On 4 February 1985, at Trujillo, John Paul II blessed a newly carved image of Our Lady of Peace before some twenty-five thousand people who had come from Chiclayo to be there. Six days later the image was carried north and set under a canopy prepared in Chiclayo's cathedral, where it would wait while a shrine and a Carmelite monastery were built for it. maría con los desamparados (blog)
Chiclayo stands on the dry coastal plain of Lambayeque, in northern Peru, the seat of its diocese. Two churches in the city serve the region's pilgrims: the Shrine Monastery of Our Lady of Peace on Avenida Elías Aguirre, kept by Discalced Carmelite nuns, the one church of the diocese that carries the title of shrine; and the Cathedral of Santa María on the Parque Principal, the main square, whose parish is as old as Chiclayo itself. The parishes of the diocese come to the shrine on romería, and schools and families come to pray. gcatholic+2
Our Lady of Peace is the title under which the bishops of Peru asked the Holy See for a feast in the years of terrorism of the 1980s and 1990s, and it is kept on 28 July, the day the Republic was born; a pilgrim who prays before her image in Chiclayo asks the peace that was asked for the whole nation. Thirteen kilometres south in a straight line, eighteen by road, Ciudad Eten keeps the one Eucharistic miracle recorded in Peru. perú católico
📜 History & Spiritual Significance
The parish of Santa María is as old as the city. From the first years after Chiclayo's founding, under the government of the Marqués don Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, the Franciscan friars who held the parish began to build a church of Santa María de los Valles de Chiclayo, under the advocation of the Immaculate Conception. The friars kept parish and convent until 1826, when a law of the young Republic suppressed religious houses of fewer than six friars; diocesan priests took the parish from them. The Immaculate Conception is the patroness of Chiclayo. diócesis de chiclayo+1
The cathedral that stands on the square now was begun in February 1869. President José Balta had promised the people of Chiclayo whichever public work they most needed, and when they were asked they called out for a church. Work stopped for want of money and resumed in 1928, when Congress granted the funds; the building was finished in 1939 and consecrated on 7 December 1959. The old church was pulled down in 1961, and the cathedral took over its name and its advocation. The image of Santa María de los Valles de Chiclayo, in whose honour the Franciscans founded the town, stands at the highest point of the façade. diócesis de chiclayo+4
The shrine of Our Lady of Peace is young. In August 1984 Ignacio María de Orbegozo, second Bishop of Chiclayo, wanted a hermitage where the Virgin could be honoured as the goal of the pilgrimages his parishes made, and had an image carved under the title of Our Lady of Peace; by December the plan had grown into a shrine. In conversation with the Pope the bishop stated his intention of building a monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns beside the shrine, and that project was carried through together with the shrine itself. On 25 and 26 May 1991 the image was carried in procession from the cathedral to the shrine and placed on the high altar, and the Carmelites entered the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y San José on the same day; the Apostolic Nuncio blessed shrine and monastery on the Assumption, 15 August 1993. maría con los desamparados (blog)
The title itself was asked of the Holy See by the bishops of Peru in the years of terrorism of the 1980s and 1990s. They placed the nation's day, 28 July, under the protection of Mary under the title of Our Lady of Peace, and the proper Mass and Office, prepared by Bishop Alberto Brazzini and approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship, are in the Peruvian propers of 1996. The feast belongs to the whole country and not to Chiclayo alone — a second image of the same title is honoured in a chapel of Lima's cathedral. The shrine's own feast is the first Sunday of September, fixed by Bishop Jesús Moliné Labarta. perú católico+1
☩ Pilgrimage Sites in Chiclayo
Shrine of Our Lady of Peace
Santuario Monasterio Nuestra Señora de la Paz
The image blessed at Trujillo in 1985 stands on the high altar, and the Carmelite monastery forms part of the shrine's own structure. The Mass of the Virgin is offered on Saturday mornings with the solemn Salve; the Angelus and the Rosary are prayed each day; Thursdays are given to prayer for priestly vocations, with exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Around the feast of Our Lady of Peace, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and through the month of May there are novenas, pilgrimages and confessions, and the rector keeps time for the pilgrims who come and hears their confessions. maría con los desamparados (blog)
Cathedral of Santa María
Catedral de Santa María
The cathedral faces the Parque Principal: a cruciform building with two bell towers and three portals, the central one the largest, and a dome over the crossing; above the second-storey balcony stands the statue of Santa María de los Valles de Chiclayo. Inside are three naves, the carved figure of the Cristo Pobre, and stained glass made in Lima showing scenes of the life of the Virgin drawn from the catechism. The four bells were cast in Germany and named Ave María, Asumpta, Mater Dei and Gratia Plena; they came by sea to the port of Pimentel, on by the Pomalca train, and were hauled from the Calle Colón station to the cathedral on a platform dragged by a truck. wikipedia+2
🕯️ Annual Feast Days & Celebrations
Our Lady of Peace — 28 July
The feast is kept on the day of Peru's national celebration. It belongs to the whole country rather than to Chiclayo alone: the Church in Peru celebrates it with its own Mass and Office, and an image of the same title is honoured in Lima's cathedral.
Our Lady of Peace, the shrine's titular feast — First Sunday of September
The shrine on Avenida Elías Aguirre keeps its own feast of Our Lady of Peace on the first Sunday of September, with a novena, pilgrimages and confessions in the days around it.
Immaculate Conception — 8 December
The patroness of Chiclayo, and the advocation the cathedral's parish has carried from its foundation. The solemnity is kept with particular care at the shrine of Our Lady of Peace.
🛏️ Where to Stay
Casa Andina Select Chiclayo ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — A hotel in the centre of Chiclayo, with a pool, spa and gym. Reserve this hotel
Hotel La Posada Del Ingles ⭐⭐⭐ — A hotel on the road to Pimentel just outside central Chiclayo, with gardens and a pool. Reserve this hotel
Santa Victoria House (guesthouse) — A small family-run guest house in a residential Chiclayo neighbourhood, with a garden and kitchen access. Reserve this hotel
🚗 Getting There
By Air: Captain FAP José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzáles International Airport (CIX) is in Chiclayo itself, with domestic flights from Lima of about an hour and twenty minutes on LATAM, JetSmart and Sky.
By Bus: Civa, Cruz del Sur, Oltursa and other interprovincial carriers run the Panamericana Norte highway from Lima to Chiclayo, a journey of some twelve to fourteen hours.
By Car: Both churches are in the city: the cathedral on the Parque Principal, the shrine on Avenida Elías Aguirre, a short drive or taxi ride south-west of the square.
🔗 Useful Links
Santuario Nuestra Señora de la Paz — The Diocese of Chiclayo's page on the shrine.
Santa María Catedral — The diocese's page on the cathedral parish and its history.
🧭 Nearby Pilgrimage Destinations
Ciudad Eten (13 km south in a straight line; 18 km by road) — The parish church of Santa María Magdalena, where in 1649 the figure of a child appeared in the consecrated host: the one Eucharistic miracle recorded in Peru.
Motupe (80 km north in a straight line) — The Cross of Chalpón, kept in a grotto on the hill above the town and carried down to Motupe every August, in the same department of Lambayeque.
🪶 Closing Reflection
"Our Lady and Mother, Virgin Holy Mary, Queen of Peace, Protectress of our diocesan Church: we come to you to pray for peace — the peace the world seeks and does not find."
Sources
- 1María con los Desamparados (blog) – Nuestra Señora de la Paz, ChiclayoSpanishmariaconlosdesamparados.blogspot.com/2012/07/2807-nuestra-senora-de-la-paz.html
- 2GCatholic – Churches in the Diocese of ChiclayoEnglishgcatholic.org/churches/local/chic1
- 3Diócesis de Chiclayo – Santa María CatedralSpanishdiocesischiclayo.org/catedral.html
- 4Perú Católico – ¿Sabías que existe la fiesta de Nuestra Señora de la Paz? Es el 28 de julioSpanishperucatolico.com/sabias-que-existe-la-fiesta-de-nuestra-senora-de-la-paz-es-el-28-de-julio
- 5Santuario de Torreciudad – Nuestra Señora de la Paz – Chiclayo, PerúSpanishtorreciudad.org/galeria-mariana/ntra-sra-de-la-paz-chiclayo
- 6Historia Ciencia de Vida – La Iglesia Catedral de ChiclayoSpanishhistoriacienciadevida.blogspot.com/2009/12/la-iglesia-catedral-de-chiclayo.html
- 7Wikipedia – St. Mary's Cathedral, ChiclayoEnglishen.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary's_Cathedral,_Chiclayo
- 8The Catholic Travel Guide – Chiclayo, Peru: Cathedral of Saint Mary (Catedral de Santa María)Englishthecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/peru-catholic-shrines-places-interest-peru/chiclayo-peru/chiclayo-peru-cathedral-of-saint-mary-catedral-de-santa-maria
- 9Wikipedia – Catedral de ChiclayoSpanishes.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catedral_de_Chiclayo
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