The last Catholic Church I would see on the trip was the Cathedral of San Blas. It was here where there was the most blending of indigenous and Spanish within Catholicism. In one of the main praying areas there was a Peruvian Mary, a Peruvian Jesus and the alter in the center of the Church was carved from a single tree stump. It had awareness of the land that the other main Cathedrals clearly did not. It was small and homy and the symbols spoke to more than just the Spanish immigrants.
It was here that I did a prayer at the Peruvian Jesus to center myself. I'd been going all over Peru that day and in-taking so much information. It was nice to finally start calmly taking it all in and reflecting on it. Also, I have a soft spot for small churches.
One of the other cool things this Church had were a tiny catacombs where there were a bunch of bones. It felt very Indiana Jonesish being there and as usual. I always feel peace when being faced with mortality in the situation of catacombs or cemeteries. This was one of those times and after centering myself with the prayer this was part of the exploring the Church both above where the bells are, and below where the catacombs where made the day complete.
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