To attempt any
complete description of religious affairs in New Mexico,
without mention of the
Penitentes, would be to omit their most curious and unique
feature. This secret society has existed for many years, and though
disapproved by successive archbishops since the coming of Bishop Lamy in 1851, yet it
continues to flourish in various sections of New Mexico, especially those that are
remote from the railroads and modern influences. Geographically the society is confined
to the northerly half of the State, and principally to the counties of Taos, Colfax, Rio
Arriba, Mora, San Miguel, Sandoval, and Valencia. It extends into the southern counties of
Colorado, which were settled years ago from New Mexico and constituted a part of it
until included within the boundaries of the Centennial State when it was organized in 1876;
and seems to be more powerful there than in any part of New Mexico itself.
The fundamental principle
of these people is that sin can only be expiated by
suffering, and that
forgiveness can most surely be obtained by self- inflicted
torture. Particularly are they to follow the sufferings of the Saviour on
Mount Calvary, to the foot of the cross; and sometimes even by being raised upon
the cross itself. While they hold secret meetings throughout the year, the more severe
ceremonies and the processions which afford the only opportunity for outsiders to
witness their sufferings, occur during the last week in Lent, increasing in intensity,
especially from Wednesday, through Holy Thursday to a culmination on Good Friday. There have
been many descriptions written of these ceremonies by those who have witnessed
them.
The houses in which the
Penitentes hold their meetings are called Moradas, and are usually plain adobe buildings, with no
windows whatever, and only one small door as an entrance. Above the door, upon the
flat roof, is placed a simple cross, which is the only sign that the building is dedicated to
religious purposes. Sometimes the Moradas are built in the outskirts of a village, or by
an adjacent roadside, in plain view, and with no attempt at secrecy; but others are placed on
one side of a deep arroyo or canon, in a bend which cuts it off entirely from general
observation. When thus located, in a rocky locality, the Morada itself is built of stone rather
than of adobe.
The origin of the
Penitentes of New Mexico has been the subject of much
discussion for many
years. The most obvious explanation was that they were a
survival of the Flagellantes
who flourished in various parts of Europe in the Middle
Ages. This sect or society
first made its appearance in Italy in the year 1210, and the
superstition grew with amazing
rapidity. St. Justin of Padua, in describing their rise,
says that this religious excitement
first appeared in Perugia, and soon overspread nearly all of
Italy. Men of all ranks
of life were affected, and old and young were to be seen
following processions in the
streets, many of them only half clad, but all carrying
scourges made of leather thongs with which they lashed themselves on their
backs until they were covered with blood; all the while weeping and imploring the
forgiveness of God for all their sins. Not only in the day time, but also at night, hundreds
and thousands of these penitents ran about the streets carrying lighted candles into
the churches, where they prostrated themselves before the altar in an agony of grief
and contrition. It seemed as if a kind of spiritual excitement permeated the whole people;
and though the whole civil and ecclesiastical authorities frowned upon the movement,
it could not be suppressed, but rather increased in its intensity. In 1260 a hermit of
Perugia named Ranier organized the movement which had before been spasmodic, and soon
the Flagellantes to the number of ten thousand were marching through the country
bearing banners and crosses.
They soon spread across
the Alps into Switzerland and Germany and found followers in
Alsace, Bohemia, and
Poland. The occurrence of the plague which raged in Germany
in 1349 seemed to
increase their zeal and the extravagance of their actions.
The Chronicle of Albert
of Strasburg tells us that a crowd of them would come to
some public place, and then,
placing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they
stripped, leaving on their
bodies only a breech cloth. They then walked with arms
outstretched like a cross around and around the circle, finally
prostrating themselves on the ground, and then rose, each striking his neighbor with a
scourge armed with knots and four iron points, regulating their blows by the singing of hymns.
In some places they were
called the Brothers of the Cross, and in others the
Fraternity of the
Flagellantes, but everywhere they seemed carried away with a
tide of distracting frenzy.
So extravagant were their actions that Pope Clement VI
issued a bill against them, and the German bishops forbade their
assemblages. This had an effect for a while, but in 1414 a leader appeared, named Conrad,
who claimed to have a divine revelation commending the practice of public
flagellation, and preached that there was no salvation but by a baptism of blood through the
institution of scourging. At one time the Inquisition took action against the sect and
caused ninety-one members to be burned at one time at Sangerhusen; but strangely enough the
delusion, though temporarily quelled, soon broke out afresh.
In the sixteenth century
there arose a great number of flagellating penitential
companies, distinguished
as White, Black, and Gray Penitents, and the movement became
so strong that it
included many nobles among its adherents and even King Henry
III inscribed himself as
an honorary member, and finally himself organized a new
penitential brotherhood
which was inaugurated with great pomp on March 25, 1575.
To a greater or less
extent the Flagellantes were found in all southern Europe
during the next century,
and had processions on certain festivals in Italy, Spain,
and Portugal. The idea
of those who believe that there is a connection between the
Flagellantes of Europe and
the present Penitentes of New Mexico, is that the principles
and practices of the society
were brought across the ocean at an early day, and when they
died out in the central
parts of Mexico they still survived in the rural districts
of New Mexico, where the people
were isolated from new ideas and continued to hold the
beliefs and customs of their
ancestors. The prevailing opinion however is that the
Penitentes are a continuation and survival of the Third Order of St. Francis.
That the Franciscans had introduced customs which could easily be exaggerated and
corrupted into the Penitente excesses, even at a very early date, is evident
from the words of Benavides, the great Franciscan custodian, in his celebrated report to
the king in 1630; who quotes an Indian wizard, who was opposed to Christianity, saying,
"You Spaniards and Christians are crazy and desire us to be so also. You are so crazy
that you go along through the streets lashing yourselves like madmen, shedding
blood," to which Benavides adds: "He must have seen some disciplinary procession of Holy
Week, in some Christian Pueblo."
The Third Order of St.
Francis is composed of laymen, and was very general among
the people of New Mexico
during all of the Spanish era. The Franciscan priests
naturally and properly
encouraged the growth of the Third Order, which sought to
carry the principles of St.
Francis of Assisi into the life of the laity; and for two
centuries nearly every leading citizen became a member of the Third Order.
This is seen by reading the wills made during that period, nearly all of
which state that the testator was a member, and direct that
the funeral shall be of a
modest character according to the rules of the order. The
usual form is
substantially as follows: "I direct that when God, our Lord,
shall see fit to call me out
of this present life, my body be enshrouded in the habit of
our father, San Francisco, of whose Third Order I am a brother, and that
my funeral be modest [humilde]." This continued until the Mexican Revolution, when
the Franciscans were forced to leave the field of their labors, and their
supervision of those who constituted the Third Order. Thus left without regular government, but
wishing to continue their organization, it would be natural that the old members should
adopt such rules as seemed necessary, and almost equally natural that in time their
zeal and enthusiasm would bring about excesses which would increase year by year. They
called the society "The Brotherhood of our Father Jesus Christ," and sometimes "The
Brotherhood of the Blood of Christ."
The principal officer was
called Hermano Mayor--Chief Brother--and the members were divided into three degrees, to each of
which there was an interesting initiatory ceremony. Those of the First Degree were only
allowed to be present at meetings and to take part in devotional exercises; those of the
Second Degree could hold office; and those of the Third Degree were strongly obligated to
practice voluntary punishment, and to shed their own blood. All members were marked with a
deeply cut cross on the back, made by a sharp piece of flint, and this wound was
expected to be kept open during forty days. On each Ash Wednesday, all members were
expected to reopen this cross and keep it open until Good Friday. It is during Holy Week,
and particularly from Wednesday to Friday, that the special exercises take place, together
with the processions and representations of the crucifixion. The most usual penance is
with a braided rope of yucca (soap weed) or of cactus, terminating with a knot or
ball of cactus, with which they whip themselves, throwing the cord first over one naked shoulder
and then over the other, in such a way that the thorny extremity strikes in the same
place in the middle of the back, which in a short time becomes a mass of gore; and the
torment is almost insupportable. This is self- administered, sometimes within the
Morada and sometimes in a procession, the penitents being preceded by a couple of
musicians, who keep up a continual chant, and followed by a small company of friends to support
the suffering in case they fall or faint.
The same procedure takes
place in the penance of carrying the cross, which in some localities is the most usual. These
crosses are made of roughly hewn logs of pine and are of great weight. The writer has
counted as many as twenty of them piled against the wall of a morada in Taos, and the largest
measured over seventeen feet in length. The end with the cross piece is placed on the
naked shoulder of the penitent, the other end dragging on the ground; and he is then
to carry it to some designated point, usually on the top of a hill, which represents
Calvary. A rough road, through stones and other obstructions, is usually selected and
the sufferer is soon exhausted by the weight, but must bear his burden until the goal is
reached. Falls are frequent, and there have been reports of deaths from exhaustion, but
these may be exaggerations.
Much ingenuity is shown in
devising new forms of penance. In one Morada, in a sandy locality east of the Rio Grande, there
is a kind of hand-cart or wheelbarrow with two small wheels, which easily sink to their
centers. In this is a skeleton surmounted by a human skull, and when used, the cart is
filled with stones so as to add to its weight. It is drawn
by lines of cord that
are carried over the shoulders and under the arms of the
penitent, who is without
clothes above the waist. In a very short time the cords cut
through the skin and into
the flesh, and then every foot of progress through the sand
is a torture; but the prescribed
distance has to be traveled regardless of the agony
inflicted. Nothing but a feeling
of fanatical enthusiasm and an absolute conviction that by
such temporal suffering they
are gaining forgiveness of sins and earning heavenly
rewards, could induce any human beings voluntarily to endure such
sufferings; and yet there never seems to be a lack of participants.
The Church authorities
have repeatedly endeavored to suppress the society, or at
any rate regulate its
action. Archbishop Salpointe issued a stringent order on the
subject on March 31,
1889; but while the Penitentes claim to be zealous members
of the Church, the practices
have continued almost unabated.
