This is the first major study by a Hispano from New Mexico with intergenerational ties to the Penitentes, the deeply religious group called Hermanos de la Luz, Brothers of the Light. It also ties the santero folk art of New Mexico, the Penitente Brotherhood, and the Penitente religious hymns, alabados, together. De Aragón asserts that one cannot truly function without all three and herein lies the devotional beauty that has been, passed down for...

Our Lady of Guadalupe, the primary Marian devotion in New Mexico, is an ever-present symbol, at once peaceful, powerful, and persuasive. The New World advocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Guadalupe appeared five hundreds years ago near Mexico City to Indian peasant Juan Diego. First introduced into the northern Rio Grande Valley with the Spanish reconquest in 1692, Guadalupe has played an important role in the daily lives of New Mexicans for three...