Romanian religious superstitions vs actual church traditions

[CherryFilter27]

So, my Romanian Mother in law has some interesting rules that she follows on certain days and i was wondering how to seperate church traditions from superstitions. The main ones that confuse me are the following,

1. No bathing on sunday or feast days.
2. No cooking on feast days.
3. No cutting hair on sundays.

Normally i would laugh these off and say that none of these are written in any church canon, but she is very serious about these practices and thinks it is a serious sin to break them. Has anyone heard of these before and if so, how much of them are actually rooted in church tradition vs just plain superstition.

Thanks!

 

[prodromos]

They sound like pious superstition to me. It's kind of like the people who won't even brush their teeth in the morning before receiving Holy Communion in case they accidently swallow some toothpaste (it isn't food for goodness sake), so their mouth ends up stinking from the bacteria that's been at work all night. Personally I think it preferable to receive Christ's body and blood in a mouth that smells nice and clean.

 

[Tom 1]

So, my Romanian Mother in law has some interesting rules that she follows on certain days and i was wondering how to seperate church traditions from superstitions. The main ones that confuse me are the following,

1. No bathing on sunday or feast days.
2. No cooking on feast days.
3. No cutting hair on sundays.

Normally i would laugh these off and say that none of these are written in any church canon, but she is very serious about these practices and thinks it is a serious sin to break them. Has anyone heard of these before and if so, how much of them are actually rooted in church tradition vs just plain superstition.

Thanks!

It’s just cultural really, there are a lot of blurred lines between superstition and religious belief with the older generation. A lot of it is about control - control over the household, nature, outcomes for kids like marriage etc - Romanian matriarchs want to control these things and trying to control God through observances and rituals etc is maybe just an extension of that. Romania has a long history of extreme weather, being invaded etc that’s made it a vulnerable place to live. Trying to gain some control over what happens is one reason for superstition to be so deeply rooted.
One thing you can be absolutely certain about - she’ll never give up any of those beliefs or practices.

 

[~Anastasia~]

So, my Romanian Mother in law has some interesting rules that she follows on certain days and i was wondering how to seperate church traditions from superstitions. The main ones that confuse me are the following,

1. No bathing on sunday or feast days.
2. No cooking on feast days.
3. No cutting hair on sundays.

Normally i would laugh these off and say that none of these are written in any church canon, but she is very serious about these practices and thinks it is a serious sin to break them. Has anyone heard of these before and if so, how much of them are actually rooted in church tradition vs just plain superstition.

Thanks!

Hello there!

I have heard of a few various superstitions before, especially among some of the elderly folks. But I have never heard of these ones you mention. I suspect they are like the ones I have heard of ... some tenuous connection somewhere and it got passed down from grandmas.

I have never heard of any bathing rules in the Church.

The only thing we don't do on Feast days is fast - at least not as strictly as that day would be if not a feast day. More often than not, there are a half-dozen folks in our parish kitchen on feast days, cooking a meal for everyone.

I've also never heard of any hair-cutting rules in the Church, except there are times we are tonsured.

That's about it.

Does your mother have an evil eye charm or piece of jewelry? That is the superstition that most bothers our priest (and some others I know) and they are often trying to get the grandmothers to let go of those.

 

[ArmyMatt]

knowing a few Romanians myself, it sounds more like a cultural thing

 

[buzuxi02]

1. No bathing on sunday or feast days.
2. No cooking on feast days.
3. No cutting hair on sundays.

1. On no bathing, i do the exact opposite. I only bathe on sunday morning for church and on feast days because company comes over...... (I'm just kidding)

2. Do you mean all feast days? I'd be surprised if there is no cooking on Pascha or Christmas. Some feast days do have actual feasts. I can see why one would not cook on Holy and Great Friday being a strict fast day.

2. Never heard that one. Sunday is not a jewish sabbath where you have to stay dormant .

 

[FireDragon76]

Romanians will also leave food out for the dead and pour alcohol in the ground. I think those are just cultural practices the Church tolerates there, the equivalent of mistletoe and maypoles for us in the west.

 

[~Anastasia~]

One of my students in Sunday School comes from a Romanian family and she was informing the class that no laundry could be washed the day before or day of Nativity - I think the day after either. I was trying to walk a fine line of respecting her family and telling her to respect her parents and grandparents, while at the same time not letting the others think it was Church teaching (not to mention they celebrate a different day).

 

[Hermit76]

So, my Romanian Mother in law has some interesting rules that she follows on certain days and i was wondering how to seperate church traditions from superstitions. The main ones that confuse me are the following,

1. No bathing on sunday or feast days.
2. No cooking on feast days.
3. No cutting hair on sundays.

Normally i would laugh these off and say that none of these are written in any church canon, but she is very serious about these practices and thinks it is a serious sin to break them. Has anyone heard of these before and if so, how much of them are actually rooted in church tradition vs just plain superstition.

Thanks!

I was raised in Protestant Appalachia. My dad was/is a barber and a pastor and he wouldn't cut hair on Sundays. I also heard my grandparents talk about how "the old folks" wouldn't cook on Sunday. All of it was tied into not working on Sunday in order to focus on "The Lord's Day." They would have considered breaking these traditions to be sin. I think it is a stretch to call them superstition.

If your MIL isn't pushing you to follow suit in your personal life, I see no harm in her traditions.