Thousands Join Italian Self-Punishment Rite

22 August 2010

Christian penitents known locally as "Battenti" beas themselves during a procession in honor of the Virgin Mary in Guardia Sanframondi, near Benevento south of Italy, on August 22, 2010.

From the early hours in the morning, tens of thousands of people gathered in the southern Italian town of Guardia Sanframondi. They wanted front row seats for the final procession dedicated to the Our Lady of the Assumption.

As temperatures soared on a very hot Sunday in August, there were a number of people who had to be medically assisted or taken away after suffering heat stroke.

During the so-called Day of Blood, more than 1,000 Christian men dressed in white and wearing hoods to hide their identifies beat their chests and strike their backs with spiked metal instruments. The rite honors the discovery of a Madonna and Child statue in a field hundreds of years ago.

One woman said its an extremely intimate gesture and that is why hoods are worn, because it is something between the person involved and the Virgin Mary. She said it is "our personal thing, inside, which does not need to be shown outside."

Participants believe they can reconcile their sin with God.

Guardia Sanframondi's penitential rite is the largest of its in the Western world and takes place here every seven years. Many have criticized it for being violent, but locals feel differently.