Local Quincy Festivities Celebrate Day of the Dead

With the Hispanic population growing every day in United States it’s no surprise that Day of the Dead Celebrations are now common place. Even though Massachusetts has a smaller Hispanic community than the some parts of the United States, Day of the Dead is still observed.

Even though the Day of the Dead holiday takes place on November 1 and November 2 the exhibit is open to patrons in expectation for the holidays. The holiday was created for families and churches to pay respect for those who died. In essence, the day of the dead is actually a celebration. Even though there is usually a lots of skeletons displayed during Day of the dead, it is not to be confused with holloween.

Since Day of the Dead takes place on all Saints Day it is intrinsically tied in with the Catholic culture. Celebration decorations often include Catholic type oriented relics. For example, there are usually many Catholic saint candles that are sold and displayed during the Day of the dead. These candles are lit in order to remember the dead and past Saints. The festival is thought to have traced its roots all the way back to the Aztec culture.

There are variations of the holiday in different cultures around the world. The Brazilian culture has a similar holiday where patrons visit cemeteries and pray for those who have died.

It is widely believed that during the day of the dead festival those who have passed are able to more easily contact the living. This is why during Day of the Dead patrons will visit cemeteries to build shrines to the dead. The event is not all sorrowful, but can be very comical and is essentially a celebration of the dead. There have been many parades that humorously display skits depicting the dead speaking to the living.

With the vastly differing styles of prayer between Western thought and the Hispanic culture it’s refreshing to see a meshing of the two. The Day of the dead lends significant commentary on methods of evangelization between more traditional Catholic schools of thought and the Hispanic culture.

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