Tag Archives: virgin mary

Las Posadas

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Business Major
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Language: English

Informant: “I’ve celebrated this a few times with my grandma. It’s a Mexican celebration, not on Christmas Day, but around the holiday times. You all get together, sometimes as a church thing, but it’s still a big community event even for the non-religious. There’s some specific activities we always do, like certain games and whatnot. We usually have tamales for the food, but I imagine that differs. We would also sing songs together. There’s one specific song we would sing called ‘Las Posadas’, which I guess the holiday is named after. I think the lyrics talk about Mary’s journey because the celebration itself is meant to be a celebration of Mary’s journey while seeking shelter to give birth to Jesus. We sometimes would hold candles while singing that song, too, and I think that’s a big part of the celebration for some people. For me, it’s really just a good excuse to see family around the holidays. Although it is religious, I would say that the whole community participates, and it doesn’t feel as strictly religious as I may be making it sound. There’s also piñatas, so it would be one of the only times you hit one aside from your birthday. I really liked that part as a kid.”

Context: The informant is telling me about a traditional Christmas celebration that is important to his family. Although he knows the celebration is really about Mary and Jesus, he seems adamant that it has turned into a more general celebration, and is an event for more than just Christians. He seems to remember the celebrations fondly and recalls them as something that was mostly explained and taught to him by his grandmother.

Analysis: Las Posadas is a festival centered around prayer that is celebrated in many places in Latin America, Spain, and, of course, Mexico. Las Posadas, meaning lodging, refers to the shelter provided to Mary in the nativity story. Interestingly, my research indicated that this is an intimately Christian celebration, with some forms of the festival going so far as to re-enact Mary’s journey, complete with actors playing the role of Mary, Joseph, and even angels. Perhaps my informant’s understanding of the festival reflects that his family places more emphasis on being with family over the holidays than celebrating their religion. However, the informant is less religious than many of his older family members, so it is possible the religious themes are still just as present in their practice of the festival, but he finds them less important or relevant to his own personal meaning.

Flickering Lights

Date_of_performance: 04/03/2025

Informant Name: VL

Language: English/Spanish 

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles

Interview:

VL: Hmm my next door neighbor had a chandelier that started flickering and then it lifted/turned upside down/swinging and the painting that it was in front of fell off the wall.man it was so long ago I don’t remember a lot of the details.I think it maybe was over a course of a few days and it was progressively getting worse until the painting fell.

VL: Oh yeah the painting was of the Virgin Mary, forgot to mention that first.

ME: Do you know if they ended up moving or getting rid of it?

VL: nope they stayed for a while after that and I’m pretty sure they kept the painting. They kept the chandelier too.

ME: Hm okay! Do you know if they talked about anything weird going on in the house or did you mainly see the light flickering?

VL: Apparently the whole house was haunted, at least that is what my friends would say to me. But the chandelier lights flickering and the painting falling was just a big moment I remember the most.

ME: Wow! That’s helpful to know about the house.

VL: But there was always noises or things falling by itself in the house when they were there.

ME: How long have they lived there for? And were the lights always flickering or something that happened suddenly.

VL: Damn they lived there forever probably more than 2 decades, *pauses* if im remembering correctly. And I think the flickering happened suddenly.

ME: Wow! That’s perfect! I think that is all I need. Thank you for your help.

Interpretation

What stood out to me the most was that the painting was of Virgin Mary, which is known for being a symbol of purity, divine grace and motherhood. So that painting falling down instead of any other work of art they may have, could be read as a sign that there is a force in their house haunting it and trying get rid of anything that could be seen as a protection or pure. When lights flicker in horror or thriller movies, it is a scene that there is an evil sprit in the room that is either trying to gain control and take over or kill someone. Or simply sending them a spiritual message to back off and move out. I want to think it is more than just a faulty electrical wire or connection, if the painting of Virgin Mary didn’t start falling down with it, I would believe they just need to fix what wire is connected to the chandelier. They also have lived in the house for so long, there is a possibility that while they have lived there, a ghost or paranormal spiritual could’ve came in and started to slowly haunting them until it become obvious. VL said the family still leaves there, so the spirit hasn’t done anything harmful so maybe it left after scaring them for a bit or showing that they were there and could come back.






Virgin Mary

Nationality: United States
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Northern California. Currently residing in Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 04/13/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog, Spanish

Main Piece:

 

The following was recorded from the Participant. They are marked as BDV. I am marked as DG.

 

BDV: I feel like Filipino’s in general focus a lot on the Virgin Mary… Ok, so yeah there’s this woman named Mary, she marries this man named Joseph and…because I guess you are supposed to marry virgins back then ,she was a virgin so Joseph was like “ok cool”, and then the angel Gabriel comes down and announces to Mary that she is pregnant, and she doesn’t know what to do because she’s a virgin, she’s like “how did this happen,” so she tells Joseph and instead of freaking out-well he probably does freak out-but he says “it’s ok I forgive you. We’ll just deal with this baby.” And and it’s unclear whether he believes she didn’t sleep with anyone else, but but yeah and then she goes to tell her sister Elizabeth and Elizabeth is like wow I’m also having a baby and she’s going to name her son John, because the angel also told her to name-told Elizabeth to name her son John… Um, yeah.

 

DG: Where did you hear it, like from your family?

 

BDV: No, I aggressively went to Sunday school when I was younger because my parents made me, and I-that is how they told it… No they probably told it more eloquently but they told the story. I didn’t read the bible much when I was younger.

 

DG: How old were you when you heard this?

 

BDV: Um, I would say probably 5–kindergarten.

 

Context:

 

The conversation was recorded while sitting outside of a coffee shop at the University of Southern California. The interviewee heard the story of the Virgin Mary while at Sunday School, and also later at home.

 

Background:

 

The student was born and raised in Northern California. She is a sophomore at the University of Southern California. She is the fourth generation to grow up in America, but is Filipino. She speaks several languages, with English being her native language.

 

Analysis:

 

This is one of the most common stories that is known about the Bible. Most people, even if unreligious, know at least part of the story of the Virgin Mary. I did actually find it really interesting, though, because although I’m no longer religious, I did grow up Christian and I had never heard the part about Mary’s sister, Elizabeth, so that was an interesting addition to the story. I also was intrigued by the participant saying that Filipino’s are often very into the Virgin Mary story-it made me wonder what about it in particular made it such an item of interest, more so than in other cultures?

Las Perlas de la Virgen

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego CA
Performance Date: April 20 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Title: – Las Perlas de la Virgen

Interviewee: Armando Vildosola

Ethnicity: Mexican-American

Age: 21

Situation (Location, ambience, gathering of people?): Just me and my older brother Armando, as I asked him to share his most important pieces of wisdom that our family has shared throughout the generations. We do this every so often as some way to strengthen the bonds that we have as brothers, something of a brother meeting or a brotherly bonding session. We are sitting in our home in San Diego around our dinner table, having just finished dinner. Out house is full of family walking about visiting from Mexico. We are both on spring break from school at USC.

Piece of Folklore:

Interviewee- “Las perlas de la Virgen”

Interviewer- “What is that?”

Interviewee- “Well it directly translates to the pearls of the Virgin. As in the Virgin Mary.”

Interviewer- “What does that mean to you?”

Interviewee- “Same thing it means to all Mexicans. It something that you use when you want to make fun of someone for valuing something too highly or when they expect too much. Something like, “You want me to pay you how much for that? What do you think that is, the pearls of the Virgin?” Things like that. It’s really common among all Mexicans.”

Interviewer- “Where did you first hear of this saying?”

Interviewee- “Oh everywhere in Mexico growing up. I remember that my mom specifically said it a lot, and soon when I was around 16 it found a way into the words that I use. I kind of starting using the words my mom used.”

Interviewer- “Why do you use it so much?”

Interviewee- “I don’t know really. I mean it’s just so easy to use and it’s really good for what it does. On one hand I guess that it does fill a need word-wise. But on the other hand using it reminds me of my mother, and my family that I have since lost. It makes me feel like a real Mexican when I use the phrase. I like it.”

Analyzation:

This saying is common throughout Mexico, and one can see that it connects the Interviewee with his culture, even when he is living in the United States. It means more to the Interviewee than other people, but that it just this once case. This phrase is derived from the Catholic faith, and it makes sense that Mexicans would use such a phrase. Mexico is after all the most Catholic country in the world, total percentage of the population wise. It only makes sense for their faith to become a part of their daily lives, including the way they speak.

Tags: Mexico, Saying, Catholicism

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Performance Date: February 2007

I recall participating in a festival just once many years ago, as a child, in Whitehall, New York, with my paternal family.  Apparently, this traditional celebration on July 16 has been part of their tradition since my great grandparents immigrated to the United States.  My informant said, “One of the greatest traditions that Italians brought with them was the establishment of the ‘Sons of Italy Society’ which all young men enrolled in.  They continued to foster all the customs and activities from their heritage.”  In particular, she described a parade that was part of the event, calling it one of the “proudest achievements” of the society.  Marching through the village of Whitehall, people of all ages in the Italian community took part in the parade, which included bands and floats.  My informant also mentioned other festivities associated with the July 16 event.  “In the evening a band concert was held.  Ethnic food was sold in various booths in an open field.”  She recalled her favorite part of the event being the grand display of fireworks that was held in the late hours.  She said, “It was the culmination of all working together to bring the best entertainment to all the folks in Whitehall and all the nearby communities.”
My informant associated this event with a certain Mass that was held on that day, but gave no other detail other than that it was a “solemn Mass” and that it was conducted by three priests and celebrated by three generations of family.  More details about this celebration, its origins, and its association to the religious calendar can be found in a report from another informant on this same event, and in the annotation.

My aunt also participated in the July 16 festival (mentioned in the previous report) growing up.  Her slightly differing recollections that may illustrate changes that were made over the years, or perhaps are just details that my great aunt forgot or left out.  My informant, my aunt, also provided some information on the festival’s name and association with the Catholic church.
According to her, the festival was a three-day event, from July 14 – 16, called the Tritium.  The church conducted a special service and benediction at night on the fourteenth and fifteenth, and on the third day everyone celebrated a feast called the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  My aunt said there were two bazaars during the Tritium when she was growing up.  The first occurred on the fifteenth, and included food, fireworks, and a concert band.  The second bazaar, celebrated in Mt. Carmel field in Whitehall, was a town-wide event and was more extravagant than the more local festival on the fifteenth.  According to my informant, my great grandparents cooked and served hot dogs and sausage and my grandfather served beer at the event.  There were other activities and games such as roulette, as well, and everyone wore costumes.  Like my other informant, my aunt also called the eleven o’clock fireworks “the highlight of the summer.”  My family (great grandfather in particular) also used the event to collect donations for a charity, the Mount Carmel Society.

Annotation/additional comments:
The New Advent Organization’s Catholic Encyclopedia (article by Frederick G. Holweck:(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/index.html) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10604b.htm) gives a detailed account of the history of the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  The holiday was originally established in the late fourteenth century to honor the victory of the Carmelite sect over an enemy sect.  Throughout the years, it eventually came to be accepted as a holiday universally throughout the Catholic church.
Blood is only one aspect of ethnicity.  People groups are held together by many factors, including language, lore, and religion.  This religious festival helped to define and preserve an ethnic group in their new location.  As many Italian immigrants were Catholic in the nineteenth century (and continue to be), celebrating their Catholicism also helped to affirm their identity as the Italian-American community.