Septennial Rites of Penance in honor of the Assumption in Guardia Sanframondi

GUARDIA SANFRAMONDI, ITALY - AUGUST 27: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content.) Battenti during the penitential procession beat their chests with "spugna" on August 27, 2017 in Guardia Sanframondi, Italy. Every seven years, the Septennial Rites of Penance in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption are held in Guardia Sanframondi (Benevento, Italy) where 1000 hooded men strike their back with a metal scourge (flagellanti) and beat their chests with a "spugna", a disk of cork holding dozen of pins (battenti) as a rite of atonement for sins. (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)