Recensione di “Santa Muerte: I Sette Volti della Mietitrice”

Last updated on: January 11, 2023 at 11:44 am By Andrew Chesnut

Circa quattro anni fa, all’inizio del mio percorso di devozione alla Santa Muerte, mi sentivo anche io, come molti altri novizi, sperduta e confusa. Non esistono guide spirituali, chiese, templi o società ufficiali che possano indirizzare i nuovi devoti. Questo risulta ancor più complicato per chi non risiede nei luoghi dove il culto della Santa Muerte è più preponderante, ovvero il Messico e alcune zone degli Stati Uniti o del Sudamerica. Per nostra fortuna, i libri si rivelano anche in... Read more

Mestiza Madonna: 16 Fascinating Facts on Virgin of Guadalupe

Last updated on: December 10, 2024 at 9:28 am By Andrew Chesnut

Mexicans will tell you that they are 90 percent Catholic but 100 percent Guadalupan. While the numbers aren’t entirely accurate anymore, it is definitely the case that the Virgin of Guadalupe has been a constituent part of Mexican national identity, reflected in the fact that millions of both women and men are named Guadalupe, many going by the nickname “Lupe,” such as a colleague at the University of Houston, Dr. Guadalupe San Miguel, Professor of Mexican-American history. As a specialist... Read more

Love Will Tear Us Apart – Death Romanticized at Genoa’s Stegliano Cemetery

Last updated on: November 23, 2022 at 3:27 pm By Andrew Chesnut

On June 12, 1804, the edict of Saint-Cloud promulgated by Napoleon Bonaparte radically changed cemetery regulation and practices. Before the publication of the edict, it was customary to bury upper-class and deceased clergy inside the churches or in the adjacent land (the so-called “holy ground”). Wealthier families could afford to build sepulchers, altars and ornate chapels installed inside the places of worship of their religion (not only churches, but also temples and synagogues). The clergy, on the other hand, were... Read more

The Holy Trinity of Justice – Saint Justus, Christ the Just Judge and San la Muerte

Last updated on: October 20, 2022 at 11:14 am By Andrew Chesnut

Dr. Andrew Chesnut writes in his book Devoted to Death: “If the association between Santa Muerte and matters of judgment and law is strong, it is probably even stronger for her Argentine male counterpart, San La Muerte. Indeed, one of the two main myths about the origins of the Argentine skeleton saint refers directly to justice. […] And that is why one of the nicknames of San La Muerte is San Justo (Saint Justus) – San Giusto.” I begin from... Read more

Mexico’s Death Trio: La Catrina, Day of Dead, Santa Muerte

Last updated on: October 18, 2024 at 7:11 am By Andrew Chesnut

Co-authored by Professor Andrew Chesnut, Dr. Kate Kingsbury*, and Mr. David B. Metcalfe** The season of death is in full swing. October is here impending Halloween with its cavalcade of crones, ghosts and goblins together with the Catholic holy days of All Saints and All Souls, known in Latin America as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) or Todos Santos on November 1st and 2nd. Included in these fall festivals are two familiar faces whose skeletal visages afford... Read more

From Bloody Heretic to Catholic Saint – The Beatification of Brazilian Folk Saint Padre Cicero

Last updated on: September 9, 2022 at 1:00 pm By Andrew Chesnut

Beatification News by Eduardo Lima In a country where people have revered folk religious figures for centuries, Padim Ciço — or Father Cícero Romão Batista (1844-1934) — has been the greatest of all Brazilian folks saints. Every year, 2 million devotees visit Juazeiro do Norte, the city he founded in Ceará state, in order to thank him for a cure or some other miracle granted through his intercession. Over time, practices became ritualized: People go first to the local churches... Read more

Emerald Eyes and Tears of Blood – The Unusual Advocations of the Christ Child in Mexico

Last updated on: July 26, 2022 at 11:21 pm By Andrew Chesnut

Co-authored by Dr. Kate Kingsbury* and Dr. Andrew Chesnut Those who aren’t Catholic or familiar with the largest branch of Christianity might be surprised to learn that unlike Protestantism which offers a single generic Baby Jesus, Catholicism posits myriad advocations of the Christ Child. And Mexico, home to the second largest Catholic population on the planet, is where some of the most unusual representations of the Holy Infant are to be found. In what follows I offer a brief description... Read more

The Thug Saint Trinity of Mexico – Jesus Malverde, Santa Muerte and Saint Jude

Last updated on: July 6, 2022 at 10:53 am By Andrew Chesnut

Most street shrines in Mexico are dedicated to a single Catholic or folk saint. Makeshift public altars to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Saint Jude, and Santa Muerte figure among the most popular ones from Tijuana to Tapachula. Having seen hundreds of street shrines in my four decades of doing research, living in, and visiting Mexico, I can’t help but focus on one of the most unusual ones which unites the three most popular “thug saints” in one shrine. In... Read more

Catholic Decline Continues in Latin America under Argentine Pope Francis

Last updated on: June 8, 2022 at 1:09 pm By Andrew Chesnut

There is compelling evidence of continued Catholic decline in Latin American, which is home to 39 percent of the world’s Catholics, during the papacy of Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the region. The religious landscape in Latin America is changing from hegemonically Catholic to a pluralistic one, said Dr. Andrew Chesnut, Professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Latin Americans today have a wide range of options to choose from in the relatively free market of faith, which... Read more

Death on the Road – A Vision of Santa Muerte in the American Heartland

Last updated on: January 7, 2022 at 1:51 pm By Andrew Chesnut

By Guest Contributor Aaman Lamba* In the before times, when we were all free birds and wore our masks on the inside, I used to travel a lot – weekly trips to cities large and small, visiting business clients. I would land at some airport or another, pick up my rental car and drive to my hotel, which was often some distance away. There was typically little memorable about these trips other than the occasional good restaurant or bookstore and... Read more

True or False: 1 Peter teaches that Christians should submit to every human authority for the Lord's sake.