Visiting Los Angeles Catholic Church (Basilica)

On Thursday us and a handful of guys from Roca Viva went to check out downtown Cartago. We walked through different shops and markets. I think we saw a bakery on almost every corner, Yum! One particular place we visited was the Los Angeles Catholic Church (Basilica). We walked into a mass service that was in progress. I saw men, women, and small children walking into the church and sprinkling water on their heads, then walk right back out in a carousel fashion. I was thinking to myself... What did that do for them? How many times have they done this? Do they possibly come every day? How many others in Costa Rica (and around the world) put their hope in this "sprinkling of the water"? Thank you Jesus for being the living water, the One who comes to bring salvation to His people through His shed blood on the cross.

The next few things that I saw BROKE my heart for the people in this church. I started to see men and women get down on their knees and slowly scoot (almost walking from knee to knee) up towards the front of the church. Some of the men that were with me saw this before and told me this was their "penance" and that they were doing this to bring payment for their sins. My jaw about dropped! I wanted to stand up and shout "Jesus paid it all, you can't pay for it yourself... believe and trust."

Finally we saw a statue of the Black Madonna (this wasn't the pop singer) known as La Negrita, who supposedly had great healing powers. The sick come to her statue in hope of a miracle from La Negrita. According to folklore in Costa Rica, the statue was found by an indigenous girl in 1635. She brought it home several times, but it mysteriously reappeared at its original site. The rock where she found it is now kept in a backroom in the basilica and is revered as a sacred relic and object of inspiration. It is common for people to touch the rock in reverence. Flowing just near this statue were streams of water where people would either splash some on a hurting part of their body or they would bring empty containers to fill and take home. According to Cameron, almost two million people from around the world flood this church on August 2nd every year to worship the statue.



In Leviticus 26:1 we read "“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God."

Hope to post more later,
Elias