A steady flow of walkers occupied the shoulder of several highways Thursday, joining thousands in the annual pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó, where many believe miracles happen.

Today, Good Friday in the Lenten calendar, culminates the pilgrimage, which for many started Tuesday. The pilgrims, or peregrinos, who arrive to the santuario come from all faiths and for many reasons, making petitions to El Señor de Esquipulas, an image of Jesus Christ that is said to have been found by Don Bernardo Abeyta in the early 1800s in Chimayó.

As of Thursday evening, the pilgrimage had resulted with no incidents or arrests, Santa Fe County Undersheriff Robert Garcia said. Drivers, though, still have to pay close attention to the road, and participants need to follow road signs for their safety.

Because there are many peregrinos, community members on Thursday set up three rest areas along N.M. 503 and N.M. 98, offering oranges, water and chairs. Marjorie Rodriguez, 75, of Placitas and her family, handed out free Bibles to those already at the santuario. Near the santuario entrance, entrepreneurs set up booths. Luis Gómez set up a vendor wagon from where he sold corn on the cob and strawberries and cream. Next to him, Carlos Ibarra sold handmade wooden frames for $15 to $25.

The devotion to El Señor de Esquipulas has grown over the years. Proof of that are the hundreds of rosaries strung all over the church and shrines, the nearly 100 crutches and walkers that sit in a room adjacent to the church, the infinite number of pictures of soldiers, infants and families plastered on the walls, and the countless framed holy images that decorate the room's walls from the top down.

Inside the santuario, women and men pray silently and others walk to the posito, or well, to gather what is believed to be holy dirt.

Devoted peregrinos such as Maxine Sky, 59, who is Navajo, visit the church twice a year. She has traveled from Gallup since 1992, after a doctor told her she was at the verge of suffering a stroke. The entire right side of her body was beginning to fail, she said.

"In the middle of the night, I had a strong desire to go," Sky said. "In the morning I said, 'I have to go today to this church I've heard of in Chimayó.' "

The same day she and her entire family drove to the santuario.

"I walked in there and felt something very spiritual in that church. I looked up to the cross and saw Jesus' blood moving down his face," Sky said as she sat under a tree at the church's patio. "I cried and prayed for about 30 to 40 minutes. I walked out of this church, I wasn't dragging my leg anymore, I was fine!"

For visitors such as Debbie Vigil, the annual pilgrimage means passing on a tradition. She has been making the visitation since she was a little girl, but this year she drove with her 2-year-old grandson, Jial Wood.

"I want him to get familiar with this," said the Santa Fe resident while Jial ran around the church patio, chasing a gray dove while he held onto a metal Cars lunch pail. He doesn't comprehend all of it, but it's still good to tell him about it, she said. "I tell him, 'One day you'll come and do the walk.' "

Contact Sandra Baltazar Martínez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.