Tag Archives: catholic

Cross yourself when you speak of the dead

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2013
Primary Language: English

“When you’re talking about someone who died, you have to do the sign of the cross after you say something, especially if you said something bad.”

 

My informant comes from an Irish-American Catholic family. Crossing oneself is a common gesture within this community, especially when talking of the dead. Although Catholics don’t technically believe in ghosts, the general consensus seems to be that speaking ill of the dead could lead to repercussions for the speaker. Crossing oneself could help with any negative effects of speaking ill of the dead. In addition, crossing oneself when speaking of the dead in general serves as a blessing and a way of commemorating the dead; it is a sign of respect.

Italian Christening robes

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 7, 2013
Primary Language: English

“On the Christening robes of babies, they have these little charms, little golden charms. There’s a monkey fist, a bull horn, all different ones, and they’re all supposed to keep the evil eye away.”

 

My informant comes from a devout Italian Catholic family. Although the evil eye is not a Christian belief, it has seeped so deeply into the culture from pre-Christian folk beliefs to the extent that a modern Catholic family believes in it enough to take precautions against it harming their infants. Again, there is the idea that celebration can draw the wrath of the evil eye; even a religious celebration is dangerous.

Sardinian Catholic Prayer

Nationality: Sardinian
Age: 55
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 23rd, 2013
Primary Language: Italian
Language: English, French, Sardinian

“Okay, this is a prayer, a Catholic prayer, that I have learned from my aunt, she’s my mum’s sister. Well in Sardinia, people recite the usual prayers, you know, our Father, Holy Mary, and others. But there are specific ones that are in Sardinia, and they have similar concepts of course. Umm this one describes like a bed, and says, ‘My bed has four corners and four angels sit on there’ and then I don’t remember a part. But anyway then these angels say, ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid of evil things…ummm….. Don’t be afraid of a bad hand.’ The angel Sara… I don’t know how we say it in English, its a kind of angel. Serafino. And the white angle will help you, amen. (Then the informant recited the prayer in Sardinian) Go in peace, I forgot, that’s the end. Um probably, probably I’m thinking this might be a prayer to recite before going to sleep, because it will kinda be like, you know, kinda like warding off the evil spirits and you know, seeking the protection of the angels and they are comforting and telling you, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid because you are protected by us.”

Here is the poem in Sardinian:

“Su lettu meu est de battor contones
e battor anghelos si bi ponen,
duos in pêse e duos in cabitta,
Nostra Segnora a costazu m’istada
e mi narat: «Dormi e reposa,
no eppas paura ‘e mala cosa,
no eppas paura ‘e malu fine».
S’anghelu Serafine,
s’anghelu biancu,
s’Ispiridu Santu,
sa Virgine Maria
totu siant in cumpagnia mia.”

Here is the translation:

“My bed has four corners
And four angels sit on it,
two by the feet and two by the head,
Our Lady is beside me,
and she tells me: “Sleep and rest,
don’t be afraid of bad things,
don’t be afraid of a bad outcome.”
The Seraphine angel,
the white angel,
the Holy Spirit,
the Virgin Mary,
may all be with me.”

The informant said that he learned this prayer from his mother’s sister when he was a child. He doesn’t remember it completely because he has not recited the prayer in awhile. He said that he was raised Catholic, but that he converted to Buddhism about twenty years ago. However, he still has respect for Catholicism and this prayer. According to the informant, this prayer is unique to Sardinia, especially because there are very unique dialects that vary by region on the island of Sardinia. There are other similar prayers that are normally said before bedtime, but this version has aspects that differ from those versions.

I was not raised Catholic, so I can’t relate to saying prayers before bed, especially about angles. However, I think the prayer is very pretty, especially in Sardinian. There is something a little scary about going to bed, because it’s dark and uncontrollable. When you’re asleep, you could die, which is a fear some people have. Thus, it makes sense that people want to pray before bed. It also can help relax them, which can make falling asleep easier. The main message of the prayer is “don’t be afraid” because you are protected. It serves to  reinforce the power and love of God.

Folk Belief: Spiders

Nationality: American- German, Austrian, Irish
Age: 45
Occupation: Business administrator
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 21, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: French

Killing spiders is bad luck.

My informant says that when he finds spiders in the house he takes them and relocates them outside instead of killing them. He learned this folk belief from a nun in grade school. The nun didn’t them why it was bad luck but he rationalized it as if you relocate the spiders you’ll get fewer spiders. He figured that if you smash them they’ll multiply and come after you. He also states them relocating them isn’t necessary; you just have to avoid killing them. The reason he relocates them is because the people he lives with are afraid of spiders. He doesn’t still believe that spiders will come after him but he still relocates them anyway.

I’ve heard this folk belief before but I never associated it with Catholic nuns. The version I’ve heard focused on the fact that spiders kill pests so it is not a good idea to kill them. Maybe this belief is related to a “you should value life in general” dimension to this belief.  The “killing insects” is bad luck folk belief is something I’ve heard before but generally the one I was taught was that its bad luck to kill ladybugs. I understand why killing either would be bad luck, ladybugs and spiders kill pests so their good to have around. In my house whenever someone sees a spider they want it dead. Maybe its because ladybugs are rarer or maybe its because spiders aren’t cute. For some reason spiders aren’t generally given the same amount of reverence other bugs get.

Food: Bacalhoada

Nationality: American-white, Portuguese, and Brazilian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 25, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Not fluent in any other languages

My informant told me her grandparents come from the Azores a group of islands off the coast of Portugal. Ever year around Easter, on Good Friday, her grandfather cooks a dish called Bacalhoada. It is basically a dish formulated from potatoes, fish, hard-boiled eggs, olives, onions, and whatever else is available in the kitchen. This tradition comes from the Portuguese sailors. Since they sent a lot of time at sea they didn’t have access to fresh foods. They would catch a whole bunch of fish because they were never sure when get would get more food. So they dried and they would rehydrate them with milk later. For this dish they would have the fish and they would then throw-in any vegetables or food that they happened to find on the ship.  Even during war-time they would take the time to make this dish every Good Friday. According to my informant the recipe varies from year to year. Part of the concept of the dish is to put in whatever you have available. My informant says that she enjoys the tradition because she doesn’t fell she has that many. She enjoys the tradition but not always the food that goes with it.

It is interesting that the informant places more emphasis on the history of the tradition than the food itself. It was probably because she didn’t know the recipe off the top of her head but the history of this dish still seems more important. Especially since the recipe seems to change yearly because that’s how the dish was originally made. That might be why the informant follows the tradition even though she’s not all that keen on the actual food. The history behind this dish gives it importance so not practicing it might seem disingenuous.