The world of miracles and the witnesses of the healing of Mateo de Rojas for the canonization of St. Toribio, Lima, 1648

Abstract

This article critically analyzes the testimonies about the miracle granted to the 20-year-old seminarian, Mateo de Rojas, born in Huánuco. In April 1684, Mateo was dying due to a severe nosebleed, but was miraculously cured when he encountered the relic of a rib from Toribio Mogrovejo, the saintly founder of the seminary. This extraordinary fact was endorsed by Álvaro de Torres y Bohórquez, dean of the institution; by his companions Francisco Claudio de la Serna Espinosa, José Antonio Ruiz de Llantada, Juan Ortiz de Landaeta and Nicolás de Melgosa; by doctors Melchor Vásquez and José de Sanabria, both graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of San Marcos; and even by Mateo himself, the protagonist and beneficiary of the miracle. Thus, this event constitutes an additional element to better understand the complex cultural world of the Peruvian viceroyalty.