Title: Blood of the Covenant

General Information:

• Verbal lore, Proverb
• Informant: Caroline Petro
• Location: Via Phone Call to Massachusetts Area
• Date: November 1, 2018

Informant Data:

Caroline Petro is a Dartmouth alumna who graduated in June 2018. She is 22 years old. She was born and raised Catholic, though she attended private school instead of Catholic school. She lives in Norwood, Massachusetts, and she currently works on the cape of Massachusetts as an intern for a museum fundraising and marketing department. She has three siblings, one of whom is in training to become a Catholic priest, and her mother recently earned a degree to become a theologian.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

Caroline has heard this proverb from many different people in its shorter version, but the longer version she heard from her mother a few years ago. Her mother, as above, is a theologian, and studies philosophy and religion. Caroline and her mother are very close, and their faith is a part of their relationship.

Cultural Context:

Caroline said that the better-known proverb is interpreted to mean that the blood of your familial relationships means more than the water of other relationship bonds. But the full proverb, in its Catholic meaning, preferences the blood of the covenant (a metaphor for Christ’s sacrifice, and a commitment) means more than the water of the womb (a metaphor for familial ‘blood’ relationships). This proverb doesn’t say that family or friends are more important than either family or friends—but that the relationship among church members and people who share in that covenant is greater than any other relationship.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

Expanding upon the secular proverb:

“Blood is thicker than water.”

Interview Audio:

This proverb (and Caroline’s background) is discussed up to the 9:44 mark.

Collector’s Comments:

The formula is a two part proverb that relies on comparison. The image is a serious reflection on the church’s tenets, and evokes a mental image of the blood of Christ/the cup of wine at church services. The message contradicts the meaning as interpreted by secular culture, and instead preferences church family above “blood” relations or friendships. This is one of few proverbs that doesn’t explicitly state friends or family preferences, but instead values a different kind of relationship above both of those.

Collector:

Alexandra Norris, 20
3305 Hinman, Hanover, NH, 03755
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Fall 2018

Tags:

• Proverbs
• Catholic Proverbs
• Relationships
• Family
• Friends