4 Chapter 4: THEOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SANTA MUERTE PRAYERS

In the early to the present Judeo-Christian tradition, the act of praying integrates the use of texts contained in the Torah and the Bible.  This tradition was elevated during the European renaissance when highly artistic renditions of illuminated manuscripts, books of hours, devotionals, praying cards, and missals, were receptacles of those texts that aided the elite people in praying.  In the Roman-Catholic tradition, according to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (2017), there are five different ways of praying: 1) Blessing and adoration; 2) Petitions; 3) Intercession; 4) Thanksgiving; and 5) Praise.  This practice of organizing or classifying the types of prayers is also known in other Christian churches, such as the Church of England (2017) in the “Book of Common Prayer” which is a collection of prayers that guide the church’s doctrine and worship.  The book includes prayers of Divine Worship, Liturgy, Rites and Ceremonies (baptism, matrimony, communion of the sick, burial of the dead), and Prayers of Thanksgiving, and a calendar for the feasts and Fasts of the year.

In the context of Santa Muerte, Perdigón (2008, p.68 – 70) commented on the commonalities of the different type of prayers.  In her analysis of the Santa Muerte, she alludes to prayers as being: 1) Oblations (an object presented as an offering); 2) “Mandas” (payments for favors granted); 3) “Rogativas” (requests to obtain remedy for a grave need; and 4) Requests for Santa Muerte’s divine assistance.  The concept of “manda” known in the Catholic tradition in Mexico is associated with the devotion to specific saints.  A “manda” is a contract, but it is not specifically related to Santa Muerte.  When a person makes a promise to a holy figure in the hope to receive a favor or a favorable answer to a prayer, and the favor or answer is received, the petitioner is obliged to pay the promise.  If a person is suffering from eye- or vision-related illness, for example, the person promises a “manda” in return for a cure.  Once cured, the person would visit a shrine or church dedicated to Saint Lucy, the patron saint of those afflicted with blindness or eye illnesses, in order to pay the promise made during the prayers.

In contrast, Roush (2012) classifies the types of prayers to Santa Muerte in four broad themes: 1) “Damage one’s enemies or block their ability to damage”; 2) “Live to the extreme so that you really live”; 3) “Defense against criminal allegations”; and 4) “Prayers to ask for her intercession against some inexorable process or from some [power] authority” (Roush, 2012; p. 230).  The author provides two examples of prayers: 1) an excerpt from the Rosary that is dedicated to those who are ill, and 2) a prayer to seek protection for those who suffer from addictions.  Both examples are written using the “tú” pronoun.

The cult of Santa Muerte has adhered to its pre- and post-conquest religious roots.  Its liturgy follows the worship observed in the Roman Catholic church and it includes prayers that are mostly petitions for protection and intercession at the private individual level, and the novena and rosary at the public and collective level.  Santa Muerte as Saint is elevated to a high-power position closer to God and Jesus Christ (Perdigón, 2008) that is reminiscent of the status that Mictlancihuatl (Lady Death) holds in protecting the ancestral remains of the Aztec humanity, and that is simultaneously capable of creation and destruction.