_Penitentes_ use physical discipline and mortification as a dramatic means to intensify their imitation of Jesus' suffering.[6] Heavy timber crosses (_maderos_) and cactus whips (_disciplinas_) are used in processions that often include a figure of death in a cart (_la carreta de la muerte_). Disciplinary and initiatory mortification in the _morada_ makes use of flint or glass blood-letting devices (_padernales_).[7] [2] MONRO S. EDMONSON, _Los Manitos: A Study of Institutional Values_ (Publ. 25, Middle American Research Institute; New Orleans: Tulane University, 1950), p. 43. [3] ALEXANDER M. DARLEY, _The Passionists of the Southwest_ (Pueblo, _1893_). [4] E. BOYD, Curator of the Spanish-Colonial Department, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, states that Jesús Trujjillo in 1947 furnished information on other _penitente_ officers, including one man who uses the _matraca_ and one who acts as a sergeant at arms. [5] EDMONSON, loc. cit. [6] GEORGE WHARTON JAMES, _New Mexico: Land of the Delight Makers_ (Boston, 1920), lists concisely the Biblical and historical references to religious mortification practiced by New Mexican _penitentes_. [7] DARLEY (op. cit., pp. 8 ff.) gives an exhaustive list of methods of mortification said to be used by _penitentes_. _Origins of the Penitente Movement_ By 1833, bodily penance practiced in lay brotherhoods of _Hispano_ Catholics attracted criticism from the Church in New Mexico and resulted in the pejorative name _penitentes_.[8] Historically, however, within the traditional framework of Hispanic Catholicism, the _penitentes_ had precedents for their religious practices, including flagellation. _Penitente_ rites were derived from Catholic services already common in colonial New Mexico. Prayers and rosaries said before altars comprised an important part of _Hispano_ religious observances, and processions of Catholics and _penitentes_ alike were announced by bell, drum, and rifle in _Hispano_ villages. In particular, _penitentes_ used _via crucis_ processions to dramatize the Passion, portrayed in every Catholic church by the fourteen Stations of the Cross. _Penitentes_ also maintained Catholic Lenten practices by holding _tenebrae_ services, the _tinieblas_ rites mentioned above, and by flagellation. These parallels between Catholic and _penitente_ religious observances caused Edmonson to theorize that "the autonomous movement originated within the Church."[9] Variations, however, between the two religious traditions led Edmonson to discover "an important thread of religious independence and even apostasy in New Mexican history."[10] Edmonson's study of 1950 has established the persistence of _penitente_ activity in _Hispano_ culture.