- Title: MEXICO: Mexicans mark Holy Week with bloodied backs and penitance.
- Date: 3rd April 2010
- Summary: TAXCO, GUERRERO, MEXICO (APRIL 1, 2010) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SCENES) GENERAL VIEW OF CHURCH MOON HOODED PENITENT PREPARING TO START PROCESSION PENITENT'S EYES THROUGH THE HOOD PENITENT WHIPPING HIMSELF WOUNDS ON BACK PENITENT WHIPPING HIMSELF WHIP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PENITENT SAYING: "It is not about hurting ourselves. We do hurt our bodies, but it is not about hurting ourselves. To hurt one's self is to seize a knife, a shard of glass and to cut yourself or hit yourself with a stick. We are performing a penitence that we offer to God." PENITENT CARRYING STICKS/ CROSS ON HIS BACK TEARS ON HIS FACE GENERAL VIEW OF CHURCH WITH CANDLES OUTSIDE FEET OF PENITENT ROLL OF STICKS WITH THORNS GENERAL VIEW OF PENITENTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PENITENT SAYING: "Many people that come here come looking for some change, some conversion. In the groups we have had, we have engineers, doctors, professors, municipal leaders, people who have worked with the government or continue working with the government, people who have as their objective to fulfill some promise they have made." FEET IN CHAINS PENITENT WOMAN WALKING WITH CHAINED FEET (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TAXCO RESIDENT, AGRIPINA MARTINEZ, SAYING: "Many people ignore the fact that people call them killers, say that they are robbers, that they live badly. They are the people who show on their body the penitence on behalf of others." PENITENT CLEANING BLOODIED WHIP MAN WHIPPING HIMSELF BLOODIED BACK EYES OF PENITENT MAN CROSSING HIMSELF
- Embargoed: 18th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA77CRP8RDSZ62976I5GCBLFJ6W
- Story Text: The faithful of Taxco Mexico mark Holy Week by whipping themselves, carrying heavy loads of thorned branches and seeking forgiveness.
The colonial Mexican city of Taxco performed its traditional and highly devotional Processions of the Flagellants and the Crucified to commemorate Holy Thursday (April 1).
A picturesque city nestled in the mountains of Guerrero, Taxco is famous for its silver mines and crafts and for commemorating Easter week with some of the most impressive religious rites throughout Mexico.
The procession of flagellants represents the high point of the city's week-long Easter celebrations.
Thousands of people visit the town to watch the faithful, who appear dressed in black and with their feet chained. They also take tours of the steep streets of the city accompanying a figure of Jesus on the cross.
The faithful show their piety by walking with packs of thorny branches on their shoulders and by flagellating themselves in the back with whips with sharp flails that make their back bleed profusely. Additionally, they wear black hoods, as they believe that the event is not about the physical individual, but about the spirit. Others walk barefoot in the stone streets of the city, with their feet in chains, and carry heavy religious objects.
Although the whips leave bloody wounds on their backs, many of the participants say the procession is not about physical pain, but is about spirituality and devotion to God.
"It is not about hurting ourselves. We do hurt our bodies, but it is not about hurting ourselves. To hurt one's self is to seize a knife, a shard of glass and to cut yourself or hit yourself with a stick. We are performing a penitence that we offer to God," said one man who declined to give his name.
The participants devote months of preparation in order to take part in the procession. They are said to participate to express devotion to Catholic Church and to seek consolation over a deep sorrow.
"Many people that come here come looking for some change, some conversion. In the groups we have had, we have engineers, doctors, professors, municipal leaders, people who have worked with the government or continue working with the government, people who have as their objective to fulfill some promise they have made," explained another participant.
The church of Santa Prisca has been the beginning and end point of the processions in Taxco since 1949, the year in which the event was first celebrated.
Some historians believe that the event originated at the convent of Saint Bernardino in 1598. This year, local monks who built the sanctuary began to reenact the crucifixion of Christ by making 14 stops while carrying crosses and religious imagery.
Agripina Martinez, a local resident who has been following the processions for years, said that people from various professions participate and offer penitence during this time of year to seek forgiveness for the excesses and mortal sins of their lives and the lives of others.
"Many people ignore the fact that people call them killers, say that they are robbers, that they live badly. They are the people who show on their body the penitence on behalf of others."
Among residents of Taxco, the faithful are highly respected the processions are considered a unique example of City's religious devotion and traditions.
For people participating in the procession self-flagellation is a way to share the pain Jesus is said to have suffered on the cross. The rite is looked upon as an honor and a way to redeem sins and faults.
Processions are held in Taxco during the rest of Easter week commemorating each of chapter of Christ's Passion. Mexico is considered world's second-largest Catholic nation with 88 percent of its population declaring devotion to the Catholic Church.
The town of Taxco was founded as a mining center in 1528 and was declared a part of the state of Guerrerro in 1850. The majority of local residents are partly the descendants of African slaves brought to Mexico during the Spanish colonial period of Mexican history.
Local authorities expect more than 60,000 tourists, both Mexicans and foreigners, to visit Taxco this year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
