Honest question: How is praying to San Judas different from praying to an Orisha?
Today I went to church with my mom and my husband. I was raised Catholic, and over the past few weeks that I have been attending Mass again, I have noticed something that made me stop and think.
During the service, I saw a family pass off from family to family an image of Maria Niña (the Child Mary). I asked my mom why they were passing the image around to a different family each week, and she told me that people pray to her.
That led me to ask a question that I have been genuinely struggling with. If the Catholic Church teaches that people can ask for the intercession of Mary and the saints through prayer, how is that different from someone in the Yoruba tradition praying to the Orishas, attending to their Warriors, or seeking their guidance through prayer and devotion?
I asked both my mom and my husband this question. My husband was quick to point out that the Yoruba religion is of African origin. However, that response raised another question in my mind. If we as Hispanics can practice Catholicism, even though Catholicism originated in Europe and was brought to the Americas, then why should the geographic origin of a religion determine whether someone can sincerely practice it?
My husband believes that all religions have been altered over time by human beings and by our ancestors. In some ways, I can understand that perspective because every religious tradition has passed through generations of people who interpreted, preserved, and shaped it according to their historical circumstances.
What I continue to struggle with is the idea of religious guilt and why it seems to be so powerful. Why do people feel guilty for exploring other spiritual traditions? Why do some people feel compelled to tell others that their beliefs are wrong or that they should feel ashamed for asking questions? Is that guilt something that comes from faith itself, from culture, from family expectations, or from fear of being judged?
For me, these questions became even more personal when I asked my mom how praying to an Orisha would be fundamentally different from praying to a saint such as San Judas. From my perspective, both involve directing prayers toward a spiritual figure who is believed to intercede, help, guide, or advocate on behalf of the person praying.
I am not necessarily trying to argue that the two traditions are identical. Rather, I am trying to understand why people draw such strong distinctions between them and why those distinctions often come with feelings of guilt, fear, or judgment. I find myself wondering whether some of those reactions come from theology, while others come from tradition, culture, and the beliefs that people inherit from their families and communities.
At the heart of all of this, I think I am simply trying to understand where faith ends, where culture begins, and why asking sincere questions about both can sometimes make a person feel conflicted.
I have received my elekes and I did and am still interested in receiving warriors soon.