El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-27
< UADALUPE-HIpALGo.


In the main church, which is dedicated
to the Virgin, there is a single silver
railing worth untold thousands of dol
lars and weighing nearly 80 tons. It
was at this point, in 1881, that the
Virgin Mary is said to have appeared
before lowly indian, Juan Diego by
name. with the command that he in
form the archbishop that a shrine
should be built here and dedicated to
her memory. Juan Diego told the
archbishop of his vision, but the pre-
late regarded him only as a dreamer.
Agsfn the vision appeared to the in
dian, and again he reported it to the
priest. This time the archbishop IN
! structed two men to follow the indian,
keeping him in sight at all times. They
returned, saying that Juan Diego had
mfraculously disappeared. In a few
days the indian came again before the
archbishop, claiming TO have seen the
Virgin, who had hidden him return on
the morrow. This he failed to do, and
the next time he went into the city he
travelled by another route. The Virgin
stood in his path and again asked him
to take the message to the archbishop.
She told him to gather some roses from
the hillside and take them to the priest
as token of her appearance.
The Miracle of the Roses.
The story goes that Juan Diego
| wrapped the roses in his serape and
carried them to the archbishop When
he opened it, there appeared a picture
Of the Virgin in the image of an in
| dian maiden, miraculously painted on
| the serape- This incident affected the
churchmen of Mexico deeply and they
appealed to the pope at Rome to rec
ogn1ze the vision, but 1t was 1872 years
| before they were successful in even
persuading Rome to admit the relation
of the apparition. A few years later
the story was investigated by the
Congregation of Rites, and pope Glenn
ent *. granted the Mexicans the priv
ilege of holding plenary feast day
on the anniversary of the vision, but
it was not until 1854 that it was fully
recognized as true miracle by Papal
bull
The Feast of Guadalupe.
December Il is set aside as the
hottest of the feast days at Guadalupe,
and for days before it is the mecca
of the indian population of the repub-
lie. Thousands Of them journey from
the ends of the country to take part
in the celebration and the railroads
reap a harvest. They are a poor,
bedraggled, filthy lot of people, eating
next to nothing while on. their pill
grimage and acquiring what little
money they must have by selling all
kinds of souvenirs. They bake little
cakes which they call "gorditas de Ia
virgen"-little fat ones of the Virgin.
These sell two for one centavO. Upon
these occasions Guadalupe is overrun
with vast horde of pilgrims, and the
unspeakable filth amid which they live
is sure to be followed by an outbreak
Of epidemic disease. While the indians
worship the Virgin. it is generally ac-
cepted that they believe she is their
own indian goddess. The church was
very astute in the matter of convert
ing the. indians merely substituting
Christian images for those which were
possessed by the indians It is said
that the bishops in Mexico have little
patience with the clap-trap meretri-
cious display in certain churches which
pander to the bad taste and magma
ton of their indian parishioners and
have issued many synodals against
these practices.
Nine-Tenths Catholics.
Catholicism is the religion of per-
haps ninetenths of the people of Mex
leo, and yet the church has received
many severe blows at the hands of the
government. MonaSterieS and con-
vents have been practically banished
from the country, and no member of
an ecclesiastic order is eligible to a
seat in the national congress. The
churches are forbidden to hold any
real estate other than the buildings
Immediately and directly devoted TO
the service and objects of their asso-
citation. Under the Diaz administration
the church has not Jared as badly
under former administrations for the
wife Of the president is a devout Cath
Ollie and always interposes her influ
ence toward gentle construction of the
laws against the church. 1t is said
that there are 10000 churches and
chapels in the republic under Catholic
control and that the annual bill for
candles used in worship amounts to
more than 100000 pesos.
The Work of JuareE.
The story of how the church lost it's
power in Mexico begins in the time of
Benito Juarez, an indian from Oaxaca,
who afterwards became president and
the deliverer of his people. and who
is today regarded as the Abraham Lin
coin of the Mexican republic The
fiestas and romerias such as the an
nual pilgrimage to Guadalupe, the Pas
sion Play at Tacuba, and the yenera-
tion of the SacroSanct at Amecameca.
entailed such a drain on the energies
of the people that things were almost
at a standstilI. There were some 5000
nuns monks and priests in the repuD-
lie. and they held property valued at
$4,000, 900 one-third of the entire
wealth of the nation. High salaries
were paid, the archbishops of Mexico,
drawing $4,000. the bishop of Puebla
$4,000 and others in proportion
WheE Juarez came into the cabinet
of president Alvarez. he secured the
passage of a law ending the jurisdic-
ton of special courts, which had been
created for the purpose Of exercising
jurisdiction over all cases in which inc
church or the army or any of their
members, were interested The church
boldly denounced this act as an inter-
ference with its rights and attempted
to carry through a military revolt |
against it. The revolution was put
down, and enough Of the property of
the church was sold to pay the cost
Of subduing the revolutionists. Later,
all of the land owned by the interests
of the church was sold, and the pro-
ceeds turned over to the officials. This |
has amounted to over 20,0O0.00O pesos.
The clergy invoked dire penalties upon
the buyers of the lands, which resulted
in their going at low prices.
The Present Constitution.