Tag Archives: Christianity

Reciting Three Hail Mary’s (USA) – Kevin King

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Pre-test custom, superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: KH
  • Date Collected: 10/26/21

Informant Data: KH is a middle school science teacher at St. Raymond’s Elementary School in Menlo Park, California. She was born in 1960 to a Catholic family and went to UCLA for college. She and her husband settled their family down in Menlo Park, just one town north of Palo Alto, after she finished graduate school at Stanford University. She has three children, all of whom have graduated from college. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Christianity, reciting a Hail Mary is a way to request purity from God and gain other virtues. It is most often recited in the morning and before going to bed. 
  • Social Context: KH’s parents were devout Catholics all throughout her childhood. They never missed Sunday mass, and she attended Catholic schools until she went to college. Her mother was adamant that she recited three Hail Marys every morning and night. KH knew that the purity one requests from God by reciting these three Hail Marys also applies to the purity of one’s mind and decided to begin performing this ritual prior to her exams. KH became a teacher at St. Raymond’s School in Menlo Park, CA and ever since, she asks her students to do the same before each of their tests. I collected this item when I attended St. Raymond’s in middle school and had KH as my science teacher. Before our first test in the sixth grade, she told us the backstory of this superstition.

Item: Before taking a test, a student recites three Hail Mary’s in order to have a fruitful testing experience. 

Associated File

Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary - dummies

Transcript:

  • “After reciting three Hail Marys, you’ll all not only feel more prepared to take your tests, but also in a better position to do well.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • It was clear that the informant was keen on following this superstition. There was not a test that I took in her class where the students did not recite three Hail Marys prior to taking it.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • This was a superstition I witnessed and performed for myself. I understand how it came about and especially given that I attended a Catholic school, it made a lot of sense. 

Collector’s Name: Kevin King

Tags/Keywords:

  • Superstition 
  • Christianity 
  • Hail Mary
  • United States

Christmas Prayer

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General Information Data:

Customary Lore, Prayer

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: E.S.

Date Collected: 11/12/2021

Informant Data: E.S. is a 19 year old Women’s lacrosse player at the University of Vanderbilt. Prior to college, E.S. attended Jesuit, Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon. Outside of her love for athletics, E.S. enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities along with spending time with her friends and family. E.S. and the collector have been friends for years. 

Contextual Data: 

Cultural Data: Christmas was originally established in the United States as a Christian holiday to celebrate the brith of Jesus Christ. While modern Christmas traditions have begun to stray away from this original intention, there are still aspects of religiosity within certain Christmas traditions. Oftentimes, religious observances during Christmas can be seen in attending church on Christmas Day or decorating one’s home with Nativity sets. 

Social: E.S. comes from a religious family and attended Catholic School since her youth. Her family still attends church and considers themselves members of the Catholic community. For her family, Christmas is an important religious holiday. The informant’s family take the time to attend mass on Christmas Eve and hold a special prayer during Christmas Dinner. 

Item: E.S.’s family follows the tradition of holding a unique catholic prayer on Christmas. The prayer always starts the same: “Dear Heavenly Father, love brought Jesus to the earth, and love brings us to this Christmas table. Today as we share this holiday feast, may we also share gratitude.” Following this traditional prayer, the family goes around the table to discuss what they are grateful for during the holiday season before concluding the prayer. This is a unique tradition which incorporates both a standardized prayer which is followed by individual oral contributions. 

Transcript: “Each year, on Christmas Day, my family tries to keep the religious part of Christmas around. One of the ways we do this is by going to Church. Another way we do this is in our Christmas dinner prayer. It always starts the same, when we say “Dear Heavenly Father, love brought Jesus to the earth, and love brings us to this Christmas table. Today as we share this holiday feast, may we also share gratitude.” Then each person goes around the table sharing something they’re grateful for. You’ve been there, so you know what I’m talking about.”

Informant’s Comments: “I don’t know when we started doing this”

Collectors Comments: This Christmas dinner prayer is certainly unique. After questioning wether or not it was folklore, I settled on “yes”. This is an oral tradition which is passed down yearly. It has unknown origins and benefits from a memorable mnemonic design. Furthermore, this is a collective folklore which exhibits multiple existence. Every year, following the first prayer, each member of the Folk—in this case, people sitting at the table—give an individual oral contribution. This means the prayer is different every year. I myself have contributed to this folklore once. 

Collectors Name: Jackson McGinley

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (Dylan Lawler)

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General Information About Item:

  • Customary Lore, yearly service
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: R.H. Age 19
  • Date Collected: 11-07-2021

Informant Data:

  • R.H. is a sophomore and Western Connecticut State University and is studying literature and education. She is a devout christian who volunteers at the church and is also an avid advocate for immigrant rights and equality.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Candlelight services are generally intended to be a means for groups of people, large or small, to quietly reflect, pray together, or simply show support for one another. On Christmas Eve, it has a more positive connotation of spirit and hope.
  • Social Context: This practice was brought up when asked about notable traditions or events she has during Christmas time. Though hosted in a religious context, many community members, religiously affiliated or not, attend just to have a sense of community and light a candle symbolizing brighter times.

Item:

  • Christmas Eve candlelight services have been a cherished tradition for churches around the world for many years and it’s believed the tradition of candlelight services itself traces back to Europe in the 1600s. Christians host this ceremony hoping that it will offer a meaningful way to symbolize the light of Christ coming into the darkness in the world. The wreath with the Christ candle in the center emulates “the light of Christ” which is then taken to light everyone’s candle and the reflected light into the faces of the people is meant to symbolize the light of Christ reflected in believers.

Transcript:

  • “There is a candle lighting event that my church does every Christmas Eve. It’s open to the whole community but basically everyone gets a candle that they light in church and it’s just a time of prayer and singing Christmas hymns. That’s like the main thing that’s considered a ‘gathering’.The candle represents the light which is Jesus, prayer, hope, and faith.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • “The candlelight illuminating inside the church is just so warm and comforting, I always get the exact feeling intended by the ceremony. Although the fire inside does scare me sometimes.”

Collector’s Comments:

  • Though the rest of America has gradually filtered religious intentions out of Christmas tradition, within the church, they still hold strong belief and faith. However, I believe it is especially interesting in this case that the interviewee noted the attendance of non believers, which furthers the overarching theme using a time of darkness and flipping it to celebrate togetherness.

Collected By:

Dylan Lawler

Dover Plains, NY

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021