Title: Prayer to Saint Anthony for Lost Items
General Information about Item:
- Genre: Customary Folklore: Superstition
- Language: English
- Country: Greece
Informant Data:
- David Lilla is a student at George Washington University in D.C. He is from Hummelstown, PA. His mother is Greek but his father is not. While no one in his direct family speaks Greek, they have lots of extended family in Greece and they celebrate Greek holidays.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context: When someone loses something and feels desperate in looking for it they may use this superstition. Not only the person who lost a possession may begin praying, but also close family and friends who also hope the person finds what has been lost.
- Cultural Context: A significant percentage of the Greek population, including our informants, observe Greek Orthodoxy. Often if a Greek Orthodox Christian feels as if something is out of their control, they turn to God or a saint in prayer to help intercede. In this case, when they cannot find a lost item, they pray to Saint Anthony in hopes that he will help recover the lost item.
Item:
- The superstition says that if you lose something, if you pray to Saint Anthony about it the item will always turn up. More religious people will follow this superstition.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
- None
Transcript of Associated File:
- None
Informant’s Comments:
- None
Collector’s Comments:
- None
Collector’s Name:
- Interviewed by Carmen Braceras
- Published by Katie Spanos
Tags/Keywords:
- Greek Superstitions, Prayer, Orthodox, Saint Anthony, lost, help