PENITENTIAL
636
PENITENTIAL
on Good Friday it was the custom to bind one of the
brethren to a cross, as in a crucifixion. At present no
"crucifixions" talcc place, though previous to 1S96
they were annual in many places in New Mexico and
Colorado. The Penitentes now confine themselves to
secret flagellation and occasional vLsits to churches at
night. Flagellation is also practised at the death of a
Penitente or of a relative. The corpse is taken to the
morada and kept there for a few hours; flagellation
takes place at the morada and during the procession to
and from the same.
II.— Origin and History. — Flagellation was intro- duced into Latin .Vmerica during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, though no actual records are found of any organized flagellant societies there until comparatively recent times. In some localities of Mexico, Central, and South America, flagellant organ- izations, more or less public in their practices, existed until very recently, and still exist in a few isolated places. All these later organizations were regulated and controlled by Leo XIII. The origin of the New Mexican flagellants or hermanos penilenles is un- certain, but they seem to have been an outgrowth of the Third Order of St. Francis, introduced by Franciscans in the seventeenth century. Their prac- tices consisted principally in flagellation, without in- cisions and with no loss of blood, carrying small crosses, and marching in processions with bare feet to visit the churches and join in long prayers. The barbarous customs of the New Mexico Penitentes are of a much later origin. The New IMexican flagellants call their society, "Los hermanos penitentes de la terccr orden de San Francisco", and we know that when the last organization came into prominence in the early part of the nineteenth century, the older organization no longer existed in New Mexico. When their practices reached their worst stage (about 1850-90), the atten- tion of the Church was directed towards them. The society was then very strong among all classes and the ecclesiastical authorities decided to use leniency. In a circular letter to the Penitentes of New Mexico and Colorado in ISSti, Archbishop Salpointe of Santa Fe ordered them in the name of the Church to abolish flagellation, and the carrying of heavy crosses, and sent to the different herynano.s mayores copies of the rules of the Third Order of St. Francis, advising them to reorganize in accordance therewith. His letter and orders were unheeded. He then ordered all the parish priests to see the Penitentes personally and induce them to follow his instructions, but they accomplished nothing. To make matters worse, a Protestant paper, "La hermandad", was published at Pueblo, Colo- rado, in 1889, which incited the Penitentes to resist the Church and follow their own practices. Arch- bishop Salpointe, in a circular letter of 1889, then or- dered the Penitentes to di.sband. As a result the society, though not abolished, was very much weak- ened, anil its further growth prevented. In Taos, Carmel, San Mateo, and a few other places they are still numerous, and continue their barbarous practices, though more secretly.
Some important facts concerning the late hiator>' of the Peni- tentes in New Mexico are to be found in Revista Catolica (Las Vegas. N. M., 1875-1910. especially 1886-90). No other trust- worthy data exist on the subject. Cf. however. Flagellation in the Wexl of the United Slates in Dublin Review. V, 114, pp. 178 sqq.; LuMUIS, The PeniUnt Brothers in Cosmopolitan, V, 7, pp. 41 sqq.; Idem, The Land of poco tiempo (New York. 1893), 79-108.
AURELIO M. ESPINOSA.
Penitential Canons, rules laid down by councils or bishops concerning the penances to be done for various sins. These canons, collected, adapted to later practice, and completed by suitable directions formed the nucleus of the Penitential Books fsee Theology, Moral; Penantk). They all belong to the ancient penitential discipline anrl have now only an historic interest; if the writers of the classical period continue to cite them, it is only as examples, and to excite sin-
ners to repentance by reminding them of earlier sever-
ity. In a certain sense they still survive, for the grant-
ing of indulgences (q. v.) is .still based on the periods of
penance, j-ears, day, and quarantines. The penitential
canons may be divided into three classes correspond-
ing to the penitential discipline of the East, of Rome,
or of the Anglo-Saxon Churches. (1) In the East, the
prominent feature of penance was not the practice of
mortification and pious works, though this was sup-
posed; the penance imposed on sinners was a longer
or shorter period of exclusion from communion and
the Mass, to which they were gradually admitted
according to the different penitential "stations" or
classes, three in number; for the "weepers" (irpoo--
xXaioi-Tes, flentes), mentioned occasionally, were not
yet admitted to penance; they were great sinners who
had to await their admission outside of the church.
Once admitted, the penitents became "hearers"
(dxpoiiT)6>'oi, audioiles), and assisted at the Divine
service until after the lessons and the homily; then,
the "prostrated" (v-n-oTri-n-TovTes, prostrati), because the
bishop before excluding them, prayed over them while
imposing his hands on them as they lay prostrate;
finally the avarivm, consistentes, who assisted at the
whole service, but did not receive communion. The
penance ended with the admission to communion and
complete equality with the rest of the faithful. These
different periods amounted in all to three, five, ten,
twelve, or fifteen years, according to the gravity of the
sins. This discipline, which was rapidly mitigated,
ceased to be observed by the close of the fourth cen-
tury. The relative penitential canons are contained
in the canonical letter of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus
(about 203; P. G., X, 1019), the Councils of Ancyra
(314), Neocffisarea (314-20), Nica>a (325), and the
three canonical letters of St. Basil to Amphilochus
(Ep. 188, 199, 217 in P. G., XXXII, 663, 719, 794).
They passed into the Greek Collections and the Peni-
tential Books. Those laid down by the councils
passed to the West in different translations, but were
misunderstood or not enforced.
(2) The Roman penitential discipline did not recog- nize the various "stations", or classes; with this ex- ception it was Uke the discipline of the East. The penitential exercises were not settled in detail and the punishment properly so called consisted in exclusion from communion for a longer or shorter period. But the practice of admitting to penance only once, which kept the penitents in a fixed order, was maintained longer. The most ancient Western canons relate to the admission or exclusion from public penance; for instance, the decision of Callixtus (Tertullian, "De pudic", i) to admit adulterers, that of St. Cyril and the Council of Carthage in 251 (Ep. 56) to admit the lapsi or apostates, although the Council of Elvira (about 300, Can. 1, 6, 8, etc.) still refused to admit very great sinners. Other canons of this council ordained penances of several years' duration. After Elvira and Aries (314) the penitential canons are rather infre- quent. They are more numerous in the councils and decretals of the popes after the clo.se of the fourth century — Siricius, Innocent, and later St. Leo, They reduce the duration of the penance very much, and are more merciful towards the lapis or apostates. These texts, with the translations of the Eastern coun- cils, pas.sed into the Western canonical collections. (3) On the other hand, what is more striking in the penitential canons of Anglo-Saxon and Iri.sh origin, is the particular fixation of the penitential acts imposed on the sinner to insure reparation, and their duration in days, quarantines (rnrinn), and years; these consist in more or less rigorous fasts, pro.st'rations, deprivation of things otherwise allowable; also alms, prayers, pil- grimages, etc. These c.anons. unknown to us in their original, sources, are conlaincrl in the numerous so-called Penitenti.al Books (Liliri PaiiUfntiala^) or collections made in, and in voguefrom,theseventh century. These
