The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-10
NAILED TO THE CROSS
SCENES IN NEW MEXICO SURPRISING
THOSE AT oBER-AsIs1ERGAU.
An Order the Members Of Which Be-
Torture ON Holy Friday.
New York Times.

The Passion Play Of Ober-Ammergau
is a crude representation by simple Ger
man peasants, and 1t is enacted but once
in each decade. Yet American newspa-
pers and magazines have exhausted their
resources TO illustrate and describe this
rude drama by illiterate folk in an OBJ
scure hamlet of foreign land, and thou
sands of Americans have fiocked thither
to feed their hunger for novelty. To
have witnessed the Passion Play" is an
achievement to boast OF for lifetime,
and yet within the confines of the United
States are enacted dramas of Christ's
tragic than any ever attempted at Ober-
Ammergau.
How many Americans know that in
their own country is an order whose
members yearly represent Christ's jour-
ney to His crucifixion, bearing crosses Of
crushing weight along paths of cruel
stones and cactus to a mimic Calvary?
men who help to choose the President Of
the United States, are crucified, are
bound by biting thongs, are nailed to
crosses and suffer unto death? Not
many. And yet this occurs, not merely
once in decade at a single place, but
every year during Holy Week and at
dozens Of different places. In southern
Colorado and throughout New Mexico
the men. and even the women, Of a
strange brotherhood are reproducing re-
ligious ceremonies fanatical and bar
barrie that have come down from the
dark ages, and on Holy Friday many Of
their number will be crucified, some of
them probably to die.
few years ago the ceremonies of the
Penitentes could be seen in almost every
town in New Mexico, but, with the in
fiux of Americans, public sentiment has
become leavened, and the sightseer must
now go to hamlets remote from the rail-
roads to see the brotherhood in it's full
glory. The village of Taos, in northern
New Mexico, for many years the home
of Kit Carson, is still one of the strong
holds of the Penitentes. Hidden away in
little valley among the Rockies, shut
off from the railroad on the east by sew
enty-five miles OF mountains and sep
arated from the iron highway on the
west by thirty-five miles of mesas and
| the awful canyon OF the Rio Grande.
this little hamlet of Mexicans, with
| scarcely dozen Americans among
them, Is not Of the nineteenth century,
and feels few OF Its influences. Taos and
| its neighborhood are said to have about
| 1000 Penitentes, including many women,
and here their practices are carried to
n
Methodist missionary who was an ad-
| ministrator of the estate of Pablo Ortega,
| Penitente who died near Antonito, Col
Among the dead mans effects were found
! books explaining the rites Of the order,
and the missionary has since made
careful study of this curious fanaticism.
HISTORY OF THE ORDER.
| The name of the order is LOS Her.
manos Penitentes'' dhe Penitent Broth
ers) They are popularity known by the
| single word Penitentes. The order was
established in Spain three or four hun
! dred years ago, and it is said that orig
inally its members did not practice
scourging or crucifying. The custom of
self-whipping seems to have been bor-
rowed from the Flagellantes, and the
ignorant fanatics Of the new world have
elaborated the system of penance until
men are actually nailed to the cross.
The Penitentes for long time used the
churches for their meetings. OF late
years the bishops have forbidden this,
| and now the brothers have their mora
da' outside the town. During most Of
| the year the Penitentes are so quiet that
| their silent morales" with broken
crosses scattered about them, are the
only evidence of their existence. With
the beginning of Lent they renew their
activity with ceremonies and process
slOns, which reach their climax during
| Holy Week. In those exercises liable to
be seen by spectators the brothers doing
peDance try to conceal their identity by
black clothes thrown over the head and
tied about the neck. OF late years the
younger generation has developed many
unDelIevers, whose scoffing seems to hurt
the Penitentes more than their self-im-
posed tortures. The brothers may also
have some fear of the displeasure of the
church. and it is quite probable that they
wish to mystify the people, but it is
generally known among their friends
who the penitents are.
During the early part of Lent the per-
formances of the Penitentes are compar-
| atively mild, but in Holy Week all the
horrors of this peculiar order are put
into practice On a hiliock at some dis
lance from the brotherhood house is
| ".
Day after day professions march from
the lodges to the cross and back, the
members doing penance in a variety of
hideous ways, as the fancy of the indi-
vidual may suggest. In many places
that have been invaded by railroads and
| Americans these ceremonies are per-
| formed at night and in isolated localities.
One Of the commonest scenes is the
march of the fagellants. At the head
strides the ''pitero," blowing rude flute
with a shrill, unearthly wall in its tones
that is calculated to fill stranger to its
notes with a nameless dread when heard
at night amid the weird solitude of New
Mexico mountains. A companion bears
a crucifix, and then follow the brothers
doing penance. Naked. except for their
drawers and the cloth over their heads.
their bare feet are cut by sharp stones
and lacerated by clinging cacti, while
the self-applied discipline leaves ridges
and gashes in their backs, from which
drops Of blood trickle down and discolor
their single garment. Perhaps they are
accompanied by other officers than the
two leaders. and the officials may be
known by the bands or fillets tied about
the forehead. The march is to a cross
where the penitents kneei, go through a
secret mummery, lash themselves a self
prescribed number of times, and then
take up the backward march to the
"morada-"
The browning event occurs on Holy