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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



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Table 14. — Attendance at 10:00 o'clock Mass, ty age 

 and sex groups, village church, Cruz das Almas, four 

 Sundays during November and December 19Ji8 



Of 17 farms visited, the occupants of 2 rarely 

 miss a Mass, those of 12 farms attend iri-egularly, 

 and those of 3 farms go to Mass only on special 

 occasions, such as those on which there is a festa. 

 "All in our family," said one farmer, "attend Mass 

 every Sunday. It is important to do that." "It's 

 foolish to go to Mass every Sunday,'' another 

 farmer said, expressing a different attitude. "You 

 can have religion in your own home, can't you?" 



The best clothes owned are worn to Mass. An 

 occasional woman may wear a cheap silk or rayon 

 dress and an occasional man or boy a lightweight 

 suit of wool. The more common garments have 

 been indicated in the section on Dress. Every- 

 one except small children wears shoes. All persons 

 are clean and neat, with hair carefully brushed. 



Each Sunday a four-page pamphlet, about 7 by 

 10 inches in size, called Domingo (The Sunday), 

 is distributed free at the 10 o'clock Mass. It is 

 published in Sao Paulo. In the issue of May 9, 

 1948, for example, the first page was given over 

 to a reproduction of a painting of ^Slary and the 

 infant Jesus. Printed across the two inner pages 

 ■were a brief passage from the Gospels, with com- 

 ments; a brief article entitled, "Is Spiritualism a 

 Eeligion? No. Neither is it a Science"; a ser- 

 mon of about a hundred words in length ; a notice 

 to the effect that any young man who might wish 

 to become a priest would be welcome at the Semi- 

 nary in Sao Paulo; and a statement asking for 

 funds to aid students studying for the priesthood. 



On the last page were a few paragraphs from thn 

 catechism; a brief account of the building of ; 

 Catholic Church in the city of Porto, Portugal 

 and a story of a nun who gave a blood transfusioi 

 to save the life of the man who had killed he 

 father. 



The term reza means, literally, prayer. It i 

 employed, however, in three senses: (1) to refe 

 to meetings in the village church, especially o: 

 Saturday evening, at which the padre usually i 

 present and officiates; (2) to refer to gathering 

 at small wayside chapels and in private homes a 

 which the padre is not present and one or mor 

 capeldes lead the prayers, some of the folk idea 

 regarding which may not be sanctioned by the ec 

 clesiastical authorities ; and (3) to refer to privat 

 prayer, either inside the church or elsewhere. 



A rcsa is held in the village church, regularly 

 as has been indicated, each Saturday evening 

 From 30 to 50 persons usually are present, mos 

 of whom are women and girls, a few of whom ar 

 men and boys. Several of the men arrive afte 

 the reza is under way and remain standing in th 

 rear of the church near the door. 



Usually the padre preaches a short sermon a 

 the reza. On a recent Saturday evening, for es 

 ample, he said : 



Tlie "Forty Da.vs" (Lent) begin nest week. It is 

 time of penitence and prayer whicii precedes tlie mo; 

 important Jesta of tlie Cattiolic Churcii, that of Eastei 

 a time of preparation of tlie soul for Easter communio 

 in obedience to the command of the church to take con 

 munion at least once every year. It was not because H 

 liked to do so that Jesus became a prisoner in the Host 

 it was for the love of souls that He save His apostle 

 the power to transform the Host into His body. At tli 

 Last Supper, He took a piece of bread and said to Hi 

 apostles. "This is My body, eat this in remembrance c 

 Me." Ever since that time, the miracle of the transform: 

 tiou of the Host is performed daily. At the be.?inning c 

 the Mass, it is bread and after its consecration it is Hi 

 actual body. Christ is present in the Host ; but we d 

 not see Sim with the eyes of the senses, only with th 

 e.ves of the soul. We must receive with dignity the bod 

 of Christ. It is for this reason that our souls must h 

 free of mortal sin. We must make a full confession bi 

 fore we partake of His body. The women should preset 

 themselves at communion decently dressed, with the hea 

 covered, and very respectful. After Jesus has eutere 

 into our bodies we should pray to Him. The best prepari 

 tion we can make for the day of Easter Is to take con 

 munion as many times as we can ; if possible, every Sui 

 day. Just as our bodies need food to strengthen them an 

 to preserve them from illness, so our souls need food t 

 strengthen them spiritually and to preserve them froi 



