In Santa Fe, Salacious by Tower Lowe tells about a murder that haunts the Santa Fe Cathedral until the true story unfolds. The main event in the novel takes place in the small adobe chapel at the Basilica, dedicated to Our Lady La Conquistadora and brought from Spain in 1625. That's centuries of prayers and offerings for peace.
There are said to be ghosts in the adjoining cemetery, and I can attest that there are angels in the chapel.
One afternoon I dropped by to pray the rosary for my daughter. As I sat there, quietly touching the beads and remembering the prayers, an old woman entered the chapel. She was quite small and wore a black lace mantilla over her head. this struck me as odd, as few people actually wear the mantilla walking around in these days. When I finished my rosary, she touched my arm gently.
"I want to tell you something," she said. "In my life, there have been many difficulties and people whose actions you can't understand. But don't worry. It all works out in the end."
I smiled politely. "Thank you." I didn't want to be rude, but the elderly lady looked concerned, as though she feared I had not understood her.
"No, she said. Listen. You don't need to worry so much. It all works out in the end."
The she stood, pulled the mantilla close to her face and exited the chapel.
Was she real? An angel? Perhaps it doesn't matter. My father was a lapsed Catholic, and I was not raised in the church. But I do pray often in the chapel, and I learned the rosary while teaching at a Catholic school.
For me, she was an angel. What about you? Any church ghost stories you want to tell?
