Why were they attending Mass so often? What position did the Church take on national events?

Throughout this chapter, Patria also links herself to Jesus in her suffering. The very first line is, "I don't know how it happened that my cross became bearable," following Jesus’ injunction to take up the cross and follow his ways. Also, as Jesus carried a cross and wore a crown of thorns in part as political torture, Patria says, "My crown of thorns was woven of thoughts of my boy." In addition, though she repeats as a mantra, 'And on the third day He rose again," after three days at her mother's house, "instead of a resurrection, I got another crucifixion," when the SIM comes to take Maria Teresa away. When she prays to Trujillo for the safe return of her family, she thinks, "Take me instead, I'll be your sacrificial lamb." In Christian tradition, Jesus is the lamb of God in that he dies to take away the sins of the world, suffering so that humans might live. Patria wishes to offer herself up as Jesus did in the Christian faith, for her family.