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.