cheddarsox:
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
No offense taken at all!
You did a really good job describing the beauty of the occasion.
Everything sounds acceptable by Catholic standards so far…the only caution would be whether setting up the offrenda is a means by which the people on earth are calling out the souls, reaching out to the other world in order to bring them back…
It doesn’t seem that’s the case though, at least not by what I’ve read here, especially by you, and by what I’ve observed here at home in our parish celebrations.
It’s more like All Saints/Souls Day is already designated by the Church to be a special day of rememberance…
Latin American cultures remember in a very real way…they spend weeks preparing for and anticipating this special day…it leads them to go through photo albums, recall stories, think about the deceased while they’re out shopping - kind of like getting ready for a birthday party for the deceased - which, perhaps it kind of is…
They gather together as a family, as a community, in their churches, at the cemetaries, to set up the offrendas…
if the soul happens to be allowed to visit on this special day, then great…if not, then that’s ok too, the point was to spend the day thinking and praying over the deceased and that was accomplished. But I certainly haven’t seen anybody reciting incantations or prayers which seem to call the deceased from their realm over to ours - that would be crossing the line.
Perhaps that was the custom before Catholicism hit, but only the very ‘old school’ people would still hold to that belief. It’s the same with us and the darn Christmas tree and Easter eggs…that’s all pagan stuff we’ve Christianized…
I much prefer the Dia de Los Muertos over the Halloween customs, it’s more reverent and more sincere.
