KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For this year’s observance of All Souls’ Day, Catholic Cemeteries of Northeast Kansas plans to incorporate special features of the Mexican celebration of Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.
On Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. in the mausoleum chapel at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, located at 38th and State Ave. in Kansas City, Kan., Father Peter Jaramillo, SSA, will celebrate an indoor Mass in Spanish for the deceased. Father Peter is pastor of All Saints Parish and St. Mary-St. Anthony Parish, both in Kansas City, Kansas. Persons of all cultures and ethnicities are invited to bring photographs of their deceased loved ones and flowers — items customary to the observance — to place on a nearby altar.
Both All Souls’ Day and Día de los Muertos remember the dead. The traditional All Souls’ Day observance encourages Catholics to pray for family members, friends and others who are deceased and for those who may be in purgatory, awaiting transition to eternal life in heaven. Church teaching holds that prayers of the living support this transition.
Beyond praying for the deceased, Día de los Muertos welcomes the departed for an annual visit to celebrate their living memory. Families gather at the gravesites of loved ones for a reunion of sorts. “Ofrendas” (“offerings”) on home altars remember and rejoice over the deceased with photographs, candles, their favorite foods and marigold flowers. Skulls and skeletons are prominent symbols of the Day of the Dead to remind the living that life is short.
For more information, call Catholic Cemeteries at (913) 371-4040 or send an email to: information@cathcemks.org.
