This tiny piece of bread in the picture is my family's tradition rooted in history. 

I found this bread in a small pocket of my backpack after a while after I had arrived in the US. I remembered how once in February at mass in our local Catholic church, my mom told me the priest blessed the bread. She explained it was a tradition to bless bread on the Feast of Saint Agatha on February 6. This bread is not to be eaten. Instead,  it is considered to be a powerful intercessor. The "Bread of Saint Agatha" is taken on a long journey to protect from any distress. No matter where I went, whether to the neighboring county or abroad, my parents had given me the blessed bread.

Knowing that I have a long journey to the United States, during the Feast of Saint Agatha, my grandmother took the bread to the church for a blessing. Thereafter, she kept it almost 8 months, so my parents could put the bread in my bag. They believed that  Saint Agatha would protect me on my life journey in the US.

For a year and a half I have been living in the US and I still take with me this tiny but powerful piece of bread.
 

– Mayia

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant