HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS : Keeping Loving Memories Alive : Latino Catholics Reverentially Observe ‘Day of the Dead’ at Cemetery in Orange

ORANGE —  Having lost his wife only a month ago, Jose Mariscal has come to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery every weekend since, seeking comfort.

Saturday, Mariscal smiled when recalling the day, many years ago, when he met his future wife, young and sociable Gloria Navarro, at a birthday party in Tijuana. And although leukemia claimed her at 27 years old, Mariscal--standing near Gloria’s grave marker--said he will always have her memory.

“I think of her and the thoughts are all I have,” he said.

Mariscal, 30, and his 12-year-old son, Jose Jr., were among about 300 people Saturday who traveled to the cemetery and together honored the memories of their own relatives and friends in a colorful commemoration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Among Latino Catholics, the day is recognized with reverence and festive celebration as family members pray that they will one day join their deceased loved ones in everlasting life.

Saturday, from an elaborately decorated outdoor altar, with rows of chairs straddling graves marking the resting places of Catholic nuns, Father Rudolph Preciado of Westminster’s Blessed Sacrament Church led worshipers in Mass.

“It is important that we memorialize our dead,” Preciado told the congregation representing parishes throughout the Diocese of Orange. “Through their memory, it is a way for us to keep them alive. It is only when we stop thinking about them that they really die.”

Devoting some of his homily to a decidedly contemporary theme, Preciado also told the crowd that increased violence and terminal illnesses have raised the awareness of death and forced more people to deal with their own mortality.

“We cannot go to the store, drive the freeway or open the newspapers without hearing or reading about death,” he said. “Death is now a reality in our lives. We have to be ready to encounter that.”

While Preciado spoke, Sandra Dominguez stood alone in the rear of the gathering, thinking of her father, Juan Dominguez, who died nine years ago.

“For each person, there is a lot of meaning and tradition here,” she said. “You are remembering a person you loved dearly.”

Before the Mass, members of various parishes in the diocese took part in a procession to the cemetery, carrying flowers and singing as they walked toward the altar.

In Mexico, many customs have developed and flourished, including the belief among some of the faithful that the day marks the spiritual return of family members and friends. In some households, family members erect their own altars to the dead and leave food items for the nourishment of the deceased spirit.

“The dead are supposed to come back in the night and eat all of their favorite foods,” said Ruben Sanchez, from his place on a grassy hillside overlooking the Mass. As a child, the custom was practiced in his own home, but he said it is becoming less common. In recent years, Sanchez said he has preferred to bring his family to the cemetery where they all can honor the memory of his father, Hilario Sanchez, who died in 1969.

It is only the second year the diocese has organized the Mass, but Msgr. Jaime Soto said Saturday that the event is an attempt to preserve cultural traditions. Although the actual day of celebration is Monday, Soto said the Mass was scheduled Saturday so that it could be more accessible.

“It is important for us to realize that death is part of life and that our loved ones are still a part of us,” Soto said. “We need to remember what they’ve given us.”