Visiting a cemetery on All Souls' Day? Here are some recommendations

Puebla, Mexico, November 2, 2024 / 4:00 am

As part of remembering the faithful departed on All Souls’ Day, November 2 – traditionally known in countries such as Mexico as the Day of the Dead – it is common for people to go to cemeteries to spend time at the graves of their loved ones.

In Mexico, families typically visit the graves of their loved ones to clean them, light candles, and bring food, drinks, and objects that the deceased enjoyed during their lifetime. Many people also bring flowers and in some cases even hire musicians to pay tribute to their deceased.

Father Vicente Eliamar Vega Carrales, head of the life ministry of the Diocese of Saltillo in the Mexican state of Coahuila, said in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that today “prayer for the faithful departed” is what is important. the most important.

Vega emphasized the value of visiting the final resting place of loved ones because “it helps us reflect on our own deaths” and because “it can help us pray more intensely for the faithful who have died.”

For All Souls’ Day, the priest especially recommended saying masses, prayers, the rosary, sacrifices, alms and good works for the benefit of “the souls of our loved ones and all the souls in purgatory.”

This, he emphasized, “is what is authentically Christian and provides a true benefit to those who have died.”

The priest also noted that a plenary indulgence can be obtained for the soul of a loved one, family member or friend.

‘A time to express sorrow’

Laura Vanessa Villafán Velázquez, a consulting psychologist at the Listening Center in the Plaza Mariana of the Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City, shared in the Archdiocese of Mexico’s weekly publication Desde la Fe (From the Point of View of Faith) that the tradition of visits to the graves of the deceased “allow us to make the pain of our loss more bearable and even to adapt to it.”

She noted that this tradition “provides a time to connect with spiritual life and with prayer.”

The expert assured that “it is healthy to continue to visit our dead at their graves,” as this practice “allows us to understand death and our losses and gives a different meaning to our lives.”

Finally, Villafán pointed out that mourning is a process that varies with each loss and that relying on commemorations such as the Day of the Dead “are acts that will help us, as mourners, remember our dead forever and in a different way to keep. way, without pain.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Diego López Colín is a graduate of the Carlos Septién García School of Journalism (Mexico). Since 2023 he has been a correspondent for ACI Prensa in Mexico.