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Taffy
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I've recently learned that mom never taught me the rosary growing up in the way that she learned it. She taught us the Canadian/American method since that's what they used in our church. Mom's originally from Mexico and I learned while visiting this summer about the different way of praying the rosary. I found a site that explained how to pray the rosary via the Mexican tradition and now my interest is growing!
So, I'm wondering if any of you here might know if there's anywhere online where I can learn about Mexican Catholic traditions. I'm looking for something on the level of the Catholic Culture website but pertaining to Mexican customs. Mom was the only Mexican within 200 square miles when we were growing up and I guess she felt that it was more important for us to fit in... the only Mexican tradition we grew up with was the food and piņatas!
By the way, my children have a very mixed heritage... If anyone has info on traditions from Denmark, Poland, the UK and Ireland I am all ears!
Thanks!
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Liz,
I haven't had much luck finding one site with other traditions from other countries in English. I have had to piecemeal things together, and many times go to a foreign language site to get an authentic feel.
Too find out customs, I usually start off with reading books or articles about a Mexican tradition, then search online for those words...perhaps in the Spanish form, too. Some examples: "Day of the Dead" and "cascarones" I found out about from one source and then found sites that had information...but nothing based on Mexican customs. A big problem with Mexico and other Latin countries is that many of the traditions are verbally handed down, and haven't necessarily been recorded, let alone "digitized."
I have one book I've enjoyed with Latin traditions, The Latino Holiday Book.
This one is a cookbook...Fiesta! A Celebration of Latin Hospitality...that's how I usually find out about most traditions. I buy a secular cookbook for a region or heritage and usually it's filled with mention of religious traditions and recipes.
I haven't looked at his books, but I wondered if Rick Bayless books might have some good Mexican traditions. Definitely the food....
I bought one book on the "Day of the Dead" called The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico. It's full of photos and illustrations explaining the tradition, but I wanted more of a craft book, so it wasn't exciting to me.
Now you can find lots for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I would also suggest reading some of Tomie de Paola's books on Latin legends and customs for children...and will also give you some ideas.
Someone from the CCM list suggested music from the SAVAE (San Antonio Vocal Ensemble), particularly Guadalupe: Virgen de los Indios. I bought it and just love it! It's so well done and just hauntingly beautiful.
Here is a description from their website: SAVAE, the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble, blends its seven voices with the traditional wind and percussion instruments of the Aztecs to create music that is a spellbinding fusion of Renaissance European and Native Latin American cultures. The spiritually unifying message of Guadalupe has inspired millions over the 450 years since her appearance to the Nahua Indian Juan Diego in 1531...just ten years after the conquering Spanish marched on the Aztec capital of Tenochitlan. Extensive research has gone into recording the music and rhythms of newly converted Christian Indians, inspired by the Virgin of Guadalupe. Many of the pieces, transcribed from original cathedral archival manuscripts, were composed by native Aztec and Nahua composers of the 16th century, some of which have not been heard for over 400 years. Travel back in time to the spiritual birth of Mexico's Hispanic culture.
I do have some books that touch on a feast here and there for Mexico...I can give specifics if you wish.
Oh, Ann Ball has written quite a few books on Catholic traditions. She lives in Texas, so sometimes her books have Mexican (or Tex-Mex) traditions included.
I lost "My Favorites" a few months back that had some great links for some feasts...otherwise this post would be longer!!! 
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JennGM
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Now for Poland traditions, I have a few sites:
Polish Traditions
Polish Traditions from a Polish Parish Church
Polish Art Center has so many books and supplies...it's a great resource. I found a few books that I love. The authors I would repeat in various other books:
A Polish Christmas Eve by Reverend Czeslaw Michal Krysa, S.T.L. (especially his works...lots of Easter pamphlets by him that are full of info).
Polish Customs, Traditions, and Folklore, Revised Edition by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab
Also, for you to read the Introduction or first Chapter in Pope John Paul II's biography A Witness to Hope by George Weigel will really give you a feel for the cultural and historical and religious perspective of the Polish.
And some other links:
Polish Culture at Bella Online
Polish Center...this highlights the Polish Easter Traditions
Polish American Center
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JennGM
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For the UK:
Hands down, start with the book Book of Feasts and Seasons by Joanna Bogle.
I won't inundate you any further...at least tonight!
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JennGM
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Oh, I have to apologize, I answered this like I was the only one with the answer! How rude of me! I want to add that I'm eagerly awaiting any sites that any else might have found especially on Mexican customs.
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alicegunther
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jenngm67 wrote:
| Oh, I have to apologize, I answered this like I was the only one with the answer! How rude of me! |
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Your responses do not sound the slightest bit rude! I am loving these links, Jenn. Thanks very much.
Liz, this was a very good idea for a thread. I love discovering Catholic traditions from other ethnic cultures--it's a great reminder of the universality of our Faith.
BTW, I know of one Irish tradition offhand that you might want to remember for Christmas. The tradition of keeping candles burning in the windows on Christmas Eve dates back to the penal times in Ireland, when the Catholic Church and the practice of the Faith were banned. Every Irish person's dearest wish was to have a priest stop in to say Christmas Mass that night, so they would light a candle and place it in the window as a signal of welcome.
I'm sure there are other cultures with a similar tradition, but I am always touched by that explanation. We usually put electric candles in all our windows and begin lighting them on the Feast of St. Lucy, December 13th.
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Kelly
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I knew about the candles in the window, and love the custom, but had never considered "cranking them up" on the Feast of St. Lucy. What a great idea! I'm always looking for festive (but not TOO festive) ideas to put into practice during Advent---you know, to help dispel the children's why-does-everyone-else-have-their-tree-up-the-day-after-Than ksgiving-and-we-don't attitude. Love associating the candles with the feast of St. Lucia as a harbinger of Christmas days to come!
Re: SAVAE, aren't they fabulous? I play that cd incessantly, it is marvelous.
One thing I'm still looking for---and may have to go to Mexico to find!---is a cd of Spanish songs sung during Las Posadas, the 17th to 24th of December. There is a Tomie de Paula book on theis, "Night of Las Posadas" or something like this, and there are umpteen websites on Las Posadas---this is a lovely Mexican tradition. We have little by little incorporated this into our homeschool group, and now celebrate it yearly. Also, we have refocused our Halloween celebrations into a celebration of All Soul's Day in the Mexican style of Dia de Muertos. Again, there are multiple websites available on the topic. Although many of these websites are secular (and some of the New Agey folks have glommed onto Day of the Dead, be warned--- we just ignore that and continue to imbue it with its true Catholic meaning, pooey to those wierdos)you can still get some great ideas for crafts and activities. You can also get super Day of the Dead molds for making little and big calaveras, as well as excellent, vivid food coloring, from the website www.mexicansugarskull.com
Also, for an enjoyable book discussing Mexican life, you should read "My Heart Lies South". I loved this book, about a young girl who marries a Mexican man, moves "south of the border" and embraces the Mexican lifestyle and customs. A wonderful book.
Kelly in FL
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MaryM
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I am very much enamored with the Spanish Colonial folk art associated with New Mexico and Mexico. This folk art is part of Mexican Catholic devotional customs. I think they are beautiful and illustrate the rich sacred heritage of Mexico and in this country, New Mexico. The general term for two of the devotional icons is santos. Santos include both retablos and bultos.
Retablos are pictures of saints or of Christ painted onto wooden panels or tin. They are also known as laminas in Mexico. Bultos are three-dimensional representations of the saints, God, Christ, and Mary which are generally carved from wood and embellished, sometimes vested in fine silk costumes with elaborately detailed embroideries and real jewels. Santos were displayed and venerated in home altars and churches.
Ex votos "Exvoto" is a Spanish word meaning "votive offering" and they are a visual testimony of a miracle that has occurred or as a commemoration of a blessing received. In Mexico, people would commonly leave this in a Church as a personal thank you to God or to a saint for his intervention. Another site with information. Milagros ("miracle") are small devotional charms that are offered to a saint as a reminder of the petitioner's particular need or they are offered to the saint in thanks for a prayer answered ("ex voto"). If, for example, someone has a sore arm, a tiny silver arm is hung on or near the favorite saint or a farmer who hopes that his pig will bear him many healthy piglets, asks his patron saint for intercession, and pins a pig milagro on the saint's robe. This is still very common in many churches in New Mexico - I particularly saw a lot at the Church in Chimayo. Traditionally, these votives were placed in small shrines, hung on church walls, attached to crosses, paintings, nichos, retablos, saints and altars.
Unfortunately the sacred and devotional traditions that go with these art forms are overshadowed by the "art" aspect of it in today's galleries. Most of the references to them on the web are on gallery sites or museum sites. This is a gallery website, but they have explanations of the different Spanish colonial art forms and the devotions in Mexican culture. There are also samples of the devotional art forms. This site is generally about Mexican culture so includes info on many different fiestas - not a Catholic site although it does contain some good info on Catholic customs related to some of the fiestas. Use the drop down menu "Mexico: Cultural articles" to search the specific fiestas.
Also - Christmas Season traditions in Mexico
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Kelly wrote:
| One thing I'm still looking for---and may have to go to Mexico to find!---is a cd of Spanish songs sung during Las Posadas, the 17th to 24th of December. |
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Kelly,Maybe here - Smithsonian Folkways. My favorite source for traditional ethnic music from around the world. Also, your post made me curious and I searched Amazon as well. Looks like a recording that might fit the bill is being released in a few weeks. Los Posadas - Canciones Navidenas Mexicanas
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Taffy
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WOW!!! 
Thanks everyone!
Now the question is where to begin?
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Liz,
I'm curious about the different way your mother said the Rosary in Mexico. My dil is from Juarez and I haven't heard of any particular Rosary customs (of course I don't think they said the Rosary as a family). Would you mind explaining a little about it?
I am always on the lookout for African customs and Catholic art but this is very, very hard to find.
My retired Franciscan friends lived in Juano Juato(sp?)while doing their Spanish language immersion and a 2nd time while serving there. They missed it incredibly when they returned here to the U.S. because of all the beautiful religious customs and devotions.
Thanks!
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Since I inputted much of the entries in the Liturgical Year section of Catholic Culture I know that many of the activities and recipes have a country reference. So in your search, type in the name of the country and it will list the entries where it has the word in the description and/or the country of origin. So search for "Poland" to bring up a variety of traditions and recipes, same with Mexico, etc.
[Edited with this added:] I'm seeing there is a glitch in the search engine right now so it's not pulling up the Activities from various countries unless the word is in the description. I'll try and get this changed, if I can pull some strings.]
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MaryM
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I had a pretty extensive post with some links that got lost in the backup work on the site. It will take me awhile to redo, but will hopefully post soon.
But did want to respond to this.
Kelly wrote:
One thing I'm still looking for---and may have to go to Mexico to find!---is a cd of Spanish songs sung during Las Posadas, the 17th to 24th of December. |
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Maybe you won't have to go to Mexico (unless you want to!) - Smithsonian Folkways might have what you are looking for. This is my favorite site for ethnic/cultural music from around the world. They have hard to find collections. And I really like that you can hear audio clips of the songs online.
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JennGM
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MaryM wrote:
I had a pretty extensive post with some links that got lost in the backup work on the site. It will take me awhile to redo, but will hopefully post soon.
But did want to respond to this.
Kelly wrote:
One thing I'm still looking for---and may have to go to Mexico to find!---is a cd of Spanish songs sung during Las Posadas, the 17th to 24th of December. |
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Maybe you won't have to go to Mexico (unless you want to!) - Smithsonian Folkways might have what you are looking for. This is my favorite site for ethnic/cultural music from around the world. They have hard to find collections. And I really like that you can hear audio clips of the songs online. |
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You had posted about the Folkways before. It seems a lot for a cd...but the music on this link is so great! Very tempting.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Taffy
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"Liz,
I'm curious about the different way your mother said the Rosary in Mexico. My dil is from Juarez and I haven't heard of any particular Rosary customs (of course I don't think they said the Rosary as a family). Would you mind explaining a little about it? "
Certainly, I should have done so in the first place!
Catholic Prayer Traditions is a bilingual (spanish and english) site that explains the whole thing wonderfully. They have both versions of the rosary online as well as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Stations of the Cross and a few other things.
Here's their simplified explanation of the differences:
QUICK GUIDE TO THE ROSARY: MEXICO
According to customs in Mexico, and approved by ecclesiastical authorities.
1. Initial Prayers: "Hail, Purest Mary", then "By the Sign of the Holy Cross", while making the Sign of the Cross, followed by "Act of Contrition", "Lord, Open My Lips", and "Glory Be".
2. Mysteries: Announce the (First) Mystery. Choose Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, or Glorious Mysteries, depending on the day of the week and the liturgical season, or personal preference. (The Luminous Mysteries are new, announced by Pope John Paul II on October 16, 2002).
3. Decade Prayers: While meditating on the Mystery, say the "Our Father" once, the"Hail Mary" ten times, and the "Glory Be" once.
4. Invocation: Say an invocation of your choice, for example, "Mary, Mother of Grace", "For the Sake of Your Immaculate Conception", "Homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe", or the "Fatima Prayer." If the rosary is for the deceased, add the invocation "Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord."
5. Hymn (Optional): Sing a hymn appropriate to the theme of the Mystery, the liturgical season, or the religious occasion.
6. Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Mysteries: Repeat steps 2 through 5.
7. Marian Sequence: After completing one series of five Mysteries, say one "Our Father", "Marian Salutations", "Hail, Holy Queen" (recited or sung), "Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (recited or sung), and "We Fly to Your Patronage."
8. Offertory Prayer: Recite one offertory prayer, for example, "O God, Whose Only-Begotten Son", "Pour Forth, We Beg You", "Grant to Us Your Children", or "By These Holy Mysteries."
9. Concluding Prayers: End with "Sweet Mother", "By the Sign of the Holy Cross", while making the Sign of the Cross, and "Hail, Purest Mary."
It's a bit longer but I'm finding it very enjoyable!
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Jenn,
Thanks for mentioning the search feature for foreign traditions on the Catholic Culture site! I tried it out and was more than impressed by what I found there! You've done an excellent job!
Thanks for all of the fabulous info!!!
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Susan
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Mary M,
The cd might be expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than a trip to Mexico! I listened to the clips and they are JUST what I'm looking for. The only problem is that I can't seem to get the "add to your cart" mechanism to work. I'm going to try again, but having never ordered from those folks, I wondered if there's something I'm missing?
Thanks again for the great links!
Kelly in FL
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alicegunther wrote:
| I love discovering Catholic traditions from other ethnic cultures--it's a great reminder of the universality of our Faith. |
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And I was just reading the Summer issue of Heart and Mind magazine with the John Paul II unit study. There is a quote from him in there about cultural traditions that I found so fitting to this discussion:
"The more you are aware of your identity and the Christian culture out of which your ancestors grew, the more you will be able to serve your country and the common good. From these roots the full personality of the individual, the community, and the nation arise." We was speaking to a Polish American group in Detriot when he said this, but I think it fits so well to the broader culture. Our country is such a melting pot of cultures and those traditions are a part of all those immigrants who came to this country, whether 400 years ago or 80.
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Mary M. in Denver
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jenngm67 wrote:
[Edited with this added:] I'm seeing there is a glitch in the search engine right now so it's not pulling up the Activities from various countries unless the word is in the description. I'll try and get this changed, if I can pull some strings.] |
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That would be great if it could be fine-tuned to pull up anything that pertained to the country or culture. Like you said right now it is only if the word is in the title so that usually is just the recipes and sometimes activities. Jenn, I know you and I had a bit of discussion on this before but I would love to see more of the ethnic/cultural traditions be part of the site. Do you think having people make requests for that of Jeff would be a good idea?
If not there, I wish someone would compile it somewhere- that could be a part of the book you write someday.
As an aside - this topic got me interested in other cultural links and I remembered last year at some point coming across info on the Catholic Culture site on a saint's feast day that was important to the Basque people (when the shepherds would come down from the mountains). I couldn't remember who or when so searched "Basque" and found that it was St. Giles and his feast day is TODAY! Is that a coincidence - I think not. We'll be having something Basque tonight for dinner! Anyway, I see he is also the patron of breastfeeding (I didn't know there was one other than Our Lady of La Leche). Basque connection and breastfeeding patron - he has suddenly become one of my favorite saints!
And I also found that St. Giles is included in the list of the fourteen "Auxiliary Saints" or "Holy Helpers". These are a group of saints invoked because they have been efficacious in assisting in trials and sufferings. He seems a fitting intercessory to be praying to today for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
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Kelly wrote:
| Also, we have refocused our Halloween celebrations into a celebration of All Soul's Day in the Mexican style of Dia de Muertos. Again, there are multiple websites available on the topic. Although many of these websites are secular (and some of the New Agey folks have glommed onto Day of the Dead, be warned--- we just ignore that and continue to imbue it with its true Catholic meaning, pooey to those wierdos)you can still get some great ideas for crafts and activities. You can also get super Day of the Dead molds for making little and big calaveras, as well as excellent, vivid food coloring, from the website www.mexicansugarskull.com |
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I just got an email from Hearthsong advertising their Mexican Sugar Skull Kit. They also talk about (and sell) this book Calavera Abecedario : A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book . Has anyone seen this? Is it gruesome? New-Agey? Scary? Exciting?
I'm wondering what age to introduce things like this? I don't want death to be a scary image in 2 yo ds' mind right now. Skulls are eventual reality in everyone's life and death cycle. I don't plan on "hiding" death, but could this be scary at this age?
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Non-American Catholic traditions?
