Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

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RosaLydia

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Hello All,

I was wondering if any of you celebrate Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead/All Souls day and how do you celebrate it.

I grew up in Mexico and instead of Halloween, we celebrated “Dia de los Muertos” on November 2nd by getting together with the family and going to the cemetery and decorating the tombs of our departed family and friends and offering up Masses for them.
 
I’m not Mexican, but I am an Hispanophile, so I’ll take Dia de los Muertos over Halloween any day. 👍 Instead of the typical Halloween decorations, I prefer the Dia de los Muertos skeletons. They have a much more cheerful disposition than the “gothics.” :yup:

http://ahaimages.com/ca/hldy/hldypics/0034c.jpg
 
Can’t say I really celebrate any of them, but I must say that I went to a Dia De Los Muertos celebration at a cemetery for a report, and when I die, that’s what I want people to do for me. Throw a party. There was all kinds of dancing, singing, food. It was great!
 
I would think Dia de los Muertos would be a lot more fun than Halloween. In Spanish classes, we have learned about the holiday. It looks like a lot of fun… and lasts longer! And the food looks soo good…
 
Our priest always goes to the cemetary where the parish families are gathered at their loved ones grave site. He makes the rounds and blesses the gravesite and prays for the dead. We also have a booke of the dead in the front of the church for everyone to write down their loved ones name. This, too, is blessed and these people prayed for Nov. 2.
 
For those who are a little curious. On this day, Christian cemeteries are visited and decorated. In some countries like Mexico, there is great celebrating, eating, and singing. In many Hispanic households altars are prepared in honor of the dead, showing photographs and mementos of them. People gather around them to pray and to remember those who passed away the previous year. In Latin America this day is not gloomy. Vendors sell candles in the shape of skulls, skeletons, or coffins. Small cakes are made in the shape of bones and are called, “Saint’s bones.”
In our diocese there is a procession around an old cemetary. It has a church with no power or water.This is the only event that they have there all year.

May God bless you,
Deacon Tony
 
Hola/Howdy,
My grand daughter and I put up altars in a nearby Museum. Last year we asked a priest from a nearby church to come bless our altars. (museum was in a different town than where we live) He was very gracious and understanding. Our problem was that he had no experience with Dia de los Muertos and didn’t know if there was a particular blessing to use.
Any help for this year would be appreciated.
We are in Texas near the border.
 
Here in the Philippines, the day of the dead is actually celebrated on November 1, instead of All Souls Day on the 2nd, perhaps because we would like to think of our deceased as “saints”, rather than as mere “souls”. People flock to cemeteries with candles and flowers as early as the afternoon of the 31st of October, and spend the night there.

One unfortunate recent development was that many people have turned the cemeteries into carnivals, complete with guitars, radios, and alcoholic beverages which they consume beside the tombs of their loved ones, while children roam around collecting melted candles.

Gerry 🙂
 
Robbed with Light:

Yes we also celebrated November 1st. But this was usually just for departed children.

The way to the cemetery was full of people and vendors with flowers and food and sugar skulls for the kids. As a kid I loved to get sugar cane candy to munch on while visiting the cemetery.

This year’s celebration has a special meaning to me as my mom passed away this year. Also, I just had a baby and want to make sure we continue our traditions and pass them on to the next generation.

Thank you all for your posts!
 
This mexican celebration is a pagan holdover from pre-Christian Mexico. It is suffused with shamanistic beliefs. The basic, and false belief, is that souls of the dead re-visit earth every year to again partake of earthly goods: foods, drinks, etc.

This - obviously! - is anti-Christian. Souls of the dead are either in Hell or Heaven (or Heaven bound undergoing purgation), and do NOT revisit earth to eat and drink!!!

The mexican communities that celebrate it try to camouflage its inherent paganism by glossing it over with a very thin ‘cultural veneer’ of Catholicism by claiming that it is merely a memorial for the departed like others in the Church. But the content and beliefs of this celebration are clearly at odds with what the Church teaches, and can very easily deform whatever authentic Catholic beliefs the celebrants may start with. In our area - Northern California - this is an already established fact, with immigrant groups openly claiming that in this celebration they are reclaiming their pre-Christian spiritual heritage . And they are openly doing this INSIDE our parishes.

Of course, many non-hispanic Catholics ‘celebrate’ halloween (NOT ‘All Saints’ Eve’!!!) by donning costumes of demons and depraved humans and even emulating the behaviors associated with those costumes. This, too, is anti-Christian. This is also happening inside our parishes (“Haunted houses” in our parish Hall!?).

Both are symptoms of grossly deficient catechesis and virtually non-existent evangelism.
 
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thomist:
This mexican celebration is a pagan holdover from pre-Christian Mexico. It is suffused with shamanistic beliefs. The basic, and false belief, is that souls of the dead re-visit earth every year to again partake of earthly goods: foods, drinks, etc.

This - obviously! - is anti-Christian. Souls of the dead are either in Hell or Heaven (or Heaven bound undergoing purgation), and do NOT revisit earth to eat and drink!!!

The mexican communities that celebrate it try to camouflage its inherent paganism by glossing it over with a very thin ‘cultural veneer’ of Catholocism by claiming that it is merely a memorial for the departed like others in the Church. But the content and beliefs of this celebration are clearly at odds with what the Church teaches, and can very easily deform whatever authentic Catholic beliefs the celebrants may start with. In our area - Northern California - this is an already established fact, with immigrant groups openly claiming that in this celebration they are reclaiming their pre-Christian spiritual heritage . And they are openly doing this INSIDE our parishes.

Of course, many non-hispanic Catholics ‘celebrate’ halloween (NOT ‘All Saints’ Eve’!!!) by donning costumes of demons and depraved humans and even emulating the behaviors associated with those costumes. This, too, is anti-Christian. This is also happening inside our parishes (“Haunted houses” in our parish Hall!?).

Both are symptoms of grossly deficient cathechesis and virtually non-existent evangelism.
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THAT’s what I had problem with, especially with the little altars created with that belief described above.

No doubt Filipinos do this practice too, although I have no idea how except that during the Spanish rule, there were ties in trade between Mexico and the Philippines. My grandmother did this and believed in this practice :(.

I’m doing this in Spanish class, not because I do not want to get my grandfather’s soul to feed, but as an academic work and a representation of my love for my grandfather.

For a change of speaking, in my family, as Filipinos, we go and visit the cemetary, and I remember that we used to even picnic there, say prayers or the rosary, etc, and just reminisce on those who died. Really, a simple tradition, but we used to do it together every year.

I won’t have time this year from my schooling, but with all intent as I will go to Mass tomorrow, I will offer up a rosary for those in purgatory.
 
down here we will have more people in church today than we did yesterday for the holy day. cemetaries will be full of families all day, and the Mexican bakeries have all kinds of special things for sale. the churches are also fuller on Ash Wednesday than on Good Friday or Easter. The parish school has an altar they have been decorating, with skeletons dressed in costumes, photos and other relics of deceased family members, and candy treats (the thing is already crawling with ants, unfortunately, an unintended reminder of the fate of our physical body, and affirmation of our hope in our bodily resurrection.)

this custom, like halloween customs in Celtic or Germanic cultures, has takens pre-Christian pagan customs and “baptized” them through a Christian understanding of death, immortality, heaven and the communion of saints. In both cases a pagan dread and fear of death has been overcome by using the custom as a catechetical tool to teach the truth about Christ’s victory over death, His resurrection and our ultimate destination, heaven.
 
Today I will be celebrating the last day of the Days of the Dead. My family celebrates it every year. It is probably our biggest holiday. We spend about 6 weeks in preparation.

Sat we had a bonfire, and an outdoor offrenda, with candles, incense and memorials to our loved ones who have passed on. We spent weeks making beautiful decorations for the offrenda. We offered prayers and spent time telling stories about our loved ones. We made special foods, and gathered with friends. It is a very holy time.

On Sunday, we shared the tradition with our church family, people of all ages participated and honored their beloved who have passed on.

On Monday, instead of Halloween, we decorated the offrenda (offering place, not altar, we do not worship the dead) and cut flowers. Put out chocolate and special bread and welcomed the souls of the children.

Yesterday, we welcomed the souls of the adults. The TV was off and we spent quiet time praying.

Today, we will finish the holiday. Visit a cemetary. Say goodbye to our loved ones.

Tomorrow, the festive and beautiful offrendas will come down for another year.

I thought the Catholic church believed in honoring the dead, and even speaking to them (asking for their prayers if they are in heaven) and praying for them if they are not.

How is remembering the dead wrong?

cheddar
 
I wouldn’t paint all hispanics who celebrate this day with too broad a brush. It is, after all, All Soul’s Day, according to the Catholic Church. All the hispanics I know use it as a day of rememberance and honoring the dead, along with praying for them.
 
In my experience, we never thought that the souls of the departed come back to eat and drink with us. I cannot speak for all people that celebrate this holiday, but as with anything, there is always people that will celebrate the holidays in a spirit very different than our Catholic beliefs.

For our family it was always a very Catholic holiday. We went to Mass, and decorated and visited the graves of our loved ones. The cemeteries have all sorts of candy for the children and flowers and decorations for the graves. I find it very healing the remembering this way our departed family and friends.

We keep adding to our traditions. Last year, we added a new tradition, we now say a 30 day novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and I hope to offer a Mass for them at the end of the Novena.

This year, we will go to Mass at the cemetery where our baby is buried. Following the Mass there will be a Blessing of the Graves, scattering of wildflower seeds and Soul Cakes and refreshments. We were asked to bring photograph of our loved ones for a table of remembrance.

I also decorated the outside of our house to make up for all the Halloween decorations around here. I made two tombstones with big crosses and decorated with holy cards of the Virgin Mary and Jesus and cut out flowers and pictures of our family. We also have some Mexican decorations including “Papel Picado”.

I think this holiday is a great opportunity for catechesis and evangelization. We can even involve our children! How often do we hear about heaven, hell and purgatory during the year? How often do we remember to pray for our departed loved ones? For the Holy Souls in Purgatory? November the 2nd is a great start!

Pray for the Holy Souls! :gopray:
 
Rosa,

It sounds like a beautiful celebration of the hope that we have in the resurrection.

I find it totally cool that you started this thread and have come back here to check on it a year later.(I notice you don’t post here much). May God grant you and your family a holy and peaceful day.
 
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cheddarsox:
On Monday, instead of Halloween, we decorated the offrenda (offering place, not altar, we do not worship the dead) and cut flowers. Put out chocolate and special bread and welcomed the souls of the children.

Yesterday, we welcomed the souls of the adults. The TV was off and we spent quiet time praying.

Today, we will finish the holiday. Visit a cemetary. Say goodbye to our loved ones.

Tomorrow, the festive and beautiful offrendas will come down for another year.

I thought the Catholic church believed in honoring the dead, and even speaking to them (asking for their prayers if they are in heaven) and praying for them if they are not.

How is remembering the dead wrong?

cheddar
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What does that mean? “welcomed”

There is a distinct difference between “remembering” the dead
and
believing their souls are coming to earth on a particular day to spend time with us here.

Perhpas that’s where the concern lies between the pagan meaning of the old ritual and the christian meaning of the new ritual (where you would be remembering the souls of the children on one day, remembering the souls of the adults another, and putting away the offrendas for another year without saying goodbye to the souls (since they’re always in the same place, not visiting).

I love the customs myself - prefer them over halloween any time! But I always thought it was a memorial not anything more.
 
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RosaLydia:
I also decorated the outside of our house to make up for all the Halloween decorations around here. I made two tombstones with big crosses and decorated with holy cards of the Virgin Mary and Jesus and cut out flowers and pictures of our family. We also have some Mexican decorations including “Papel Picado”.

Pray for the Holy Souls! :gopray:
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Now that’s an interesting twist. I like it! 👍
 
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YinYangMom:
What does that mean? “welcomed”

There is a distinct difference between “remembering” the dead
and
believing their souls are coming to earth on a particular day to spend time with us here.

Perhpas that’s where the concern lies between the pagan meaning of the old ritual and the christian meaning of the new ritual (where you would be remembering the souls of the children on one day, remembering the souls of the adults another, and putting away the offrendas for another year without saying goodbye to the souls (since they’re always in the same place, not visiting).

I love the customs myself - prefer them over halloween any time! But I always thought it was a memorial not anything more.
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It is like creating a shrine for a saint. There is a “meeting place” and we make it pretty and place items of remembrance there. We feel that somehow the souls know that we are taking time and making a special effort at this time to remember them and our relationships.

You often hear people share stories of times they “felt the presence” of a deceased loved one. Perhaps a song came on the radio at the “perfect” time or some other such sign. It is rather like that. We believe that this is a special time of union, of us being able to let them know we are thinking of them.

I guess there is the sense that they are “visiting” and perhaps that goes against Catholic theology. Perhaps it would be better for Catholics to forgoe this holiday.

It is more than remembering the dead. It is also all about us confronting our own mortality, being reminded of the impermanence of life, etc. etc. It is a very significant and personal holiday and engages one on many levels. I guess I have been away from the Catholic church long enough that I wasn’t seeing it through that filter.

Sorry if I offended. It is such an important holiday, and one so full of meaning for my family and I that I jumped into this discussion. I will once again retreat from posting.

cheddar
 
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