El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-20
THE PASSION PLAY
Of the Recent Action OF
the Archbishop

| tHS niSuDtSuOp.
1t was stated in these columns the
other day that the arch bishop o
Mexico had issued an edict prohibit ne
the crude presentations of the Pas
sion of Christ by Indians in the viii
lagos OF the federal district during tht
closing days of Holy Week, custom
that has prevailed chiefly at Taouba
Ixtacalco and Coyoacan, and which
owing to the very singular nature OF
| the repressn tations has always attract
ed large crowds of Am orleans and 9th.
err foreigners who happened to be in
the city ST the time.
It was supposed that the prohi bition
of his grace was based on general coz
| sideratiors, but ii appears that there
was no intention to condemn ia gene
raj the practice of bringing home re-
ligious truths to the uptutored mind
| by means of dramatic representations
| but that the prelate's action was M ere
ly based on the conviction that the re-
presentations which have been takin e
place year by year IL the villages near
| to this city, partly through having de-
generated and partly owing to other
causes, have come to be source ra
Their of scandal than of edificasion.
The Catholic paper Ell TEMPO, dis
cussing this subject, says in part:
''In order to place the question in
the proper point of view it is necessary
first of all to RENE mber that the origin
and cause of these religious practices
tn at have been observed by the native
population during Holy Week, particu-
larly the ceremony of the Three Falls,
consisted in the endeavor to foment
their piety and to render the mysteries
of thePsssion more accessible to their
uncultivated minds and simple souls by
representing then vividlyto their eyes.
Those who first had recourse to these
means, with excellent result for the
religious progress of the humble class,
were the Franciscan missionaries,
among whom were counted men OF such
high worth as Fathers -Gaute, Valencia,
be denied even by the most furious
Jacobinist.
"These practices in Holy Week were
only observed by the simple and hum
bic and were never represented in
cath edrals nor in churches frequented
by educated persons, being IN such
cases unnecessary.
SAT the present time the doctrine of
the Mexican church in this matter is
the same as It was In the early days of
the conquest, in proof of which we will
cite the following words OF decree 40
OF the recent fifth Mexican council:
The pious representations which are
won't to be held in Holy Week
contribute Ia many places to encourage
the devotion of the faithful
''The doctrine of the church is and
always has been the same, viz, that
such ceremonies as the Three Falls.
however crude they may be, will con-
tribute to the encouragement of piety,
If the people among whom they take
place are ignorant, simple snd un
But inasmuch as the
villages in the neigh borhood of large
cities may be frequented by educated |
pious people and educated irreligious
people, such practices are apt, owing |
to their crudity, to offend the relig Gus |
of the former and to give |
rise to ridicule and mookery on the
part of the latter. And that Is the |
reason why the council declared that |
In villages Which are near to large
cities such represen tations may not be |
held without the consent of |
the bishop
1.-THE practices In question have in |
certain places degenerated from their |
primitive object. They are no longer
conducted with the same spirit of piety |
rs formerly. In many places they have |
become converted into semi profane |
make an occasion for orgies of puloue |
and aguardiente, as is particularly the
Ease at Ixtacalco, whittier many persons |
,otall devoid of religious feeling repair |
IN the afternoon OF Good Friday merely |
or the sake of fun
"But these same practices will con-
'inue to be good among people who are
and truly pious.
sit has been said that Don Lucas Ala
nan and some other Catholic writer's
nave censured such practices, but the |
act is that the writer's in question have |
,nly censured these observances of ex-
ernal piety when unsccompanied by |
rue faith and sincere piety aid when
he practices have been made the pre-
ext for profane celebr ations, for it is
more important to keep the Ten |
Commandments of the Law of God |
Engraved on the heart than to wear
he holy rosary round the neck. -
Mexican Herald.
nlyoh h In k,n