I have sat down to write about the good Friday procession here in Quito on a few occasions. I hope that maybe this time I’ll be successful at putting (at least some of) my thoughts into words.
For some people, penance comes only in the form of walking the figurative and literal path of Christ.
Why some people believe this, and the historical power struggles at work which created (and are still creating) a philosophy of penance through pain, is a much larger topic than I will go into in this post.
I don’t agree with this philosophy, but in order to be present in the moment at the procession on Good Friday in Quito, I had to attempt to quiet some voices in my head for an afternoon, in an effort to understand other people’s experience.
Thank-you to Pablo (our landlord) who invited us and introduced us to Juan Carlos, who owns the house on the corner of the Plaza de la San Francisco.
His house hosts the balconies, from which we watched as the procession went by.
There is nowhere better that we could have been in Quito (and perhaps in Central or South America), to view or understand the cultural significance of Good Friday for Catholics in this part of the world.
Here are the basic ideas (or the philosophical underpinnings) as I understand them, of two primary reasons people punish themselves while taking part in this procession:
- Christ was sinless, but was forced to carry the sins of the world. The cross is the great representation of that burden. Humans are sinful, but to become closer to God, must repent of their sins. One way to repent of one’s sins is to walk the path that Christ walked, both literally and figuratively. Walking in this procession, particularly with a difficult burden, is a way to be absolved of one’s sins.
- To be Christians (and in this case Catholic) means to be more Christ-like. One way to be more Christ-like is to endure the actions and pain of Christ.
The images speak volumes all by themselves…
People making crosses out of (REAL) cactus and strapping them to their backs, to be worn throughout a 5 mile procession
A man carrying a cross back to the church whose robe has been torn on the back from the lashings he’s been receiving
A back worn completely raw from the threshes which have been beating against it (from the person lashing themself) for the previous four hours, embedding tiny thorns into the skin with each thrashing
Crowns of “thorns” made out of barbed wire, poked into the head to intentionally cause bleeding from the head, before the 4 hour procession even began
Walking on 110 degree pavement in bare-feet, visibly uncomfortable as the procession began; blistered and bleeding feet covered in cardboard and plastic bags four hours later upon the return to the church
Even though I didn’t want to, and even though I was working to understand and accept, I found myself passing judgment on many of these people and their actions.
Here were the judgments I was making:
The most basic motivation of a human being is to gain pleasure and avoid pain. If some “sin” you’ve committed this year is pleasurable enough for you, and this pain isn’t as great as the pleasure you receive from the “sinful action”, you’ll be doing this again next year.
Does paying penance in this way allow you to go out and do the same thing again, so long as you come back next year and endure the same pain again?
In particular I found myself judging the adult who was dressed in purple, standing behind and whipping the child who was also dressed in purple and carrying a cross.
The child wasn’t being whipped hard, and the “whip” looked to be something made of cloth, albeit a heavier wool or denim type material. But to walk for four hours, being publicly flogged, (even without physical pain from the flogging,) while carrying a cross (that was small but must have been heavy for him/her), would probably cause pain and scars of the mental or emotional kind (at least in my understanding of the world).
Hours after the procession, Carrie and I both brought up the image of the child being whipped.
We had both seen it but not talked about it during the procession.
Carrie brought up something that I missed (due to their being lots of people and lots to see).
On the way out (as the procession began), there was a sign hung around the child’s neck which had on it the word “ladrón”, or thief.
- What did he/she steal?
- Did this severe punishment fit his/her crime?
- Was it the choice of the child, or the choice of the parents, which determined that this would be an appropriate punishment for the crime?
Children need consequences to learn that every action has a consequence. This is not in question.
But do some parents actually use this procession as a means of punishment for their children?
I remember being spanked for things I did growing up. But I was a child being taught lessons by my parents in a way that was always intended for my betterment (and I’d be hard pressed to find an example of punishment that I received growing up that didn’t help me learn an important lesson). Is four hours of some of the worst kind of public humiliation an appropriate way to teach your child a lesson?
While growing up Catholic, confession and reconciliation (forgiveness from God) usually involved something like saying 50 Hail Mary’s, 20 Our Father’s, saying I was sorry, and doing something nice for the person whom I’d sinned against.
Now, as an adult, I don’t punish myself as a “sinner”. (I don’t even agree with the doctrine of original sin… but that’s another longer topic as well).
I do take actions to avoid causing others harm while also taking actions to do good for others.
When I mess up (because I don’t always get it right), I apologize and take actions to repair any damage I may have caused.
Physical punishment brought upon myself as a way of redemption seemed (and still seems) quite foreign, unnecessary, and in fact, pretty unhealthy.
On good Friday, I watched as hundreds of people (maybe as many as 2000,) punished themselves for things they had done, or else punished themselves in order to emulate the life of Christ.
In general, I do not believe that physical, bodily punishment was Christ’s message or his teaching.
I also do not believe that destruction of the body is necessary to emulate the life of Christ.
I also do not understand how someone could think they had done something so bad, that in order to forgive themselves (not be forgiven by someone else, but in order to forgive themselves), they needed to embed barbed wire into their skin and walk barefoot for four hours on 100+ degree pavement.
At the same time, I have in the past beaten myself up with words for hours on end, and occasionally for months on end.
Eventually, I found my redemption through
- my own prayer
- writing
- words of hope and inspiration from others
- staring up at the stars and realizing just how small I really am
- apologies, both verbal and in action, towards those whom I had hurt.
On Good Friday, In order to let go of judging, in order to try to understand, and in order to be part of the experience that day, I had to simply accept that my preconceived notions of “penance”, and my way of forgiving myself, are not universally shared.
For some people in the world of today, penance comes only through physical self-punishment in the form of walking the figurative and literal path of Christ.
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After writing for an hour, and giving this some thought, I came to a realization…
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When I ask someone who is strong in their Christian faith the following question: “What is the worst kind of punishment you can ever experience?” and someone really thinks about it, they usually answer by saying something like:
“The worst kind of punishment is the kind you receive in hell.”
“Okay, but what kind of punishment happens in hell?”
“Fire, and flames, and gnashing of teeth.”
“Okay, “ I’ll say. “But won’t you just adjust and get used to that after a while? I mean, pain is pain. Once your skin’s melted off, you’ve ground your teeth into nothing, and your bones turn to dust, where’s the pain going to come from?“
“Hmmm,“ comes sometimes, but often it’s just silence from there.
“So who can punish you the most?”
“I don’t know. But the bible says that hell is the worst punishment.”
“Yes, and who can punish you more than anyone else?”
“Satan,” they usually reply.
“Really?” I ask. “Who, right now, can punish you the worst and to the greatest degree?”
“I don’t know… (if they’re younger they’ll say) maybe my parents?” (or maybe a friend or sibling sometimes will come up.)
“Isn’t the person who can punish you the most, YOU?”
“I don’t know.”
Wouldn’t it make sense that HELL is as much an idea as it is a place? Hell is both physical, and is something you inflict upon yourself, because you are, truly, the only person who knows how to keep punishing yourself over and over?
The fundamental philosophical difference between those who walked in the procession while punishing themselves with physical pain, and the philosophical position I hold, is this:
- I believe that God is primarily in me. I am a teeny-tiny physical representation of all of God on Earth. In this way, God works in and through me because God is in me. If God is in me, then forgiveness comes when I truly and deeply forgive myself.
- Others believe that God is primarily external. If God is external, then forgiveness only comes from an external force.
People are not participating in this procession to forgive themselves.
That is what I had thought all along, up until writing this right now.
They’re walking because they want God, the external, to forgive them.
To receive this forgiveness, or to become closer to God, they take external actions which they think will lead to the external God’s forgiveness.
When forgiveness comes (and for their sake, I hope it comes soon after this procession so that they stop beating themselves up), they will experience this forgiveness internally. However, because of their philosophy, they will perceive it as (the external) God’s forgiveness of them
This isn’t good or bad, nor right or wrong…
But it does help me to understand why some people take part in this procession in the way that they do.
It was an incredible experience.
In writing this account of Good Friday in Quito, I have focused here on the parts that were more difficult for me. However, there was beauty in this procession as well…
- In seeing depth of people’s faith (a very active, rather than passive faith)
- In the power of shared experience (people sharing the burden of carrying someone else’s cross when the load got too heavy)
- In the traditions of selecting a new patron saint for the year, throwing flowers and petals, and offering prayers and hopes for the new year
Sorry, but I think you both missed the point. Of course, being active, practicing Catholic, you’d expect I’d think that.
But here are my thoughts. I do not think the people participating in the Quito Good Friday Parade were doing as an individual, pentitital act. And going out on a limb here, and being quite judgemental myself, I think it was kind of self-centered of you to come to that interpretation without talking to any of the participants. (I’m of course assuming that you did not talk to any of them) In my experience of Hispanic-Catholic re-enactments of theological principals, biblical truths, or parts of the life of Christ the re-enactment is just that. Usually one of the parts of the Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadelupe celebration which our Parish has each year is a dance. It’s called “the Devil Dance: (actually it’s called whatever you call that in Espanol, so something about Diablo, so you probably know that, and I’ve forgotten) Anyway, someone does play the Devil, they do get whipped, and then there is some sort of resolution (but not really Passion, or Easter like) Anyway, my point is, (and I’ve never actually spoken to any of the dancers) is I don’t think the person playing the Devil somehow thinks he’s a Devil, some sort of “Super-Sinner”, or in anyway doing this as part of personal pennance.
Passion Plays have been around, I assume since the days of the early Church. I’ve always understood them to be a communal remembrance of a Historical Act of God in History. Of course the play has Theological implications, which you may agree or disagree with, but I don’t think the individuals in a particular play are doing the particular part (including the individual portraying Christ) as an act of Pennance. When I look at the pictures of the people in Quito on Good Friday I think that is there communal cultural way of remembering a particular season of the Church calendar. I don’t think their trying to be forgiven for a particular act, or earn God’s favor. My interpretation is that they are, as a community, remembering that issue (right relationship with God) has been settled, how it was settled, and perhaps identifying w/ the price He paid to settle it. (but, again, not as an act of personal penance, just as a way of remembering what happened) It is my belief that Christ died, and he died for a reason. Part of my Catholic faith is Liturgical, it is helpful to me to remember that there are times in life (Advent, Lent, Holy Week up to Easter Vigil) when I can reflect on my mistakes, and turn from them. To me this makes the Dawn and Brilliance all the more Brilliant. If you never have a night, you can’t have a sunrise. Yes, it incredibly important not to get “stuck” at Good Friday and move to the grace, joy, life, etc. of Easter. But, for me, if I don’t “Pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death” I don’t know Who has gone there before me, Who goes there with me and most important Who shares the joy of Paradise (now and eternally) on the other side of that valley.
Sorry, this is so preachy. But that’s my thoughts. Hope somehow they are in someway helpful.
One other thing, I believe the (Christian) “Theological” answer to the question “What is the worst kind of punishment you can experience” the answer is “eternal seperation from God”. That’d be my answer anyway. As an after thought, I do think Mel Gibson does a good job of portraying this, with the character of Judas, in “The Passion”
Sue,
I agree with you that eternal separation from God is the worst punishment there is.
Many people remain separate from God by choice, but they don’t recognize that’s the choice they’re making by asking an external God for forgiveness, rather than by opening themselves up to God (within). This is something, someone, and somewhere, that all of us can tap into at any time we choose.
I’ve been to LOTS of stations of the cross in my lifetime, and seen a fair number of passion plays.
As a former theater teacher, I also understand intention-based acting. Instead of telling someone to “act happy”, as a director, you help them find their character’s motivation to “BE” happy.
Good Friday in Quito was different, much different.
I would agree with you about the point of re-enactment and playing the part, IF they were in fact “playing the part”.
No doubt, some were playing the part. There was some fake blood on people, and there were some very good costumes that people had made.
However, many of the people who were participating in the Good Friday procession in Quito were doing it as a personal penance for sins committed during the previous year.
They WERE doing this as a method of being absolved for their sins.
They wear hooded robes so that they can do their penance publicly, without being publicly recognized.
They actually bleed.
Some of them bleed a lot.
That’s more than just playing a part to me…
When you ask (some of) them why they are doing this, they say “Jesus died for my sins, but I remain a sinner. Why? I do this for forgiveness.” (One of the hooded cross-bearers was interviewed by a television station.)
The boy may have been playing the part of the thief, but he was actually being whipped.
Another man who was carrying a cross had, by the end of the procession, a completely torn robe and a back which had marks which I think will turn into scars that will last a lifetime.
I feel that I can connect to God, and find ways of doing penance, without the need for self-flagellation, or physical self-destruction.
Perhaps some people need an external God who both punishes, and then forgives, to feel that sense of connection.
However, that’s not the case for me, and on Good Friday in Quito, I found it very difficult not to judge those who didn’t see another way to forgive themselves, (or to re-connect to God for something they’d done, about which they were still feeling separated from their own connection to God).
Jonathan
I’m sorry, but I just have to add, that the little boy with the sign that said “Thief” in my opinion, was just playing the part of “the thief” who died on the Cross next to Christ at Golgotha. (reinactment of a historical event)
Actually, I think I’d rewrite my opening line to say, “When I look at the pictures of Good Friday in Quito I see something different from what you did”
Sorry, I’m writing in the middle of the night after too many hours of sewing.
(sorry to keep going on and on, I’m pretty much assuming you won’t actually post most of this)
Of course there is the fact that self-flagelation has been done throughout history as an (I’d agree, misguided)attempt to restore a reloationship with God. However, I believe, the Christian practice of this has mostly been done in private. (I guess I’m thinking particularly Pre-Reformation Monastic practice, etc)
Again, this pictures seem to be of a public, communal event. Maybe I’m stereotyping, but this very public, very dramatic, type of event seems to be a common Latin thing. It all makes me think of Dias do los Muertos.
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