The legend of the Headless Priest or Priest tells the story of a headless friar who appears on desolate roads and streets late at night.
Legend has it that during moonless nights a medieval hermitage usually appears in desolate streets. People who find this hermitage are drawn to enter by the weight of their sins; Upon entering they find a huge room in which there is a priest giving a mass or liturgy in Latin, always with his back turned. When he is going to give the final blessing the priest turns around and the assistants can see that he really has no head, causing this. a great shock to them.
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People who have encountered this horror usually remain speechless for several weeks and most of them lose their minds.
Where the Headless Priest appears in Colombia
In Colombia this horror usually appears in cities and towns with a great presence of their colonial past such as: Santa Fe de Antioquia, Anserma, Fusagasugá, Cartagena, Popayán and Pasto.
Origin of the Legend of the Headless Priest
In Colombia the legend has its origin during the colonial era; and in each city there are usually several versions about its origin, one of them says that the specter is the ghost of a priest who, upon revealing his religion to the inhabitants of a town, believed that he was a witch, so they ordered his beheading, in Fusagasugá. It is said that he is the spirit of a greedy priest who used to steal and loot huacas and treasures from the indigenous people, who would have placed a curse on him that condemned him to being this specter.
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In the city of Medellín it is said that the headless priest is the soul of Father Serna, founder of the Franciscan convent, who was murdered during a robbery in which they tried to steal the consecrated hosts, after which he appeared with a cassock so white that He shone and became the headless priest.
Another version relates that the headless father was a priest cursed by God for having committed the sin of having sexual relations with a married woman within the church.
Versions of the legend of the headless priest or monk around the world
The legend has endless versions that vary in each city, region, country and even continent; Since medieval times, stories have been told in different parts of Europe about different spectral priests who appear headless.
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In France the legend of the Abbey of Saint Dionysius is told in which several priests were beheaded for professing the Catholic faith at that time, in the Czech Republic the version is told of a Templar monk who was beheaded and in Spain the story of a priest who was murdered during a robbery in the Church of San Ginés in Arles and since then appears demanding justice without his head.
In Latin America there are a large number of stories about this horror, in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Uruguay there are many stories that change according to the oral tradition of each population, In some versions it is the ghost of a womanizing and perverse priest punished for his sins, in other versions it is the spirit of a murdered indigenous priest, in other versions it is the spirit of a priest who was murdered by indigenous people, and thus, there are many stories about the origins of said horror, the oldest and most recorded history of this horror is that of Nicaragua.
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The Nicaraguan version tells the story of the murder in León Viejo of Fray Antonio de Valdivieso, Bishop of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, who was murdered for constantly defending the indigenous people against abuses by political and ecclesiastical authorities. After his murder, the He said that the city was cursed and the decapitated ghost of the priest began to be seen seeking justice.
How to defend yourself from the Headless Priest
In reality, there is no method with which to protect oneself from this fear. According to the stories, this ghost does not attack directly. What affects its victims most is the impression of encountering a ghost rather than the fact that it attacks them; The only possible defense is to remain calm in the face of the situation, but in reality it is something very difficult to do, since not many can say that they can remain calm in the face of a ghost or fear.
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