Author Archives: Jasmine Gaeta

Rosca de Reyes/Wreath of the Kings

Context: The Rosca de Reyes/Wreath of the Kings is a sweet bread commonly made/consumed during January 6th, the Day of the Three Kings

“Every year on January 6th, many who are Catholic celebrate the Day of the Three Kings following Christmas. Because of this, we have a yearly tradition where we eat la Rosca de Reyes (Wreath of the Kings), in which it is a sweet bread that’s super good. You usually eat it with either hot chocolate or champurrado. However, the tradition also comes with a fun game. Inside of the bread are a few little white babies that represent Jesus when he was born. If your slice of bread happens to have a little baby Jesus, you usually have to make tamales the month afterwards. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone though, I think some people make different foods.”

Analysis: La Rosca de Reyes seems to be a common tradition in many Mexican-Catholic Communities where many continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus after Christmas. The Biblical story of the Three Kings explains how the Three Wise Men traveled to see the birth of Jesus in order to deliver him gifts. Because of this, many celebrate this day with different foods, one of the foods being The Wreath of the Kings.

The Phrase “Lock in”

Context: The use of the phrase “lock in” has become widely used by many, especially from the younger generation (Example: gen-z)

MC: “Basically when something gets like super serious, usually someone will say ‘it’s time to lock in’ or ‘let’s lock in.’ Its basically like telling someone or usually a group of people that they have to focus to like win something like in a game or a race.”

Q: Do you know when you first started hearing the phrase?

MC: “Maybe like around the middle of senior year in high school (2023-24) when I heard people shouting it during football games or during track practice and it used a lot on social media like TikTok and Reels.”

Analysis: The phrase “lock in” has become a commonly used slang that was popularized through social media. Telling someone to “lock in” means telling someone to enter a state of focus/concentration in order for them to excel at their best. It has become a commonly used term, especially in common activities such as studying, work, or sports. It’s been seen as a positive term in order to motivate people to try their best.

Novena/Novenario

Context:

“So a tradition in Mexican Catholic families is when someone passes away there’s something called a novena or novenario. And this occurs right after someone is laid to rest. Family and friends gathers at a home [a relative’s] and will pray. They’ll use the rosary and say prayers. I don’t really remember which prayers are used or if it’s specific only to Mexican catholic families.”

Q: Did you or anyone in your family ever participate in this tradition?

“I think I only ever participated in it once. It was when one of my [aunts] died and we went to her home and stayed the entire night. I don’t really remember what happened though since it was a long time ago.”

Q: Have you ever partook in the tradition in recent time?

“No, not in recent time…I actually don’t know if people still do this tradition actually. I know my mom’s side of the family was super religious and would do this.”

Analysis: As the informant, NG, describes, a Novena/Novenario is a common tradition in Mexican-Catholic communities in which after the death of a family remember, the rest of the friends and family will travel to the person’s home (or a relative’s) and begin to pray for the deceased. Based off the information NG describes, a Novena/Novenario is done in order to pay respects to the recently deceased and to hope that they are well in another life.