Talk:Penitentes (New Mexico)

succinct
Good, succinct account, but there's no citations at all for the meat of the article. Where did this info come from? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.166.50.25 (talk) 18:18, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Move?
I think Murcielago has got it bang on. I grew up in Rio Arriba and have studied its history. Of the many accounts I've read, none comes so close. I, too, want to know the source. It would be well worth reading. Also, I've encountered several other names for the Hermandad in Fray Angelco Chavez's But Time and Chance and Weigle's Penitentes of the Southwest and in literature about the Santuario de Chimayo. D. Hocking — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dhocking (talk • contribs) 05:13, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

I'm glad to see this article, but I think it could use a better name. Everyone just calls them "penitentes", both in local conversation and in literature, so simply "Penitente" would be a good title. If people feel that might lead to confusion, another possibility is "Penitente (New Mexico)". I did find this page about penitentes in Mexico. &mdash;JerryFriedman 22:32, 26 April 2006 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't be opposed to renaming it "Penitentes (New Mexico)", plural rather than singular, in order to refer to the organization rather than an individual Hermano. It makes sense since "los" is a direct article in Spanish. -Murcielago 22:36, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Penitentes currently redirects here. The Brothers are known by many names, but I suppose there is not really any good reason to include the article "Los". Just make sure to change all the double redirects if you decide to move it.--Rockero 22:57, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Dicho y hecho. &mdash;JerryFriedman 17:16, 27 April 2006 (UTC)  Well, it is now, anyway.  &mdash;JerryFriedman 20:04, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Secular priests?
This seems to be an oxymoron, but then perhaps this has some meaning in Catholism. If so, perhaps some explanation is in order.Wschart (talk) 01:07, 23 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Good point. In Catholicism, there are two types of priests. That designation is based on who their spiritual father is (aka the local boss). You hear the term diocesan priest more that secular priest these days. A religious priest is one who belongs to a religious order such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Norbertines, Jesuits, et cetera. Their superior would be an Abbott in the order. Priests who are not members of religious orders answer directly to the bishop in their diocese. They are called diocesan or secular priests. Again, this is knowledge I have, but don't have the reference to insert it in the article. So it would be considered perosnal research. Maybe somebody else has documentation on this. Taram (talk) 05:20, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Information missing
The history portion is missing the importance of the brotherhood in keeping the faith alive when neither Mexican nor American bishops had priests to spare to send to northern New Mexico. It also seems to dwell on sensationalism and omits the good the brothers did for caring for the less fortunate in communities such as widows.Additional research is required for this article.
 * "Additional research is required for this article." I have a saying, "Don't bring problems, bring solutions." Think about it.  Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 00:55, 26 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Carptrash "Think about it." Thanks, I did. I always wanted to tell Qworty that, but now that you have brought it up, I will start using it. Anyway, that is why I put it on the Talk page. Since you replied, I assume you have access to some texts that will provide further answers or solutions (otherwise you just brought more problems). The information and knowledge that I have easy access to on the subject would be considered personal research in WP parlance (a no-no), so that cannot be pasted on the Article page. Short of writing a book, further research into texts may be something that is well within the realm of WikiProject Catholicism. WikiProject New Mexico may also have research texts on the matter. What do you have? Taram (talk) 05:10, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * My local library has a pretty good collection of books that are about or include a section on the Penitentes. There are also a few moradas (?) around that I can perhaps photo.  But I can do best if you point out a sentence or two in the text for me to focus on. Where do we begin? Carptrash (talk) 14:13, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Carptrash, I wanted to let you know I got this and will be looking at specific lines in the text. Right now Charlie Carillo (the santero and anthropologist) comes to mind as a resource on the Pentitentes. He may still be a professor at UNM. Then there was a retired professor from the education department at Fort Lewis College (Durango) who used to lead classes to Los Golondrinas where he discussed his experiences with the Penitentes, in depth. I am trying to find his name. Thank you. It sounds like you have a great library, there!
 * Found it! Farren Webb is the name of the former professor From Fort Lewis College who had the wealth of information about the Penitentes, especially around Truchas and Velarde. I do not know if he ever published anything; he must be about 70 years old, now. Thank you again!
 * Would an oral history project be acceptable as a reference in Wikipedia or would it still be considered personal research? The University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research has an East Mountain Oral History Project (includes Cañoncito which may be as close to old traditions as possible because of its limited road access til a few years ago). one of the subjects in the oral history project includes "penitentes" (sic). It is listed at http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org/oralhistory/catalog.pdf Taram (talk) 17:06, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I suspect that any oral history project that comes out of a museum or UNM or some such institution would be okay. I too will look around my library, which collects NM related anything, but it is a small library so does not have everything. Carptrash (talk) 17:40, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

The Penitentes weren't just in Northern New Mexico
There have been some very active Penitente groups in the Tome area just south of Albuquerque. 01:36, 10 July 2014 (UTC)01:36, 10 July 2014 (UTC)01:36, 10 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Good point. &mdash;JerryFriedman (Talk) 03:42, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

The Penitentes weren't just in Northern New Mexico
There have been some very active Penitente groups in the Tome area just south of Albuquerque.

The Penitentes weren't just in Northern New Mexico
There have been some very active Penitente groups in the Tome area just south of Albuquerque. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cybergata (talk • contribs) 01:00, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

The Penitentes were not just in the Southwest
There are Penitentes in many countries with a Hispanic tradition. They existed first in Spain and spread with colonization. On Wikipedia besides this article there is an article on Andean ice formations. They are called that due to the similarity in appearance to those Catholics. This is evidence of the wide spread of the tradition.RichardBond (talk) 01:59, 7 September 2015 (UTC)

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Obvious Ends?
The flagellants apparently took this practice to its obvious ends. It might be obvious to you, but my poor little mind is boggling ten-to-the-dozen! What ends, and in what way obvious? Nuttyskin (talk) 11:46, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

"Red Sky at Morning" reference
In the 1968 Richard Bradford (novelist) novel Red Sky at Morning (Bradford novel) set during World War II, he describes moradas:

"We were near one border of Amadeo's farm when I saw the little wooden building with a cross on the roof. It looked very old and weathered, with no windows and a chain and padlock on the door."

This turns out to be a morada, which makes the protagonist question whether the owner is a Penitente, whom he describes thus:

"The Penitentes were a sort of outlaw branch of the Catholics who took everything very seriously, especially Good Friday. They'd pick a member of the church to play Jesus every year. He'd carry a cross while his friends all whipped him with rawhide and cactus and then they'd crucify him. In recent years they just tied him to a cross and left him all day in the sun. A hundred years ago they did the job right, with nails."

The Wikipedia article states: "They gathered in meeting houses known as moradas. Los Penitentes were perhaps best known for their songs of worship, called alabados, and for their ascetic practices, which included self-flagellation in private ceremonies during Lent, and processions during Holy Week which ended with the reenactment of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday." Were they mostly adobe? It might be clearer to spell out how far that reenactment goes (if it can be established).

In the novel, the morada's owner isn't really a Penitente. He built one so he could use it as a locker for game he hunted out of season, since not even a game warden would break into someone's private church. When I look at moradas on line they seem to be adobe, and larger for bigger gatherings. This description sounds like a private church, maybe just for one family.

Mr. Bradford set the story in fictional towns in New Mexico and I'm not sure what other aspects can be ascribed to the Penitentes. For instance he later describes an extremely isolated NM town that speaks an old form of Spanish and that holds a bizarre Christmas ritual involving a bear. It's a work of fiction so there are no references attached. Wikipedia's entry about Bradford says:

"For many years, Richard wrote a column for "El Palacio", a quarterly magazine of the Museum of New Mexico. This quarterly wrote a tribute to Richard Bradford entitled, The Man Who Loved New Mexico, shortly after his death on March 23, 2002." Just my guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if he took care to get the details regarding these things right.

This is my first ever attempt to suggest, edit, or otherwise influence anything in Wikipedia. Constructive advice and pointers welcome. Dcarkansas (talk) 23:52, 24 June 2023 (UTC)