Saints and Martyrs

Title: Saints and Martyrs

General Information:

  • Verbal lore, Proverb
  • Informant Name: Meg Costantini
  • Location: Meg’s office, Aquinas House, Hanover, NH, 03755
  • Date: October 18, 2018

Informant Data:

Meg Costantini is a campus minister at Dartmouth College’s Catholic student center, Aquinas House. She describes herself as a “cradle Catholic,” meaning that she was born and raised Catholic her whole life. She went to public school for grade and high school, Villanova for her undergraduate degree, and got her Masters of Divinity from Notre Dame in 2015. After that, she started her current job. She is married to her husband Shawn, has a one-year-old daughter Lucy, and a baby on the way. (And her dog, Rey, who you’ll hear barking in the audio recording.)

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

Meg said that she heard this proverb from many Catholics, and could recall most recently the priest that she works with saying it in a homily. Homilies take place during Catholic mass services, after the day’s gospel reading, and are intended to preach a message with deeper meaning. Otherwise, they were casual conversations.

Cultural Context:

For Catholics, saints are people who lived out the Church’s teachings to the fullest extent, and martyrs are people who died for the faith. Both serve as role models to modern-day Catholics. This proverb pokes fun at one person needing to act as a martyr in order to live with someone who is a saint—or thinks that they are one. Meg mentioned that this proverb has a special meaning to her in her relationship with her husband; that they take turns being the martyr and the saint to each other. In her mind, this proverb exemplifies that there’s something about interacting with other people that makes us better versions of ourselves. When we interact with real people, with difficult or different personalities, we develop our own selves. The proverb is a reminder that when we feel frustrated with the people we live with (especially in marriage), that is a call to respond in a way that will bring us closer to God.

Item:

Orally transmitted proverb:

“It takes a martyr to live with a saint.”

Audio Recording:

Volume Warning: Meg’s busy life includes a young baby who liked to stand near the computer and a dog who likes to bark–they are audible and loud on the recording! Listen with care as to your volume.

This portion of the interview concludes about halfway through the second audio recording.

Collector’s Comments:

The formula of this proverb is two parts, with a statement and a condition. The image is intended to be humorous, though with a heartfelt/serious message behind it. This proverb uses metaphors of Catholicism to diffuse tension, inject humor, and poke fun at humility, while showing that martyrdom and sainthood are valued within the Church. This is one of two proverbs that I collected that focus on sainthood, which seems to be an important goal to strive towards, and certainly imparts morals, as well. Additionally, my informant chose to explain this proverb through her own life as well as through church history, showing a very personal connection.

Collector:

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

Tags:

  • Proverbs
  • Catholic Proverbs
  • Family
  • Relationships

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