By Justin C. Akubuilo
March 5th, 2025, was so unique to me because it was the first Ash Wednesday I celebrated outside my country of origin, Nigeria. I remembered the local song we always sing in the Igbo dialect of Nigeria: Mmadu ntu ka i bu, na ntu ka i ga alahachi, (meaning, from dust, you came, and to dust, you shall return).
The American experience was not different from the previous experiences I had from my country of origin since this was the first outside Nigeria. However, I observed that the ashes, when visibly placed on the forehead of the white skin, were aesthetically beautiful.
The dark ash on white skin becomes symbolic, showing forth the same belief system that is portrayed in the Universal Catholic Church as a way of preparing her faithful for the forty days Lenten observance. I also observed that the universality of Ash Wednesday was not celebrated by the Catholics alone; it was also celebrated by non-Catholics to portray their involvement in the religious nature of human beings. Previously, there was this myopic impression I had that Ash Wednesday makes more sense to African Christians, who are pictured as more religious than ever.
But the obvious observations on my first Ash Wednesday in New York proved to me that the ideas Leonardo Primiano established about Vernacular Religion were not the ideal. Just like in Nigeria and other African countries, there are meanings in signs and symbols, especially when we discuss religion and what it means to people at a given time.
This piece is written to discuss Primiano’s collection of essays on vernacular religion, emphasizing the introduction and the fourth chapter on Artifacts of Belief: Holy Cards in Roman Catholic Culture. I will seek to understand this piece from his line of thought on vernacular religion, which could search for meaning in the Catholic belief system on artifacts as a way of religiosity.
This piece will explain how some religious practices are reserved for the elect and reflect on the Church’s institutional nature, which has shaped her into a way of life for those who believe in what they believe in. This work will also delve into the thought patterns of some authors mentioned in Primiano’s work, which they interpret as both vernacular and religious.
Vernacular religion in modern times, as explored by Primiano’s idea, serves as a religious material culture that served the church’s evangelical, educational, and even pastoral agendas, with these objects acting as visual Bibles, hagiographies of saints, and catechisms (Primiano, 71). Vernacular religion, as an approach to understanding religion as it has been lived in the past and is lived today, emphasizes the study of the belief systems of religious people.
This means a consideration of the contents and motivations of the actual beliefs of individualsIt calls to mind what the original intentions of these objects of worship were, which are differently expressed and understood from different cultural perspectives and times, such that they have different purposes for modern times and people of different ages.
These multifaceted interpretations highlight the dynamic relationship between faith and culture, as each generation reinterprets these sacred objects to resonate with contemporary beliefs and practices. Consequently, the enduring legacy of these artifacts not only serves to connect the past with the present but also invites ongoing dialogue about their significance in today’s spiritual landscape.
Primiano states the evangelical teaching of the Catholic Church, which is to preach, teach, and evangelise. To truly understand intention, one must consider the intentionality and institutionality of sacramental objects or holy cards. It extends to the length of time that was required to build a purpose of life which we imbibe as the culture of the Catholics, incorporated into the minds of Christians, and in this way the holy cards and sacred statues serve as a lovely way of reminding us what the heavenly beings and reality could look like.
David Morgan who appreciates the holy cards as a religious thing that has its fluidity and fluctuation at its usage gives an applause to the culture that gives recognition to the usage and also its non-usage (Primiano, 72). His emphasis on devotional images should be understood from the way different cultures perceive them and how they are adaptable to their social and religious lives.
The Catholic belief system on artifacts as a way of religiosity: The Catholic statues are deep symbolic items which, when blessed, are sacramentals for the individual who believes and prays with them, and when not blessed, they are also adorned with respect. This is why the misappropriation of reverence given to these objects as a substitute for describing vernacular religion by both Catholics and Non-Catholics has unveiled the sacredness that ought to be bestowed upon these objects that, when blessed, become objects of adoration, reverence, and worship (as in liturgical objects).
The unblessed ones are also respected as that which would also point to the sacred as well. For the Catholics, these objects are not paraliturgical as described, but they are objects to be preserved and conserved so as not to be misused or misinterpreted.
The Institutional Nature of the Church: As a mainstream Church, the Catholic Church has been attacked and manipulated with different ideologies and societal influence, just like the rosary that has been publicly used as a form of necklace and a designer’s outfit; it does not mean that when someone blessed it, it will not be efficacious.
The question remains: how do we prove its efficacy? What makes it efficacious? Just as David Morgan explained, Catholic piety is one of the most sustaining acts that have been universal and has kept on soaring in the different centuries of Catholic life, evident in the different circumstances of life.
These artifacts have societal symbolism. However, we must note that the society also has its own repelling force that makes religious articles and objects circularized. This could sometimes bring some misconceptions in the human assessment of these realities by some members of the Church who could err in their part of teaching, evangelizing, and preaching to the faithful.Religious practices are being reserved for the elect: In understanding the concept of religion in the Catholic Church, we have to view it in her own way, even as she tries to adapt to the modernity of the time.
Safeguarding those principles all through these years has been her edge over other forms of religion, making her one of the universally accepted religions. Before the inception of Vatican II, Pope John XXIII used the phrase “open the windows of the Church and let in the fresh air of the Spirit” (aggiornamento); it was a way of inviting the different ideologies that would want to be recognized within the institutional nature of the Church and understanding other views in light of the Vatican II document.
This will also help us to consider and review the various cultural differences and not use modern concepts to describe religion to satisfy our own understanding of what we know. Pope Benedict XVI, in addressing the people of God while presenting the Motu Proprio for the approval of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on June 28th, 2005, states that “…the Church of the third millennium renewed zeal for evangelization and education in the faith, which ought to characterize every community in the Church and every Christian believer, regardless of age or nationality.”
The Catholic Church’s attitude towards her liturgical life and spiritual life has more to reflect upon than mere academic comprehension, especially in the local life of a Catholic Christian. This is because the local Christian deals with his or her personal faith, with what he or she conceives. Just like in Nigeria, Ash Wednesday is always widely celebrated, just like Christmas, but it makes more meaning to those Catholics that participate devotedly in the activities of the Lenten season, and the sacred object and holy pictures make more meaning to those who devotedly honour their patron saints, and all are governed by their beliefs and conceptions.
The vernacular religion can be generalized to those arbitrary activities that were found in the Church, but that does not make it lose its sacredness and reverence. Leonardo Primiano’s concept of vernacular religion gives one a picture of how an individual interprets religion and assigns meaning to that which is personal to them and how it shapes them.Religion, as understood from different perspectives of life and from other life values, has developed into various facets of life into an ethnographic concept.
It gives one the idea of belonging to an ethnic group and religious belief, considering the context of one’s psychoanalysis. One may ask: How does vernacular religion, personal expressions of faith beyond institutional frameworks, exist on a daily basis? A Christian is likely to discuss how these practices reflect the interplay between tradition and innovation, showing how individuals reinterpret religious teachings to fit their unique circumstances.
