The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is celebrated with pilgrimages and festivities in many sanctuaries around the world. Our Lady of Cocharcas, patron saint of my diocese of Abancay, is venerated in the second sanctuary dedicated to the Mother of God in the Andes. The first was Copacabana in Upper Peru (now Bolivia), near Lake Titicaca. That was in 1583. Fifteen years later (1598), the devout Sebastián Asto Huaraca, the “Quimichu” (“bearer” in the Inca language), brought to Cocharcas a replica of that image, sculpted in maguey wood by the same artist, the indigenous Tito Yupanqui. The story, written by hand by the parish priest of Cocharcas in 1625, is enchanting.

Young Sebastián was playing with his friends on St. Peter’s Eve. Some burning splinters of maguey pierced his wrist, leaving him disabled. Taken in by a kind woman, he lived on alms in the imperial city of Cusco (about 440 km away), where a Jesuit instructed him in Christian doctrine. At the Jesuit mission, he also learned the beautiful religious chants in Quechua (what has been called “the Gregorian chant of the Andes”).

One day he heard of the miraculous nature of the Virgin of Copacabana and, spiritually prepared, made a pilgrimage there to ask for his healing. (Today, by road, it’s 529 km). A long journey that begins at 3,300 meters above sea level and reaches almost 3,900 meters in the final stages. Two-thirds of the way there, in the town of Pucará, he dreamed of the Virgin and awoke cured. Like the good leper in the Gospel, he didn’t turn back, but continued on his way with the intention of kneeling before the sacred image to give thanks.

It was at the Copacabana sanctuary where he prayed and received the sacraments, and where he was inspired to obtain a replica of the image. He met the sculptor, who offered to sell him a copy he had already made. The problem was getting the money.

But Sebastián was undeterred, and thus began his Andean odyssey. He presented himself to the civil and religious authorities all the way to Tucumán (northern Argentina), who issued him papers authorizing him to beg in order to acquire an image of the Virgin. Undoubtedly, not everyone trusted this beggar. But he achieved his goal and was able to pay for the image. He took it to the sanctuary. He placed it in the niche next to the original, went to confession, received communion, made a wooden box in which to keep the image, slung it over his shoulder, and began the second part of the odyssey—enchanting, but full of sacrifices and even imprisonment.

Charming, because, walking from town to town, she knew how to pray and sing devotional songs in the language of the Indians. The locals followed her for stretches, praying and singing with her.

“May the highest mountains and the loftiest crags and their pleasant valleys humble themselves in the presence of the Virgin, and may the rough roads be leveled, giving way to the Empress of heaven and earth…; may the little birds sing the praises of their Great Lady, the Princess of heaven and earth, who is accompanied along the paths by angelic choirs and sovereign spirits.”

His journey was arduous because Cocharcas, his intended destination, was a thousand kilometers away, a distance he had to traverse through those high mountains, and because, due to misunderstandings, he was imprisoned twice. First, he was accused of stealing the image. Later, the religious authorities mistook him for a sorcerer. His humility, his piety, his integrity, and the documents he had obtained secured his freedom.

Sebastián, nicknamed “Quimichu,” arrived in Cocharcas beaming with the image. It was a village, then consisting of forty houses, at an altitude of three thousand meters, nestled halfway between the deep Pampas River and the high plateau. A devout neighbor and the other villagers built a small chapel. Not long after, Sebastián, with his cousin Clemente, set off again for Upper Peru (Bolivia) to raise money to build a proper temple for the Virgin of Candelaria.

They were going to a place where there were mines and riches. But a fever took the life of “Quimichu” in Cochabamba. The money raised was used to transport his body to Cocharcas, so that he could rest at the feet of his Beloved, the Virgin.

At the beginning of the 1600s, construction began on a beautiful Andean Baroque sanctuary of stone and lime, which was consecrated in 1623 and completed after the mid-16th century. Gifts from the Spanish Crown and the Pope were abundant. Thousands upon thousands of devotees make a pilgrimage each year to this centuries-old shrine. The feast day was originally celebrated on February 2nd, but, as this is the rainy season in the highlands, it was later moved to September 8th.

Located on the border between two Andean regions, pilgrims descend to Cocharcas from both sides of the Pampas Valley. While the river winds deep within the valley, tracing the border, the roads—still unpaved tracks—also snake down the hillside, carrying endless lines of cars. Other pilgrims arrive on foot along goat trails, like the good “Quimichu,” whose remains rest behind the front of the Chapel of Saint Joseph, in a side chapel of the Sanctuary.

Cocharcas is a Marian festival, fully religious, with its novena and octave. Dozens of priests arrive—and some bishops—but also several thousand penitents who line up before the confessionals day and night.

Two small pilgrim images, carried on the shoulders of the “quimichis,” have traveled through various regions of Peru for more than three months. They are called the Great Queen and the Little Queen. They collect donations and call for the festival, and are venerated in parishes, schools, institutions, and families. The bearers (quimachis) are easily recognizable because they carry the box on their backs like Sebastian and play a short flute called a “chirisuya,” which produces a brief but loud and unmistakable sound. Oh, and a domesticated parrot walks along the top edge of the box.

On the main day—and from the eve of the festival—open-air masses are celebrated every two hours, culminating in the high mass mid-morning before a crowd that overflows the plaza. Finally, the image of the Virgin is carried around the plaza on an ornate pyramidal platform adorned with hundreds of candles and wax decorations. A choir accompanies the procession with their singing, and a large number of dancers venerate her with their dances. And, at the end of the procession, the return journey begins. The uphill climb is not downhill then, because it is difficult to leave this place, this haven of peace and prayer, even though today it is enjoyed by a great multitude. The Virgin returns to the sanctuary, after having heard so many supplications that she must carry before her Son. The hymn reminds us that

“Our Andes are altars

where your glory shines forth,

where the echoes of victory

They proclaim you without equal.”

Hail, O Virgin of Cocharcas,

Our Queen and our Love,

Bless these regions,

Sweet Mother of the Lord.