Los Penitentes: A Brief History

One of the most fascinating, written about, and misunderstood religious groups in the world is Los Hermanos Penitentes, a Catholic brotherhood found only in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. As with all cultures, societies and organizations lacking a written literary tradition, the recorded history of the Penitentes is full of compounded errors and misinterpretations, Legends and folklore, handed down orally over the years, are open to interpretations that are, perhaps, wide of the mark. But the facts, such as they are, have come from outside observers, scholarly researchers and obvious detractors with a religious bias. Somewhere among all that has been written lies the truth, but since no hermano has ever told or written the true story, much is still left to conjecture. From the recorded facts this booklet has been compiled with, it is hoped, some measure of objectivity.