Two posts back Laws of Silence ended with a synopsis of the story of Ramoncito Gonzales, a young boy brutally murdered by a person or persons unknown in such a way as to suggest an occult or ritual murder. According to a local newspaper, police are moving away from the theory that the murder had to do with "Satanic rites" and focusing instead on the no less shocking but less sensational underworld of child prostitution and exploitation.The fate of the two women arrested, mentioned in our previous post, remains unclear from subsequent articles related to the case, but it would appear that more arrests have been made since the beginning of August.
It is also clear that strong pressure to resolve the case is leading to perhaps hasty arrests and wild speculations which only add to an atmosphere of fear and confusion.
In any event, those who know some Spanish might be interested in checking out the Mi Mercedes website, which is following the case closely.
One of the articles links to a blurb about the celebration of Ramón Nonato on his feast day, 31 August. St. Raymond (1204-1240) is the patron of pregnant woman, childbirth, children and the unborn. "He is also a patron of secrecy and anonymity, and a protector against slander and captivity. His name means "not born" and comes from his own entry into the world: his mother having died during labor, he was delivered by from her dead womb. "Cut out of her dead body in a spontaneous emergency operation performed by the Viscount of Cardona with a dagger he carried in his belt" according to Fausto's Art Gallery in Ojinaga, Chihuahua. He became a Mercedarian monk, working for the release of Christian prisoners held by the Moors. He was sent to Algeria in this capacity and at one point he traded himself for a prisoner. According to Wikipedia:
"He suffered in captivity. A legend states that the Moors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and padlocked his mouth to prevent him from preaching. He was ransomed by his order and in 1239 returned to Spain."
Although his cult was reduced in status in 1969, he's apparently becoming more important again as a Church tool against abortion; he remains especially popular in Latin America and appears to be well-known in New Mexico as well.
Mexican believers pray to him in order to silence malicious gossips. A red candle is lit by a votive image of the saint, which is then "silenced" by means of a coin affixed over the saint's mouth while prayers are recited.
In any event, he may have suffered like his namesake in Mercedes, but he seems to have been sleeping on the job when the poor little fellow needed him most. He might be pretty busy these days, however; with the demand for arrests and justice mounting, many people might be asking for help with any number of his various specialities, falsely and legitimately accused alike.
Some interesting connections you've made! Saint Raymond Nonnatus is a really interesting cat, & if you don't mind me sharing some long-winded thoughts, I think he's well worth an exploration through metaphor.
ReplyDeleteObviously, Nonnatus shares many elements with Jesus, including a miraculous birth; the traveling life, spreading the word; the offering of his own body; the illegality of his preaching; and the piercing of his flesh by his captures, the government.
But his life seems weirdly attuned to escapes, a sort of mystical Houdini who’s very first act in life was to wriggle free from a dead woman’s womb; his talents so perfectly lined up with his profession as rasomer, the liberator of captives. Throw him in a medieval Algerian prison! A death sentence! Padlock his mouth! Ha! Nothing our man can't handle with aplomb. Slippery words steal through his lips and just when you think he’s a goner, *poof!* He’s freed! Unchained! Alive!
One final comparison: I wonder if there's not some Ancient Mariner about him. My vision casts him as a majorly scary freak, wandering into town with pierced, stretchen lips slurring his cautions of doom -- and with his history, man, I'll bet he could tell you a thing or two about doom. He's got you by the ear with intensity, imprisoned, those moist, writhing lips curling and twisting like magic shoes that won't stop dancing, and he just talks and talks and talks while you stare agog and slowly realize a cringing secret desire for his purple swollen mouth nuzzling your ear. If medieval Algerian tortures couldn't get him to shut up, do you think you're going to get a word in edgewise? With his almost inhuman sacrifice for others he scoffs at yr weaselly short comings ("Pah!")and just berets, berets, berets you into weeping submission of the Lord.
Well, enough of the chapstick commercial. Keep the good posts coming, Daurade!