New Mexican Spanish Feasts

New Mexican Spanish Feasts
Author(s): Juan B. Rael

Source: California Folklore Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan., 1942), pp. 83-90
Published by: Western States Folklore Society
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New Mexican Spanish Feasts*
JUAN B. RAEL
POPULAR Spanish traditions and customs which up to 1910 enjoyed un-

disputed sway among New Mexicans' have been losing ground rapidly
during the last three decades. This is not true of all, but it is true of many
of the most colorful, especially those of a religious character. Some of
these customs have disappeared with dizzying rapidity. Many a custom
dating back to the Spanish Colonial period and even to the Middle Ages
has disappeared almost completely in the brief period of a decade. On
the other hand, there are certain practices which, though seemingly an
anachronism in the changing life environment of New Mexicans, are so
deeply rooted in the lives of the people and have so great an appeal to the
popular fancy that they continue to be as popular as ever.
Among the traditions and customs that are on the verge of disappearing
is a feast dating back to the 13th century that is particularly interesting
because of the manner in which it has evolved. This feast is usually
known as La Percingula, but it is also called La Precingula; the two forms
are New Mexican variants of the Spanish Porcit'ncula (from Italian).
Porciiincula, Italian diminutive form of porcidn, was the name given
to a small portion of the land in the neighborhood of Assisi, Italy, which
the monks of St. Benedict gave to St. Francis. It was also the name given
to the little chapel in ruins on that piece of land, the place where St.
Francis experienced his religious vocation. It was in this chapel, which
the saint restored from a dilapidated state to a habitable dwelling, that
he received revelations and supernatural grace from God. For this reason
he always spoke of it with the greatest of reverence, advising his followers
never to abandon it and declaring that whosoever should pray in it with
fervor would be heard.
The name Porciincula was also given to the plenary indulgence that
could be gained by visiting this sanctuary on August 2d. This grace,
* Much of the information here presented was
gathered through a research grant given the
author by the American Philosophical Society.
1 This article has reference to the customs in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado
and, particularly, in the New Mexican village of Arroyo Hondo, and many of the things
stated here do not necessarily apply to other parts of New Mexico.
[s83
84 CALIFORNIA FOLKLORE QUARTERLY
according to tradition, was granted to St. Francis by Christ in 1221.
Shortly afterward it was recognized canonically by Pope Honorius III,
who set August 2d of each year as the date on which the visit to the temple
should be made. Later, the time was extended so that the visit could be
made at any time between the afternoon of August Ist and sunset of the
following day. The indulgence could be gained at first only in the Por-
cii4ncula, but in 1480 Pope Sixtus IV extended it to all the churches of
the First and Second Orders of St. Francis, and in 1622 Pope Gregory XV
granted the same privilege to all the churches of the Capuchins. The act
of devotion that was to be performed consisted of confession, the receiv-
ing of Holy Communion, and the visitation of one of the churches desig-
nated. Later in the same century the privilege was extended not only
to all the churches of the Third Order, but also to all churches with which
the Franciscans were connected in any way, including non-Franciscan
churches in which the Third Order held its meetings."It must have been
through this channel that the observance of the feast was brought to
New Mexico by the early Spanish settlers, for the penitentes or flagellant
brothers, the sponsors of the feast in New Mexico, appear to be an out-
growth of the Third Order of St. Francis. The strange thing about the
existence of the feast in New Mexico is that it is not general. In fact, I
know of only one place where it is observed either in southern Colorado
or in New Mexico, and that is in the little town of Arroyo Hondo, about
eighty miles north of Santa Fe and about forty miles south of the Colo-
rado-New Mexico boundary.
The feast is observed under the auspices of the flagellant brothers, who
take full charge of all the ceremonies, though anyone may partake in it.
Formerly, according to one of my informers, the preparations were in
the hands of some kind of lay sisters-apparently female members of the
flagellant organization, but my informer was vague about them. At pres-
ent, the preparations are under the direct care of several mayordomos
or sponsorsselected from among the Penitente brotherhood.
In the village of Arroyo Hondo a double observance of the feast is
held. In this place there are two plazas, both of which are hemmed in
by flat-roofed adobe houses, as is usual in most New Mexican villages.
The two plazas are about a mile apart from each other and each has its
own morada, or chapter house. Since their origin, there has always been
2For more detailed information regarding the history of La Porcidnculaoutside of New
Mexico, consult either The Catholic Encyclopediaor the Enciclopedia universal ilustrada,
edited by Hijos de J. Espasa,Barcelona.
NEW MEXICAN SPANISH FEASTS 85
a certain amount of rivalry between the two branches, and on religious
feast days each one celebrates the particular feast independently of the
other. With regard to La Porcit'ncula, this was not always the case. Pre-
vious to 19o2, the feast was observed only in the place where the main
church is situated, and under the auspices of the moradanear the church;
but in that year the double celebration of the feast came into being.
The feast is observed on the eve of August 2d and the ceremonies
consist of a velorio or wake. The wake begins after it grows dark. Prayers
are recited and alabados"or hymns are sung in alternation. Formerly, the
chief ceremony used to take place about nine o'clock. An outdoor proces-
sion started from the church's main entrance and was led by several of
the faithful, who carried the images of St. Francis of Assisi and other
saints. The people, each person carrying a lighted candle, lined up in
two single files, one on each side of the street. At intervals of fifteen or
twenty yards along the way there would be luminarias or bonfires, which
were lighted just as the procession started.
Shortly before the church procession began, another procession from
the morada, a quarter of a mile away, got under way. In this proces-
sion, only the members of the flagellant brotherhood took part. In it
there were usually eight or ten barefooted penitentes, naked above the
waist. The only clothing they wore was a pair of homemade drawers,and
a handkerchief with which they covered their faces. These flagellants
scourged themselves, as the procession progressed,with disciplines made
from the palmlike leaves of the amole or soap plant. Seldom did they ever
carry the maderos, or heavy wooden crosses,used in their other religious
ceremonies. The flagellants were accompanied by other members of the
fraternitydressedin their usual street clothes.The accompanyingbrothers
sang an alabado, or a member of the organization played an alabado mel-
ody on a homemade flute. This group joined the end of the main proces-
sion, which advanced slowly around the church. During the procession,
the rosary was recited out loud by the faithful, a leader reciting the first
part of the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary"and the rest of the people
reciting the second part. Before the beginning of each decade, the appro-
priate mystery was sung, during which the procession stopped. When the
8 There are some two hundred alabados in circulation. Some of them are really traditional
religious ballads. The are found in manuscript form, though some of them exist also
in oral tradition. The alab.ados
alabados are usually sung with musical accompaniment, and there are
different melodies for most of them. With the exception of a few, which come from church
hymnbooks, the majority of these melodies have never been published. The present writer has
made recordings thus far of some sixty, and he and Dean J. L. Kittle of the Adams State
Teachers College, Alamosa, Colorado, are now preparing them for publication.
singingof the mysteryended,the recitationof the rosarycontinuedand
the processionadvancedslowly.The progressof the processionaround
the churchwas timed so that the recitationof the rosaryshould end just
as the head of the processionreachedthe main entranceto the church
once more. The people entered the churchand the flagellantbrothers
returned to the moradain the same mannerin which they had come.
Thereafter, the singing of alabadoscontinued throughoutthe night.
Towardmidnight,dinnerwasservedin a neighboringhouse.The dinner
was preparedunder the directionof the sponsorsand at the expenseof
all the membersof the fraternity.Everybody,whethera memberof the
communityor a stranger,was invited to partakeof the repast.
About one o'clock in the morning a second processionof flagellant
brotherswould visit the wake,in the sameway as before,but this time
theywouldenterthe churchandstaytherefor sometime,returningthen
to the morada.The self-flagellationwent on in the churchas well as dur-
ing the procession.As to what took place in the morada,no one knows,
for only the membersof the societyare permittedto enter on such occa-
sions and they keep absolutesecrecyabout their indoor ceremonies.At
the wakethe singingof alabadoswent on till dawn,at which time every-
body went home.
Such was the practicethirty yearsago, and at that time hundredsof
personsattendedthe ceremonies,many of whom traveledfrom villages
seventymiles away,a remarkablething when one realizesthat it meant
a two days'journeyovermountainroads.But thingshavechangeda great
deal since then. In the summerof 1940,when I attendedthe feast,I was
surprised to find that it had almost completely disappeared. Instead of
the hundreds of persons who used to partake in the ceremonies, there
were fewer than thirty. Some religious hymns were sung, and the rosary
was recited out loud, but the colorful procession of former years was
omitted entirely and, of course, there were no flagellants. The wake did
not last all night, as it used to do, and on the whole there was very little
of the old enthusiasm. The participants were men and women of the
older generations.
I have spoken to many of the old folk who have been taking part in
this solemnity for years and have tried to learn from them about its origin,
history, and meaning, but with scarcely any results. Even the name of
the feast, percingula or precingula, is of no special significance to the
people, and naturally they know nothing about the indulgence granted
to those who observed the feast in the manner prescribed by the Church.
Of course, in a village such as Arroyo Hondo, which has almost always
been without a priest, the fulfillment of the prescribed requirements was
practically impossible. It was only natural, then, for the people to substi-
tute some other form of devotion. The reason for the lack of information
on the part of the people is that no written records were kept and that
the members of the brotherhood, independent of the Church as they have
nearly always been in New Mexico, did not have the clergy to remind
them from time to time about the meaning and nature of the solemnity.
The practice was carried down from generation to generation as a mere
routine till sight was lost of the original purpose of the feast.
There are other feasts and practices that are suffering the same fate
as La Porcitdncula. The custom of performing a religious folk
play at
the Christmasholidays, for example, is dying out. In former days, either
of two dramas was performed: Los Pastores, which deals with the Nativ-
ity, or El Ninio Perdido, which deals with the finding of Our Lord in the
Temple. The latter play is no longer performed at all, but the former
still enjoys a high degree of popularity. The reason for this is that Los
Pastores, many of whose charactersare shepherds, has a stronger human
appeal than El Nifio Perdido, and reflects to an appreciable degree the
lives of many of the people in that region. Furthermore,
incorporated in
this play are certain songs with melodies that have alwaysappealed to the
popular fancy, so much so that nearly everyone knows them by heart.
This naturally keeps the interest in the play alive.
Another feast that used to be observed by the performance of a re-
ligious folk play was that of the Epiphany, on January 6th. The play
acted was Los Reyes Magos, the Magi. Compared to the two dramas
pre-
viously mentioned, this one seems to have been the least popular, and,
as far as I have been able to ascertain,it has not been performed in south-
ern Colorado or northern New Mexico during the last thirty years.
As for the Lenten Friday devotions and the Holy Week solemnities,
they continue to be observed, but in a form much modified over that
of thirty years ago. The public processions in which the
penitentes
appeared, scourging themselves or carrying heavy crosses,have been sup-
pressed in nearly all New Mexican villages, and all the other ceremonies
are observed in a much smaller scale than formerly. For the modification
of these ceremonies, and for that matter those
pertaining to La Porcilln-
cula also, there are several reasons.The
penitentes are rapidly decreasing
in numbers, and as a consequence all the ceremonies of the organization
have declined in popularity among the inhabitants of the different vil-
lages. Furthermore, many of the people who attend these feasts now are
not drawn to them out of devotion, as formerly, but out of curiosity, and
they often act disrespectfully and sometimes even cause disturbances.
The members of the organization, sensing this disrespectful if not hostile
attitude, have withdrawn more and more from before the public eye. The
suppression of many of the ceremonies is also due to the unwelcome pres-
ence of outsiders who, eager for excitement, have not only intruded upon
the privacy of the organization, but often have gone so far as to interrupt
its ceremonies.
Other feast days that are still observed, besides those already men-
tioned, are those of St. Anthony, St. John, St. James, and St. Ann.
On the feast days of St. Anthony and St. John, which occur respectively
on June 13th and June 24th, it is customary to have a procession across
the cultivated fields. In these processions the image of the saint as well as
that of the Lord or the Virgin are carried by the faithful, and prayersare
said in order that the people may be blessed with good crops. The pro-
cession lasts nearly all day, and in the evening, sometimes, there is a wake
in honor of the saint. The wake may take place in a chapel or in the home
of one of the faithful.
Of more importance than the feast days of St. Anthony and St. John,
as far as their popularity is concerned, though of less religious signifi-
cance, are the feasts of St. James and St. Ann, which occur on July 25th
and 26th, respectively. Formerly, an outdoor game known as correr gallo,
the game of the cock, was played on the feast day of St. James. The players
had to ride on horseback, and, usually, rival towns participated in this
game. A rooster was buried in the ground with its legs sticking out. This
done, each horseman took his turn at picking up the rooster from the
ground while riding at full speed. The rider who succeeded would then
ride off as fast as his horse could carry him, and the men in the opposing
team would attempt to take the rooster away from him. When the game
ended, the side which had the rooster, or its legs-for generally that was
all that was left of it-won, and the losing side had to defray the expenses
of a big dance at the home town of the winning team. On St. Ann's day
it was customary for the ladies, and only the ladies, to ride on horseback,
and most of them took advantage of the opportunity, and sometimes they
also played the game of the cock.
Aside from the feasts above mentioned, most of which are observed
in nearly all New Mexican villages, every town has its own patron saint,
whose feast day it generally commemorates in its own way, often with
games and dancing, but nearly always with a wake.
Among the nonreligious feasts, those pertaining to weddings are par-
ticularly interesting. The typical New Mexican wedding ceremonies
usually extend over two days: the day preceding the wedding, known as
el dia del prendorio, and the wedding day, referred to as el dia del casorio.
On the day preceding the marriage, the bride and bridegroom are first
formally presented to each other, and then each is introduced to the rela-
tives of the other. This presentation may appear meaningless to anyone
accustomed to American ways of courtship and marriage, but it is not
necessarily so to a New Mexican bride and bridegroom, since it happens,
at times, that the two have never so much as spoken a word to each other
before, sometimes scarcely having known each other by sight, for often,
though now less frequently than formerly, weddings are arranged en-
tirely by parents, and there is then no courtship. The day preceding the
marriage, like the wedding day, is an occasion for feasting and sometimes
dancing. In view of the fact that the bride's parents act as hosts on that
day, assuming all the expenses, the guests present are predominantly the
friends and relatives of the bride.
On the wedding day, the parents of the bridegroom assume the role
of hosts and take charge of all the entertaining. The guests on the wed-
ding day are much more numerous than on the preceding day, the entire
town often being invited to the wedding banquet. The marriage always
takes place in church, and the ceremonies there do not vary much, if at
all, from weddings in other American Catholic churches. When the newly
wedded pair come out of the church, however, they are not showered
with rice, as is sometimes done elsewhere. If the church where they are
married is in another town and it is not possible for the guests to be pres-
ent at the marriage ceremonies, it is customary for all the guests to go
forth accompanied by a string orchestra (a violin and a guitar) to meet the
newlyweds on their return from church at a place some hundred and fifty
yards from the bride's home. From that point the musicians lead back the
bride and bridegroom and all the guests, who march in double file.
At the bride's home, the orchestra plays on while the guests are led to
the tables. It is customary to have two large banquet tables. On one of
them various kinds of beverages, such as cider, sodas, wine, and even
brandy are served. On this table the guest will find also different kinds
of cakes, cookies, and candies. The guest is led to this table first, and then
to another, where he is served various kinds of meats and a great variety of
side dishes. For dessert,he is offered a variety of things from which to pick.'
'Wedding feasts of this kind are fashionable not only among people of moderate means
but also among the very poor.
On the evening of the wedding day there is generally a big dance.
When the dance is not too far from the bride's home, there is a wedding
march to and from the dance. On the return of the newlyweds and the
guests to the bride's home, after the wedding dance, there follows the
wedding ceremony and that is perhaps most genuinely New Mexican.
It is called the Entrega de novios, and is so named because the bride and
bridegroom are returned once more to their parents and placed under
their guidance. When all the guests have crowded around the bride and
bridegroom, a singer begins to sing a wedding song to the newlyweds,
informing them of the significance of their new state of life."
Another interesting nonreligious feast observed in New Mexico is
New Year's Day. As soon as the New Year arrives, a group of men gather
and set out, accompanied by a violinist and a guitar player, to serenade
or greet all those whose name is Manuel. When they arrive at the house
of a person with such a name, a singer begins to improvise coplas (quat-
rains made up of eight-syllable lines with assonance on the second and
fourth lines) in honor of that person. The person serenaded invites the
serenaders into his house and gives them refreshments. The crowd then
moves on to another house, sometimes walking long distances from farm-
house to farmhouse. This serenading, which begins at midnight, often
continues till about eight in the morning.
The last two customs described, the singing of wedding songs at the
bride's home and the improvising of quatrains on New Year's Day, are
two customs which continue in full vigor in northern New Mexico and
southern Colorado, and they have so strong an appeal to the taste of New
Mexicans that they are not likely to die for a long time. Whether for
better or for worse, not all New Mexican feasts and customs are holding
their ground. The reasons for the disappearance of some of them have
already been given, in part. Other factors instrumental in diminishing
the popularity of many customs that might be mentioned are the many
modern forms of amusement, such as the radio, the automobile, and the
omnipresent nickelodeon, which, like the locust, has invaded every New
Mexican village. These forms of amusement have a much stronger appeal
to the younger generation than almost any of the traditional forms that
have come down to them, and it will not be surprising if in the course
of three or four generations they displace completely many of the still
extant traditional customs and practices.
Stanford University.
For more information regarding these songs, consult Juan B. Rael, "New Mexican Wed-
ding Songs," Southern Folklore Quarterly, Vol. IV, No. 2, June, 1940.

New Mexican Spanish Feasts

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New Mexican Spanish Feasts

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New Mexican Spanish Feasts

Author(s): Juan B. Rael

POPULAR Spanish traditions and customs which up to 1910 enjoyed un-

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