Author Topic: Day of the Dead (Read 788 times)

Stephen Francis · « **on:** September 03, 2013, 05:44:43 PM »

+JMJ+

I have always loved Mexican art, culture, music, food and church architecture/statuary, etc.

Of course, I realize that most of it is heavily influenced by the rule and missionary efforts of the Spaniards of centuries past.

What about the Dia de los Muertos? I know it's All Souls Day, or near to it. Are there any "folk" aspects of the Day of the Dead that are still appropriate for Catholic families to enjoy?

I do love the slightly macabre sense of style the decorations have... and I've always been moved by the idea of brightly-colored painted designs on skulls. Sort of a reminder that we can "pretty up" a skull all we want, but it's still the bones of a dead person, a person that has gone on to their judgment and their eternity.

What says Holy Church? What say you, friends of Christ, Our Lady and the true Faith?

I'm certain that I know the difference between legitimate efforts to pray for the deceased and paganism, but I am just wondering if there are any "giveaways" to avoid, such as "if a traditional Christian symbol or personage is portrayed THUS, it's offensive" or "No, the Day of the Dead isn't just gaudy and over-the-top, it's simply folk-magic and paganism".

Ideas? Thoughts?

Holy Souls in Purgatory, pray for us.

Blessed Fray Junipero Serra, missionary to the native peoples, pray for us.

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, ruega por nosotros.

Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, ten piedad de nosotros.

s2srea · « **Reply #1 on:** September 03, 2013, 05:58:20 PM »

As half Mexican by birth, and surrounded by a large Mexican population in Southern California, I stay away from most 'Dia de los Muertos' festivals.

I know my mother would speak of the traditions her family engaged in in Mexico, which actually included visiting passed away loved ones in cemeteries and actually praying for them. There were festivities at the cemeteries, and candied skeleton type candies she tried to describe; I remember her saying they were made of pure sugar, and brightly colored.

However, it seems that a good majority of Mexicans have no religious connection to the Day of the Dead traditions of their forefathers. Its all pagan to me- I see the blasphemous image of 'santa muerte' which often uses the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with skeleton in her place, but adorned with her wonderful vestments and symbolism.

As someone who appreciates my Mexican heritage, I can't stand the modern notion of Dia de los Muertos, and I won't participate, nor will I allow my children to do so in the future, because of the scandalous nature it has now taken on. Perhaps if there was a group of family and friends who were interested in reviving holy and good aspects of this tradition, I would engage; but otherwise, I would not find it beneficial for my children, and would likely cause scandal to them.

poche · « **Reply #2 on:** September 03, 2013, 10:25:25 PM »

The solemnity of the Day of the Dead is supposed to be universally observed wherever there are good Catholics. There is teh opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence on that day and the next eight days.

StCeciliasGirl · « **Reply #3 on:** September 03, 2013, 10:43:25 PM »

I'm waiting for it! (I don't dress up or anything; just the 8 days in Nov visiting graves, fixing them up some, praying).

TKGS · « **Reply #4 on:** September 04, 2013, 06:44:18 AM »

Growing up on the west coast, we, of course, learned all about the Day of the Dead in our cultural lessons in the public schools. How much of the lessons were grounded in truth and how much in political correctness of the 1960s and 1970s I don't know. (We were taught, after all, that the Pilgrims threw the first Thanksgiving celebration to thank the Indians for helping them through that first winter!)

We were taught that the Day of the Dead was originally an autumn pagan celebration of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. When the Spaniards conquered the Mexican peoples, the Jesuits converted them and moved the Day of the Dead to All Souls Day and allowed them to keep many of their customs, putting a Christian spin on them, similar to the way the Germanic custom of decorating trees in honor of the winter solstice.

Whether or not Hispanics used to consider the Day of the Dead in a Catholic sense, I do not know. But it certainly seems to me that, at least since the 1960s, true religious devotions of this day have been lost just as the religious devotions of Mardi Gras have been lost.

Hobbledehoy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 04, 2013, 07:10:20 AM »

Quote from: TKGS

Growing up on the west coast, we, of course, learned all about the Day of the Dead in our cultural lessons in the public schools. How much of the lessons were grounded in truth and how much in political correctness of the 1960s and 1970s I don't know. (We were taught, after all, that the Pilgrims threw the first Thanksgiving celebration to thank the Indians for helping them through that first winter!)

We were taught that the Day of the Dead was originally an autumn pagan celebration of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. When the Spaniards conquered the Mexican peoples, the Jesuits converted them and moved the Day of the Dead to All Souls Day and allowed them to keep many of their customs, putting a Christian spin on them, similar to the way the Germanic custom of decorating trees in honor of the winter solstice.

Whether or not Hispanics used to consider the Day of the Dead in a Catholic sense, I do not know. But it certainly seems to me that, at least since the 1960s, true religious devotions of this day have been lost just as the religious devotions of Mardi Gras have been lost.

That pretty much sums it up. Though it was the Franciscans, not the Jesuits, who converted the heathen Mexicans. The proto-Martyr of Mexico, S. Felipe de Jesús, was a Franciscan, who was crucified in Japan (5 February 1597).

Also, not all of Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead. All of the Catholics observe 2 November as All Souls' Day in Mexico, but the customs vary considerably from region to region. The central and southern parts of Mexico seem to be the ones that mostly celebrate that stuff in the way described in this thread, but in the U.S.A. even its original context has been lost, not to mention any religious significance.

It has become amongst American Hispanics a prolongation of "Halloween" and a politically biased view of Mexican culture. I doubt any of these activists pray the Holy Rosary for the faithful departed on 2 November and keep up the night-long vigils in cemeteries as some devout people still do in Mexico who have kept up the old religious significance of the day.

Also, rivaling a disturbing rise of Islamism, a new cult devoted to worship death (actual latria, not devotion for the Holy Souls) has become endemic in Mexico and this is a relatively recent phenomenon. A female skeleton is dressed up in iconological similitude to the depictions of Our Lady, and even the Rosary and other Marian devotions are recited in its honor. The sect's chief festivals are in mid-August, which is not surprising since the idolatrous sect is a satanic ploy to mock Our Lady. This has little to do with the Day of the Dead tradition mentioned above, but is an example of how political and cultural activists' revival of heathen customs can lead to a perversion of faith and morals and even to outright idolatry.

poche · « **Reply #6 on:** September 04, 2013, 10:50:47 PM »

All Souls' Day commemorates the faithful departed. In Western Christianity, this day is observed principally in the Catholic Church, although some churches of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox churches observe several All Souls' Days during the year. The Roman Catholic celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass (see Purgatory).[1] In other words, when they died, they had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory.

The official name of the celebration in the Roman Rite liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church is "The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed".[1]

Another popular name in English is Feast of All Souls. In some other languages the celebration, not necessarily on the same date, is known as Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos or de los Difuntos in Spanish-speaking countries; halottak napja in Hungary; Yom el Maouta in Lebanon, Israel and Syria).

The Western celebration of All Souls' Day is on 2 November and follows All Saints' Day, which commemorates the departed who have attained the beatific vision. If 2 November falls on a Sunday, the Mass is of All Souls, but the Office is that of the Sunday. However, Morning and Evening Prayer (Lauds and Vespers) for the Dead, in which the people participate, may be said. In pre-1969 calendars, which some still follow, and in the Anglican Communion, All Souls Day is instead transferred, whenever 2 November falls on a Sunday, to the next day, 3 November, as in 2008.

The Eastern Orthodox Church dedicates several days throughout the year to the dead, mostly on Saturdays, because of Jesus' resting in the tomb on Saturday.

Historically, the Western tradition identifies the general custom of praying for the dead dating as far back as 2 Maccabees 12:42-46. The custom of setting apart a special day for intercession for certain of the faithful on November 2 was first established by St. Odilo of Cluny (d. 1048) at his abbey of Cluny in 998.[2] From Cluny the custom spread to the other houses of the Cluniac order, which became the largest and most extensive network of monasteries in Europe. The celebration was soon adopted in several dioceses in France, and spread throughout the Western Church. It was accepted in Rome only in the fourteenth century. While 2 November remained the liturgical celebration, in time the entire month of November became associated in the Western Catholic tradition with prayer for the departed; lists of names of those to be remembered being placed in the proximity of the altar on which the sacrifice of the mass is offered.[3]

The legend connected with its foundation is given by Peter Damiani in his Life of St Odilo: a pilgrim returning from the Holy Land was cast by a storm on a desolate island. A hermit living there told him that amid the rocks was a chasm communicating with purgatory, from which perpetually rose the groans of tortured souls. The hermit also claimed he had heard the demons complaining of the efficacy of the prayers of the faithful, and especially the monks of Cluny, in rescuing their victims. Upon returning home, the pilgrim hastened to inform the abbot of Cluny, who then set 2 November as a day of intercession on the part of his community for all the souls in Purgatory.

https://www.catholic.org/saints/allsouls/