What goes into the feast day, and how can we celebrate it as Catholics?
By Father Enrique Alvarado
Parochial Vicar, Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Denver
Tradition, culture and religion merge in the celebration of the Day of the Dead, adding color and folklore to our spiritual practices while maintaining the Christian and cultural values that enrich the feast, making it one of the most striking celebrations of our times.
Many Anglo-American Catholics might feel skeptical about this celebration when they see skulls and altars. Similarly, Hispanic Catholics often feel uncomfortable when they encounter decorations or events related to “Halloween,” a word that directly translates to “night of witches” in Spanish. In English, it’s a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve,” the eve of All Saints Day, celebrated on November 1.
Although secular aspects can be found in both celebrations, they both have Christian roots that celebrate culture and the Catholic faith. When the Spanish arrived in Mexico and Central America, they encountered polytheistic pre-Hispanic civilizations that believed life ended in death and that there was a connection to the world of the dead. As such, the Day of the Dead (“Día de los Muertos”) has been one of the most important celebrations in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. The Mexica (Aztecs) celebrated their dead for two months in the summer: Miccailhuitontli for children and Hueymicailhuitl for adults. Spanish missionaries Christianized this ancestral tradition by highlighting some elements of Nahuatl cosmology and adding Christian elements to align it more closely with the paschal mystery of our faith. They introduced the Catholic calendar and established the tradition of remembering the dead on November 2 (All Souls Day).
The missionaries helped the Nahuatl people understand their worldview through the lens of Christ’s triumph over death, evangelizing and teaching them that there is only one God, that every person has an immortal soul, and that our deceased relatives need our intercession through prayers for their salvation. This connects to the communion of the universal church and its three states: the Church Triumphant in heaven, the Church Militant on earth and the Church Suffering in Purgatory—those transitioning from this earthly reality to the divine reality (CCC 366). St. Paul reminds us in Romans 14:8-9; “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” For this reason, Christ experienced both death and life, to be Lord of both the dead and the living.
On the Day of the Dead, we should keep in mind at least these three recommendations as we celebrate those who’ve gone before us:
1. Put Jesus at the Center
We must place Jesus Christ at the center. Through his death on the cross, he took on the death of all men and gave it new meaning: we no longer die eternally but will be with Him on the last day.
Thus, death is a “see you later” as we await the resurrection, and we must have the joy that we will rise with Christ.
In this way, for a Christian, death is not joining the nothingness but changing houses, seeing God face to face, if we have been faithful. It is living the paschal mysteries; the death and resurrection of Jesus are the core of catechesis to understand the theme of death and see God’s closeness in Christ. Christ became man, takes on our life, takes on our death, fulfilling St. Paul’s words: “Brothers, we are citizens of heaven, from which we await the glorious coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, who will transform our mortal bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.”
2. Remember the Communion of Saints
Although the Solemnity of All Saints is celebrated the day before, on November 1, it is important to remember the communion of saints during the Day of the Dead as well. All baptized persons are linked to one another because we are part of the one body of Christ, whether on earth, in Purgatory, or enjoying Heaven, eternal life. When discussing death, we must remember that “we remain in communion with those who have gone before us, we pray for their souls, because they may be in Purgatory, or we rely on their intercession, because they are in Heaven and behold God. We live the mystery of the church, which is both divine and human, reflected in its three states: the triumphant church, the pilgrim church, and the purgative church, which we will see reflected in the altars of the dead.
3. Explore the Roots of Mexican Traditions
As we did at the beginning of this article, it is essential to explore the roots of the inculturation that characterizes the Day of the Dead in Mexico and how some pre-Hispanic customs were rescued and illuminated by faith.
To live these celebrations from our faith, it is important to explain, as is often done in Mexican Christian homes, the cultural theme of the altars of the dead and provide a small catechesis, which also serves as a national identity or particular church that in turn enriches the universal church, which we will explain in the second part of this article, coming tomorrow.
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