They were frequent in their ablutions and
vigils, and mortified the flesh by fasting and cruel penance,- drawing
blood from their bodies by flagellation, or by piercing them with
the thorns of the aloe.
The great cities were divided into districts, placed under the
charge of a sort of parochial clergy, who regulated every act of
religion within their precincts. It is remarkable that they
administered the rites of confession and absolution. The secrets of
the confessional were held inviolable, and penances were imposed of
much the same kind as those enjoined in the Roman Catholic Church.
There were two remarkable peculiarities in the Aztec ceremony. The
first was, that, as the repetition of an offence, once atoned for, was
deemed inexpiable, confession was made but once in a man's life, and
was usually deferred to a late period of it, the penitent unburdened
his conscience, and settled, at once, the long arrears of iniquity.
Another peculiarity was, that priestly absolution was received in
Place of the legal punishment of offences, and authorised an acquittal
in case of arrest. Long after the Conquest, the simple natives, when
they came under the arm of the law, sought to escape by producing
the certificate of their confession.
One of the most important duties of the priesthood was that of
education, to which certain buildings were appropriated within the
enclosure of the principal temple.
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