Introduction The Hispanic world is dominated mainly by Catholicism. It is estimated that in the United States alone about 70% of Hispanics claim their practicing religion as being Catholic. Hispanic Catholics believe that health is a gift given by god and should not be taken for granted. The prevention of illness and injury is an accepted practice that is accomplished through prayer, the wearing of religious medals or amulets and keeping religious relics in the home. The visiting of shrines, offering prayers and the lighting of candles is a frequently observed practice. Many homes have shrines setup with statues and pictures of saints and candles are lit here and prayers are recited.
Other notable minority religions of the Hispanic world also include: 1) Protestant 2) Judaism 3) Islam.

Catholicism When the Spanish conquered the new world they were determined to spread the Catholic faith with no regard to the indigenous religions already present at the time they arrived. This introduction of the Catholic religion to the indigenous peoples brought about what is called religious transculturation when the Catholic religious practices mixed with the indigenous religious practices. Transculturation created an incredible variety of celebrations, rituals and physical representations of the elements of the Catholic religion such as Jesus, the cross, the saints, the novenas and the rituals in general.
Celebrations
Many of the celebrations of the Catholic Hispanic world are mainly based around the life of Jesus Christ. Hispanic culture also celebrates the lives of different saints that vary among Hispanic countries; one notable saint is Saint Rose of Lima from Peru, a patron of Latin America and the Phillipines. She is represented as wearing a crown of roses. Her feast is celebrated on August 23rd. The main celebrations of Hispanic religion are: * Lent (Cuaresma) * Holy week (Semana Santa) * Christmas (La Navidad) * Three kings day (Los tres reyes magos).

Symbols Symbols help Hispanics keep close to their faith by ensuring that they are always surrounded by them. Some examples include images of virgins, stamps of saints and crosses hanging all over homes. It is quite common to find in Hispanic homes a portrait of El Corazón de Jesús, a portrait of Jesus showing his bleeding heart surrounded by thorns and with his hands clasped in prayer. Many of the various churches around the Hispanic world portray Jesus in very different ways. Some places may have figures of Jesus portraying him as looking somewhat Mestizo (a person of mixed European and native American descent) while others may portray him as being white with blue eyes. The main symbols of Hispanic religion are: * The cross * Images of saints * The rosary * Image of the Virgin Mary.

Saints and Patrons Most communities celebrate their countries patron saint by dedicating a day for this purpose with festivals, ‘Las Fiestas Patronales’ and religious services. Most Hispanic countries combine the rituals and beliefs of Roman Catholicism with African or Native American rituals and beliefs. This is the case with Santería, popular with Afro-Cubans, which combines old African beliefs in the form of Roman Catholic saints and rituals. Other combinations of beliefs include Spiritism and Curanderismo. Saints and patrons are communicated with through prayers. Some famous Hispanic saints and the country they are patrons of are: 1) San Juan Bautista- Patron of Puerto Rico 2) Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá- Patron virgin of Colombia 3) La Virgen de la Caridad- Patron virgin of Cuba 4) Nuestra Señora de Altagracia- Patron virgin of the Dominican Republic 5) Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe- Patron virgin of Mexico.
Novenas
Novenas play an important role in the Hispanic Catholic religion. Novenas are prayers which last a duration of nine days hence the name novena which translate to novem in Latin meaning nine. The novena serves the purpose of helping those who prays in his tribulations. Novenas are offered to saints or virgins in order to solve particular afflictions, the most popular of the novenas includes the novenas dedicated to the Virgin Mary under a wide range of names such as ‘La Virgen del Socorro’, the virgin of perpetual help, the virgin of the immaculate conception, la Virgen de Guadalupe and many more. Some other popular novenas include: * St Jude never fail novena * 9 day novena for dead people * Novena de Aguinaldos * The blessed virgin Mary novena.

Virgins On the 8th of December, Hispanic Catholics throughout households families light candles and decorate the front of their houses the Virgin Mary’s immaculate conception. This massive celebration happens especially in Colombia. A party is normally followed after this celebration. Some other notable virgins in Hispanic Catholicism are: * La Virgen de Guadalupe * Our lady of Fatima or virgin de Fatima * The virgin of the immaculate conception or Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepcion (The Virgin Mary).

Judaism
History
There are also Spanish speaking Jews, most of whom are the descendants of Ashkenazi Jews who migrated from Europe to Hispanic countries in high concentrations such as Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Cuba in the 19th century following World War 2. Ashkenazi jews are a type of jewish people who were from countries such as Germany, Russia and Poland. Many Spanish speaking Jews also originate from the small communities of reconverted descendants of anusim, those whose Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Jewish ancestors long ago hid their Jewish ancestry and beliefs in fear of persecution by the Spanish inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. The Spanish inquisition led to a large number of forced conversions of Spanish Jews. There are also thought to be many Catholic-professing descendants of marranos and Spanish speaking crypto-Jews in the Southwestern United States and scattered through Latin America. Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who either converted to Christianity by choice or by force, however some of those who converted tend to have continued to practice rabbinic Judaism in secret. Additionally, there are Sephardic Jews who are descendants of those Jews who fled Spain to Turkey, Syria, and North Africa, some of whom have now migrated to Latin America, holding on to some Spanish/Sephardic customs, such as the Ladino language, which mixes Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic and others, though written with Hebrew and Latin characters. It should be noted that Ladinos were also African slaves captive in Spain held prior to the colonial period in the Americas.