The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-08-28
FFeoss1S --.. :. -. -eeeeeI
r. sespdAlo Vi Penitsnte..

that the Penitente sect 4. a..,
ing and doomed everywhere .saa1.
IN the remote mountain sss.sW
wnere modern influences hays hsos
Under these Circumstance. !, !.
\nard to see Why New Mer,r...ss
2ould De 90 sensitive aho.. y
TRe penitentes are no mors ~. X
tiv than the Indians. ana i-
way have as little to do WITH .I -
conn ercial and social LIE ~ -. ne
stats s have the ways Of ~ :. NE
Alan. Furthermore, thew s N
more =, ymitive than people W. 40
hs fonnd in mountain section o =. N,
MANY sout, ern states, in tho A, n,e o.
barrens of n w Jersey, and for y tha.
and Chicago And they are ,. .U,k
more pictures0 que and sisniacsatt
They are a trueN !. a. OF the age
Of faith. In then IS the medieval
soul, alive and unc hanged, with ia
unsuitable fa;<a in exemption and
immortality, its high scorh blood !
and death. The penitentes rent
sent a step in the progress Of nm
They are brutal and bloody, II YOU
will, but they have dignity, hieh
courage and faith-things that the
race is everywhere losing nov
They deserve to be studied system
atlcally rather than ignored.
Just Like the Rest Of U.s.
Our feeling Of superiority toward
them is a little uncalled for, too.
The characteristics of their frater-
nifty are after all the characteristics
OF fraternal organizations every-
where. All such organizations
have mystical beliefs and pompous
ceremonies, which seem a bit alb
surd to all but the participants. In
all of them the initiates are treated
with more or less cruelty. Nearly
every fall brings forth a record Of
a freshman or two killed in initia-
tons to college fraternities. After
all, the difference between a peni-
tente chapter and a Harvard fra
ternity is not SO great. The peni-
tentes are more sincere and take
| punishment better.
The penitente rites are truly i'm
pressive things to witness. What
goes on inside the morada or chap
ter house is supposed never to be
seen by outsiders, but it is known
that there the initiate receives the
seal of the order, which consists Of
three cuts with sharp flint down
the length Of his back and clear
through the skin. The procession
to the cross starts early in the
morning, and of this we have been
witness.
! The Whipping Ceremony.
Picture a little village Of adobe
huts in a mountain canyon, bleak
end sterile, spotted with the melt
ed SHOWS OF spring and swept by
keen March wind. Daylight has
Just come and the village is just
stirring: a shivering boy drives q
flock OF goats up the mountain, a
black-shawled woman goes to the
creek for water; blue smoke curls
from half a dozen chimneys. On q
! hilltop is gathered a little~knot oil
watchers.
/ From around a bend in the can.
yon comes a monotonous. lugubrl'
GUS chant and the crazy screechinG
f, music of a sort Of fife. Then the
procession of the penitentes comes
into sight. Perhaps there are forty
of them. Each is naked save Tor
pair of white cotton drawers ant
a black bandage about his eyes
The foremost impersonates Chris
and drags a huge wooden cross
perhaps ten fet high. Each OF Ia
penitentes has his back covered
with his blood which has run dow
to his heels. making long parable
stripes on his brooches. Soma o
them beat themselves and other
/ beat those who walk in front o
them. The whip is 2 huge, fiat' two
handed affair made by plaltlnl
strands of the amole weed or Span
ish bayonet. The blows resoun'
lire the noise made by Shaping
i. man with a wet towel. for each o
tile whips is wet with blood. >.
y The procession slowly taxes IL
way to a high and lonely hill!oI
, where the honored one who IA
been elected to act the part Q
Christ is fastened upon the cross
Formerly he was nailed, and que
. he died. Now he is generally las'
ened with ropes. which 10 pa
I enough, since he often turns pun
ple from arrested circulation Oh LII
blood. 4,
Thus does the penitente' IN u
) medieval simplicity OF his ialth' {.
press his belief in the potency
Christ's sacrifices. If Jesus oie
, to atone for the sins OF men' WI
, should not the penitente bleed IL
, his own sins?