A RACE OF SELF-TORTURERS.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3715, 12 June 1883, Page 4

A RACE OF SELF-TORTURERS.

There arc iv the Territory of Now Mexico about 'JilOU per.-on-, brkm-ing (o the " Ucrirriuo, Peiiilcnt'.-,.," a fanatical religious f.ei..(, who believe in the periodical atonement for hin by inflicting on their bodies agonising tortures. They Avere originally connected Avith the Roman Catholic. Church, but Archbishop Laney. shocked by their barlariiii'v m. inn!'.:■■'■ ! rd n d'-'Tce

banishing them from that communion. Its membership has greatly decreased since, and those now belonging to the Order reside principally in but four counties of the territory/ Great care is taken to prevent the discovery of their identity, all being masked. While conducting their annual penance the devotees often truA-el hundreds of miles to undergo the prescribed tortures. Los Griegos, a small Mexican village near Albuciuerquc, boasts of the great body of the penitents. On March 20th their ceremonies were inaugurated by an introductory proosssion, containing about thirty men and women. The procession of purification by torture bc-an at ten o'clock. Five men, naked to the waist, barefooted, and Avearing black robes and hoods that completely concealed their identity, Avere seen to issue above the lodge-housc'of the sect, led by a_ master of ceremonies, avlio carried a genuine cat-o - nine tails. Two huge wooden crosses, Aveighiug 2001b each, were placed on shoulders of two of the self-torturers. The sharp edges cut into the naked flesh, causing tiic blood f" spurt our and drop on tho "•round. One penitent produced a sharp goad, which he thrust into the flesh of his i'elloAV-sufl'erers from time to time, Avlnle the procession moved up _ the street singing a wild chant in Spanish. Halting once, the crosses were transferred to the shoulders of others, the attendants meanwhile applying their rawhide Avhips mercilessly, each blow taking off skin aud bits of flesh. The procession a»-ain started, and took its Avay to the gaol, half a mile distant, During the march not a groan Avas heard, nor was a Avord spoken T but just before reaching the goal, a small abode hut, an ordeal Avas encountered Avhich tried the nerves of the boldest. Fur some distance before the door cactus plants had been thickly strewn upon the "■round, and as the ' bare-footed crossbearers approached it one hesitated. Instantly half-a-dozen whips descended upon his bare shoulders, and Avith a bound he sprang into tho thorny plants, his every step and the footsteps' of his followers being marked Avith blood. As tho torture groAv more terrible tho chant grew louder and the thongs fell Avith more vigour. Reaching the "door of tho house the procession was lost sight of, a sentinel guarding the entrance, and only broken Avhips and poles- and blood bear witness to what transpired Avithin. Issuing from the house the procession reformed and returned to their house of Avorship, and so the horrifying exercises continued, one band of penitents succeeding another until night, when a. grand procession and chant wound up the' exercises for the day. During these marches to and from the house of refuge the seem; at times was too sickening for description. Powerful men submitted their bodies to the most merciless flagellation, until in some instances, the bare muscle Avas seen quivering at every blow. The Avhole proceeding was a savage attempt to honor the Easter season. Hitherto the law has made no attempt to check these wild exercises, although once a penitent avlio threw another bearing a cross into the river near San Juan, and drowned him, was lynched by the infuriated spectators.