Hidden Atotonilco, The House of Exercises---Penitance of Pilgrims, The Misereri

In the mysterious House of Exercises in Atotonilco, we pass before the likeness of a second El Senor de la Columna, unknown and unseen except by the tens of thousands who enter the Casa de Ejercicios annually. This second El Senor---the original rests in a protective glass case inside Santuario Atotonilco---wears the same disciplinas used by penitent pilgrims: the instruments of misereri, the name used here for the exercises of self-flagellation.

Our guide explains that beginning on Thursday evening, the nightly self-flagellations take on a particular passion, drawing bruises and yes, blood. I must remind myself that I am here to understand, not to judge.

To my surprise, my first impression of the great gathering hall is one of relief. In contrast to the previous dark hallways, I sense no tortured ghosts and the room feels as mundane as any meeting hall. It is a newer room, and the institutional glow of linoleum tile no doubt is coloring my perception.

Our escort explains that on Thursday, the pilgrims don black clothing and crowns of thorns. There is a palpable anxiety and nervousness among the pilgrims as the day of confessions approaches.

Friday is a day of pain and anguish when all sins are confessed. Here, under a dome of acoustic tiles and whirring ceiling fans, thousands sit and whip themselves until the weight of earthly sin is lifted. The second El Senor de la Columna is borne in private processions within the Casa de Ejercicios, when Christ's final hours are made real.


Only the giant chimenea, constructed to contain thousands of burning candles, portends of anguished late night disclosures with one's god.

There are two assigned priests for the Casa de Ejercicios, assignments completely separate from Santuario Atotonilco. They hear confession and administer mass, but have little involvement or say in the vast system, la celaderia, that oversees the coming and going of pilgrims and the operation of the House of Exercises itself.

Sometime between Friday and Saturday, a transformation, both literal and spiritual, occurs. Forgiven of their sins, the pilgrims remove the black clothing and crowns of thorns, changing to all white clothing and donning white veils decorated with flowers (men included when in residence).

The purified pilgrims next follow the path of Christ beneath the narrative paintings of the exquisite Santuario, described as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas. When you visit Santuario Atotonilco on a Saturday to find the doors temporarily closed to the public, this exultant procession is taking place.


As pilgrims approach the entrance of the Santuario, it is as though Padre Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro, the founder of Santuario Atotonilco and the House of Exercises, is speaking aloud to them through the ages. Directly above the Santuario's front doors are especially powerful paintings of heaven and hell, as if to remind that beyond these doors, the choice is yours.

While the life, works, and beliefs motivating Padre Alfaro will be explored another day in this blog, one astonishing fact must be shared now. This extraordinary information goes towards explaining why a self-punishing spiritual retreat founded in a remote, tiny village in central Mexico has grown...thrived.

From the 2008 official calendar for Santuario de Atotonilco:

"Muere en Atotonilco el dia 22 de Marzo de 1776, un viernes Santo a las 6:00 de la manana cuando en Jerusalen son las 3:00 de la tarde hora en que murio Christo."

This is the stuff of myth and legend.

Padre Alfaro died on March 22, 1776, 6:00 am on Good Friday, when in Jerusalem it is 3:00 pm, the hour that Christ died.

Lost in thought and filled with visions of white processions and heaven and hell, we suddenly are aware of the sounds of bells and voices raised in joyous song in the distance.

"Hurry, hurry!", our guide urges. We must leave. The ejercitantas are coming!".

Parting thought...Mexican folk art is reverant.

PHOTOS BY DEB HALL.