Manuel scurried, as he readied the room for the new priests arrival on Saturday, his limp more obvious when he was tired.
Recently, baffling thoughts had begun confusing him. There’d been five priests transferred from this parish. He wondered why.
~~~~~~~~~
Lourdes worked tirelessly to prepare the special welcome dinner for the new priest. Her job security helped calm her concerns about her son, Manuel’s, future.
~~~~~~~~~
Father Karavalez was reverent and handsome. The nuns giddily whispered about him.
He graciously accepted Manuel as his houseboy; one assigned to each priest.
Shortly after dinner, claiming exhaustion, he asked Manuel to assist him.
Venom flowed through her veins. Hate was a mild word for what she felt for him.
She had him taken to an institution. He would be there for life.
Her mother died shortly before he was placed there. Doctors said her frail body was from malnutrition and improper medical care. At 88, she needed home health care. Instead, her mentally challenged son was her only caretaker.
Why was she angry at him?
It helped soothe her guilt.
Banned from his mothers funeral by her, he raged. The perfect storm for him to be taken away.
Rain poured down. We were waiting on line to board the Staten Island ferry; a habitual Sunday routine. Usually, we’d go to the beach then visit, Mr. Frank. He was a Santero.
I was feeling car sick. My dad smoked Camels.The open windows would blow the smoke into the backseat.
I can remember the first time we were waiting to board. I had a panic attack and couldn’t stop crying. I thought we were going to drive into the ocean. I can’t swim.
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Santeria is a syncretistic Caribbean religion.
Santeria includes the worship of the Orisha — literally “head guardians,” and religious beliefs of the Yoruba and Bantu people in Southern Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea Coast. These are combined with elements of Roman Catholicism.
Arriving as slaves in the Caribbean, Santerians preserved the elements of their religion by equating each Orisha of their traditional religions with a corresponding christian saint. Many traditions, within the religion, recognize different equivalencies.
One common example includes:
Babalz Ayi became St. Lazarus (patron of the sick)
Shangs became St. Barbara (controls thunder, lightning, fire…)
Eleggua or Elegba became St. Anthony (controls roads, gates etc)
Obatala became Our Lady of Las Mercedes, and the Resurrected Christ (father of creation; source of spirituality)
Oggzn became St. Peter (patron of war)
Oshzn became Our Lady of Charity (controls money, sensuality…)
Many Santerian beliefs are not freely discussed outside of the faith. In addition, there are many religious leaders whose beliefs and practices differ significantly. information clickhere
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