... There were a variety of relics of the saints including clothing and parts of their houses and in one corner there was a chair that was the replica of the chair used by Saint John Macias in the doorway of the Dominican order convent of Santa Maria Magdalena de la Recoleta. The original is held elsewhere in Lima, but this one contains a fragment of the original, and rumour holds that women who sit in the chair who have had difficulty conceiving recover their fertility after sitting in the chair praying.
Figured I had nothing to lose so I sat in the chair, said a quick prayer, and got my friend (the uncle Joe of my story) to take a picture. If I'm particularly blessed with an abundance of children after I get married I'll know who to thank!
Once I rejoined the group, sneaking in the back of the next room (which sadly I missed the description of and have no idea what it was) we said a quick prayer and then moved down the corridor to where there was a thin doorway leading down some steep stairs where the headroom got smaller and thinner the further you went down until you were eventually in a room with an alter down one end and a large tiled box with a grate on top of it behind you/adjacent to the door.
Even though I knew the space was limited I still managed to whack my elbow on the way in, raising an alarm to the priest who thought I was seriously hurt, and my head on the way back out again. I trip over my own feet walking a few metres on flat ground though sometimes so it was hardly surprising that I was the one to injure myself twice.
Once inside though, and over my elbow pain, It was a really special place. There was a whole lot of empty space with a small altar at the end that contained the body of Saint Rose, (but not her head) and had a small cloth over it. One of the priests traveling with us then offered to bless rosary beads on top of the tomb. This was an exciting prospect to me, as without knowing anything about her, or knowing I'd ever travel to the place where she was born, lived, and died, I had chosen Saint Rose as my confirmation saint, completing my name as Natalie Pauline Rose Viset. I was twelve years old at the time and while others chose their names based on what they were the patron saints of, or what their parents names were, I chose the one that sounded the prettiest.
Being the always switched on and never absent minded person I am... I had left my rosary beads in my suitcase back at the retreat centre, so couldn't get mine blessed, but my bestie had hers with her and offered to swap with me and so we got hers blessed and swapped them when we got back. In terms of the rosary It has never been something that has been a hugely spiritual thing for me. I get distracted easily and so repeating a prayer many times I find it hard to not think about other things, or let my words rattle into each other. I understand that it is a powerful prayer for many people and like the idea of it but every time I try I don't feel as though I'm any closer to God. Who know, maybe I'll have a different experience on this trip. Despite this, I was very excited to have my rosary bleeds blessed.
After we came up the staircase we had seen the last of the rooms and went in to the church that was adjacent to the monastery where the skulls of Saint Rose, Saint Martin de Porres, saint Juan Mathias have their skulls presented up high in a special shrine.
This was a little bit eerie, because they weren't originally preserved to be put in a shrine, so they were quite dark and looked like what you may see in a scary movie graveyard scene. The juxtaposition between the skulls and the shrine they were encased in was crazy. The shrine was ornate and decadent, and because there was so much to look at, if you didn't look really closely you wouldn't notice them. There was a mass going on at the same time and a huge crowd of people praying I'm front of the skulls so we didn't stay too long and moved on to our next stop. Not before I got a shot of the roof though, because again it was my favourite thing. This one had a beautiful dome in the roof at one end with moulded icons or carvings of saints and angels in it. I can only imagine how hard that would have been to put together!!
Oh and I bought my first South American souvenir from a man on the street outside. A beautiful hand painting of what looks like the backs of some heads in a marketplace... I'm still not sure exactly what it was, but it was rainbow and colourful AND well priced, so I had to buy it.
The next place we visited was San Pedro. If I thought the first two churches were fancy, this one upped the ante! The roof was amazing! I must have spent a good five minutes taking pictures of it before looking at the other parts of the church. I look back on the day and all my photos and wonder why I was so attracted to the roofs, and I think it was because even though we have some fancy churches in Sydney, and I've seen some nice altars in my time, I have never seen such care and detail taken in something that to me is only there for practicality of keeping the elements out.
The rest of the church was spectacular, and I was starting to get overwhelmed by the ornate chapels everywhere. They were beautiful, but they were just so fancy and detailed that you could stand at one chapel for days and not stop noticing new things. It was also a beautiful time to be there as our visit coincided with the children's mass and so we could hear the beautiful sound of children singing in Spanish, and, although I'm not a Spanish speaker, what sounded like very articulate reading for a child. Seeing kids involved in mass is all kinds of cute and heartwarming.
The most beautiful thing I saw though was near a simple (though a little scary if you looked at the face close up) statue of Jesus carrying his cross. Usually Jesus is portrayed on the cross or as a baby, but not often have a seen a sculpture like this one where I saw a man reach up and hold onto the cross for some prayer. I watched him from a few metres back for a few minutes, thinking it was so beautiful that I was witnessing an important moment for him, and took a photo just as he begun bringing his hands down.
After this we got on the bus and drove a block to the next place which was the birthplace and house of Saint Rose of Lima. While we were there we found out more about her life and how she had a nail in the roof that she tied her hair to so she would always be upright for prayer even when she was tired. We also learnt that despite not being part of an order she wore Benedictine robes and was allowed to do this even though it was not usual because anyone was allowed to wear it. We also got the chance to write a prayer to Saint Rose and throw it in the well. I wrote my prayer, and wasn't sure how to sign a prayer/letter to a saint so signed it xoxo Natalie, and was ready for a special moment as I threw my prayer into the well. In true Natalie style, there is no such thing as graceful, and even though every other person managed to get theirs in, mine landed on the tiny ledge up the top and it took two other people using a notepad and a pen to throw it in. Not quite the poetic graceful spiritual moment I was expecting, but I'll take what I can get!
I bought a medallion from the lady near the well to take home with me, and then we headed to lunch. We walked into what seemed like a chicken chain restaurant. It was two floors of tables and was full to the brim so half of us went to find somewhere else. We took with us our Spanish Volunteer Himena, who misunderstood that we wanted a restaurant that served wine, and led us to McDonalds. Since we had crossed the globe to be there we did not want to go into McDonald's so eventually found a restaurant and sat down to lunch!
After lunch we visited the Lima Cathedral. You'll be pleased to know though that I found something I liked even better than the roof in this church. When we walked in we saw the most amazing mosaics... I'd try and explain them but the pictures will do it more justice. It looked like a painting and was different to all the other churches and had used gold in a way that I didn't hate.
On the other side i discovered one of many chapels that I fell in love with so badly that i actually have fifteen photos of it. It was ornate, but not in the same way the gold altars were. Since I've never been a fan of gold, and love blue, this was amazing to see. It was a blue and copper chapel dedicated to Mary from what I could tell. I couldn't really tell you much about the rest of the cathedral once I saw that. It was empty when we went on the tour, so I was able to get a close up of the altar this time, but it was nowhere near as grand as the previous church. There were some awesome sculptures though in the museum part of the cathedral.
The last place we visited before heading back to the retreat centre for mass was the Nazarene church of miracles. In all honesty I was pretty churched out by then, but I got off the bus and had a quick look in and out. It was also nice but it was a shame it was last as it was hard to measure up to the cathedral and Sam Ignacio. We did have a lovely moment outside though where our guides have us some little pins with the icons of Jesus and Mary on them to wear.
Once all this was done we got back in the bus and headed back to the retreat centre for mass. Then before you could count to a hundred, I was ready to be picked up for my nighttime adventure through Lima with my local Peruvian friends who were coming to pick Sarah and me up for the night.
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