On Saturday,
I attended the 18th annual Dia
de Los Muertos event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The event celebrates the Mexican tradition of
remembering and honoring the dead once a year by decorating the graves of our
beloved. When I was a child in Mexico,
each year we would go decorate my grandparents’ graves with the traditional marigold
flowers, pictures and favorite foods of our loved ones. The altars built on the graves could be
simple or extremely elaborate and creative.
During the day we would gather at the gravesite as a family, share a
meal and recall funny and memorable events about our abuelitos. It would also be
a day of prayer, we would pray together as a family for the souls of our
departed and offer a Eucharistic celebration in remembrance and intercession
for their souls. It was also typical to
transform ourselves into Catrinas by painting
our faces to resemble skulls. This is a
satirical action that represents the limited power of death; for death is only
a passage towards the next life- a life in heaven with Christ. Overall the celebration holds a very festive,
happy feeling which helps those in this world heal and support one another
because to us death is not final. It promotes
family and community unity giving us a universal reason to gather together
while sharing personal stories remembering our dearly departed. Most important is a day of faith, a day in
which we honor Jesus’ death and resurrection because He is the way, our guide
into eternal life.
Death is so
unnatural and difficult for everyone even people of faith. Though I believe in life after death and
though God gives me courage I still hurt when I lose someone I love. During these days I’ve heard
friends’ say, “They don’t do well with death,” as reason to excuse themselves from
accompanying loved ones during the trials and challenges of loss. But that's just selfish talk- no one does well
with death- even Jesus cried when his buddy died because it hurts! It’s painful and unnatural for everyone. Thus, it makes me happy that my culture has a day to celebrate and honor those people who mean so
much to us and are no longer physically present. Remembering our loved ones helps us heal and
gives us hope, but more importantly it makes us thankful for the promises of
Jesus and His heroic actions. Happy thought - death is a
passage to God not a destination.
Below are
pictures of my early Dia de Los Muertos enjoy! Though of course this event in Hollywood is completely secular, our diocese does a great job each year hosting a Dia de Los Muertos liturgical celebration, I encourage you to learn more about this beautiful Catholic tradition. DIOCESE OF ORANGE CELEBRATES ALL SOULS DAY IN HONOR OF THE DEPARTED
One of the decorated graves with the typical sugar skull motif.
Beautiful dispaly & models.
A collage of various graves.
I know you like cats, this one reminded me of you.
A Peruvian decorated grave.
This one was inside a vintage Volkswagen.
When I was little we used to make "El Ojo de Dios" which is that triangular art piece.
These girls added acrobats to their altar decor.
In addition to the artistic displays there was also great music and delicious food.
No comments:
Post a Comment