Photos: Alejandro Balaguer

Soon after the Viceroy ordered a mass to be said before the image. In 1684, Viscount Sebastian de Antunao bought the land where the wall stood and at last a proper chapel could be built. Sadly the chapel fell victim to another earthquake three years later, on October 10, 1687, that razed the city. The adobe wall and its image of Christ, however, remained standing firm. It was then that a Jesuit priest, Fr. Alfonso de Messia, instituted an annual procession and placed an image of the painting on a platform. At first only eight people were needed to carry the effigy. The Nazarene sisters, however, thought the platform too weak and decided to build a sturdier effigy with an image truer to the original. They didn't realize how heavy the structure was going to be. This was the reason the Brotherhood of the Señor de los Milagros was formed in 1776. It took 24 people to move the Señor just 100 meters, so they recruited a small army of about 3,500 people divided up into teams of bearers. Now the Señor has his own church. The front is built around the remains the original adobe wall bearing the image of Christ. Devotion to the image has grown to such an extent that on one occasion, the effigy was carried in procession in support for a presidential candidate. No one knew if his supporters had the authority to do this. The candidate lost the elections, so presumably they didn't. Now the Señor is only taken out in October. If you go to the Nazarenas church don't be surprised to find the Señor absent. He's probably popped out for a stroll with a multitude of believers in tow.