Tag Archives: Catholicism

40 Days After Death

“We do it because [the soul of someone has passed away recently] wanders around for 40 days before they settle on where they want to go. That’s why we pray to help them find their way to Heaven to because they don’t know where they are.” 

As a Filipino-Catholic, my family has many rituals that we perform at different life events. One of the most recent ones that my family has performed is the “40 days after death” prayer ritual we perform after a family member has passed away. For the first 9 days after the person has passed, my family comes together to pray the rosary together and recite the Novena for the Dead. After that, it’s usually the older relatives and those closest to the recently deceased who continue to pray the rosary daily, leading up to the final day when everyone comes together again to repeat the ritual one last time. 

The contents of this ritual are very heavy and the environment is usually quite solemn when this happens. However, when talking to my mom about it, she then started talking about how my whole family only comes together for weddings and funerals. These types of life events provide enough of a reason for people to reshuffle their busy schedules to come out and partake in the event. She then proceeded to talk about the fun memories with cousins that she doesn’t really hang out with and the dinners that occur after the prayer is done. It made me think about my own memories with this prayer, and how I also have had fond memories with my cousins and relatives that I didn’t meet until that time. Ironically, thinking back to these heavily sad periods of time where my family had lost someone, my mom and I first remember the memories of our family coming together for this person and to take part in this ritual. This 40 day of death ritual is ironically something that brings me a bit of happiness and community in a dark time, and I love my family for keeping that tradition alive for I believe that this familial togetherness is something that we value strongly. 

Reyes Mago

Text:

“Basically it’s in early January and it’s supposed to symbolize when the 3 kings came and gave gifts to baby Jesus. The kids get gifts and a big dinner is held–Basically if ur kid you just get gifts and food, but if ur d enough you have to eat from a ‘rosca‘. The ‘rosca‘ will have little plastic babies hidden within, and if you end up pulling one, you now owe everyone else there a party where you’ll host dinner. This is done until all the babies are found. Kids can participate too, but their parents are responsible for throwing the party.”

Context:

The informant has participated in this since they were a young child.

Interpretation:

The celebration commemorates the biblical journey of the Magi—also known as the Three Kings—who brought gifts to the infant Jesus shortly after his birth. This religious narrative ties the holiday closely to Christian traditions, particularly Catholicism, which has been a dominant spiritual and cultural force in Spain and many Latin American countries. Furthermore, Reyes Magos centers on children, highlighting innocence, hope, and continuity. Families often gather for a special meal, share the Roscón de Reyes (a sweet bread with hidden figurines), and spend time together; this family-centric structure underscores kinship and tradition in Hispanic cultures, and emphasizes the importance of treasuring children, reinforcing communal bonds, and intergenerational continuity. And, by celebrating figures from a distant, symbolic past, Reyes Mago helps elevate storytelling, moral lessons, and myth as powerful forces of social cohesion to teach the next generation.

Devil’s Foot 

Age: 20

Folk Narrative: Legend 

Text: Devil’s foot 

“My mom told me that her grandpa would go to the clubs very late at night and early in the morning, which would worry his mother-in-law because he would be drunk and careless. On one particular night, he came back home very late and drunk, and when he was about to pass out, he saw a woman in the corner of his room dancing alone. He figured he couldn’t leave her dancing alone, so he got up to dance with her. After a while, he saw that one of her legs was a hoof and appeared to be the Devil’s foot. After this, he ran to his mother and told her he was sorry and would never go clubbing again and became sober after that”. 

Context: My informant first heard this story from her mother, who told it to her various times. The story runs in the family, and everyone believes it true. She also mentioned that on her father’s side of the family, there is a similar story with her uncle, who also saw the Devil after drinking. When I asked my informant how she interprets this story, she said she sees it as a warning or a way to tell kids not to become avid drinkers or act out. She grew up in a Catholic Mexican family with a strong traditional belief system. She thinks this story is a way that her older family members instill fear from a young age, so it will encourage obedience and prevent the kids from worrying their parents, as these other male family members worried their mothers. My informant mentioned that she believes if a person is out there causing worry and harm to their own family, then it is only a matter of time until they see little death or the Devil in front of them. 

Analysis: This folk narrative holds specific characteristics of a legend, such as being believed to be true in this world and having happened to someone in the family. The appearance of a woman with a Devil’s hoof is supernatural, but still presented as an actual warning event rather than a symbolic myth.  Legends often convey the values or anxieties of a culture. In this case, the story warns against excessive drinking, nightlife, disobedience to family values, and reckless behavior, using the Devil as a cautionary figure. He acts as a supernatural enforcer of morality, punishing those who stray too far from accepted behavior. The moral outcome of the story—the man sobering up and repenting—demonstrates how the legend operates as a behavioral warning, particularly for younger generations. This legend may be part of a tradition in Latinx and Catholic communities where the Devil often appears as a figure of temptation and punishment, reflecting religious influences on folk beliefs. The horror of seeing a Devil-woman after a night of recklessness becomes a powerful deterrent, using fear to teach moral lessons and protect family unity. This legend is familial or local and reflects the family values of that particular group. Perhaps these qualities are not a cause for concern for other families and cultures. The repetition of similar stories across both the mother’s and father’s sides of the family shows how this legend functions communally, passed down as a cautionary tale to enforce norms of obedience, sobriety, and familial responsibility. In this case, their upbringing and beliefs influence what they choose to warn against through their legends.

Sighting of Jesus during a storm on the sea

Text:

So this is the story of how my grandmother saw Jesus on her boat ride to America.

My grandmother was in Italy during World War II, and Pacentro, where she was from, was a major bombing area for the Allies. So what they would do during World War II is that they took cities that didn’t have a lot of historical importance, and were very lowly densely populated-like farming villages and places like that. Back then, bombing a place was a show of power, basically. So it was a huge bombing site during WWII, and my grandmother fled Pacentro on a boat going to the US. She was very young, probably 12 or 13. She was on the boat, coming to the US, and she was very strongly Catholic.

The boat was very rocky- they were caught in a storm coming to New York, and everyone thought they were going to die. That’s how severe the storm is, they were all worried, they were all praying, all sort of getting their affairs in order as best they could when they were on a boat and going to a different country. And so, she thinks she’s going to die. The boat is rocking severely- there’s waves crashing on the bow, water sloshing over the edge, you couldn’t even go outside, everyone was hunkered down inside the ship.

So grandmother is down in the hull, she’s sick, she’s been on this boat for a week and a half, and she falls asleep. And in her dream, she sees Jesus in the waves, and Jesus looks at her- she’s standing on the bow of the boat, Titanic style, and Jesus is standing on the waves, he turns to her and says, “Celeste, you’re going to survive. You’re going to be OK. Everyone is going to live.” And when she wakes up, the storm has completely passed. So it’s sunny, the water is calm, there is no storm for the rest of the trip, they make it through the storm and back to America with no issue. So she believed that Jesus came down and told her- basically worked a miracle- she believed that there was some aspect of God that helped her arrive safely.

Context:

The informant was recounting an earlier story told by her grandmother, who was born in Italy before immigrating to the United States.

Analysis:

One of the first things I noticed about this story is how it’s very similar to a specific Bible story within the New Testament. It reminded me of the story of Jesus encountering the disciples during a storm by walking on water to approach their boat (Matthew 14:22-33). As religions tend to play a part in folklore, and as the first teller of this story was from a heavily Catholic region of Italy, this probably isn’t a coincidence. There could be an element of the grandmother finding comfort in their religion, in the face of almost hopeless circumstances, with how there really isn’t much else for them to do in the situation. When you can turn to no one else, you turn to God.

Reiki Meets Catholicism

Text: “My mom has been practicing Reiki for a long time. It is an energy healing practice from Japan, also known as hands-on healing. The practitioner places their hands on the patient and uses their own energy and emotion to either detect energy from the patient or transfer energy. My mom does it kind of casually, but she can sense tension and soreness on someone else’s body just by hovering her hands over them. Whenever she knows I’m nervous or tense, she hovers her hands over my shoulders and transfers healing energy into them. I’m not very knowledgeable in Reiki, but it’s a weird thing where you feel warm and tingly in the areas that you’ve had energy transferred into, and the tension does dissolve.” 

Context: My informant – a 21-year-old woman from Los Angeles, California – explained the role Reiki has played in her family and in the relationship she has with her mom. She explained to me that this was something she remembered her mom doing for her whole life, and she cannot doubt the healing power of it because she truly feels that it makes her feel better and it relieves a lot of tension in her mind and body. She went on to explain that her mom is also Catholic and comes from a Mexican family of witches, which she said is a weird mix because in Catholicism, “witchcraft is the Devil’s work.” However, her mom connects her beliefs and cultures because she believes that the healing properties that Jesus had were actually Reiki practices, or some form of it. My informant explained to me that the connection her mom made between Japanese and Mexican culture – along with the role of religion – has shaped her own beliefs regarding Catholicism, and she feels like it has made her feel a bit more connected to her own spirituality.

Analysis: The practice of Reiki within my informant’s family exemplifies a unique blend of cultural beliefs and healing traditions that bridge diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Reiki, originating from Japan as an energy healing practice, has been integrated into my informant’s family dynamics and relationship with her mother as a source of comfort and healing. Her approach to Reiki reflects a personal and intuitive understanding of energy healing, where she uses her own energy and emotion to detect and alleviate tension and soreness in others. This hands-on approach to healing underscores the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit within Reiki practice.

What stands out is my informant’s mother’s ability to reconcile her Catholic faith with her practice of Reiki, despite potential religious tensions associated with practices labeled as “witchcraft.” By interpreting Jesus’ healing miracles as akin to Reiki principles, her mother synthesizes elements of Japanese and Mexican culture with her Catholic beliefs, creating a unique and deeply personal spiritual perspective. For my informant, witnessing her mother’s integration of Reiki into her family’s spiritual and healing practices has shaped her own beliefs and sense of spirituality. The blending of cultural influences and healing traditions fosters a sense of connection to her heritage and spirituality, providing a holistic framework that embraces both diversity and personal growth.