In photo above, Jorge Mendoza and Lupe Portillo stand next to the ofrenda in St. Mary's Cemetery.
For months now, shoppers have moved through retailers’ aisles or clicked through online stores to find Día de los Muertos merchandise. Planning ahead for the Nov. 2 holiday, deeply rooted in Hispanic culture, many people embrace what is known in English as “the day of the dead,” and all its curious décor. Mascara, Papel Picado and sugar skulls happily end up in carts, along with edible gifts, housewares and clothing, all colorfully displaying playfully decorated skeletons and marigolds, or cempasúchil, so characteristic of this special day of remembrance.
“I am sorry to say it has become so commercial,” says Lupe Portillo, torn between mourning and rejoicing, with a sense of chagrin not easily overcome. The longtime Sacramento resident and St. Robert parishioner has been involved in Día de los Muertos celebrations since their humble local beginnings in Sacramento in the early 1970s. As one of the founders and leaders of the local event, in her heart she wants people to look more closely into the meaning behind the images and decorations.
“But it’s good,” Lupe says, her tone brightening as she shares, “It is a tradition that so many children have now picked up … so many people have picked it up.” She senses that this meaningful cultural holiday resonates with the faithful and may speak to others, too. It presents an opportunity to pause and appreciate a cultural legacy while also giving insight into Catholic teaching on death.
Lupe continues to volunteer and works closely with Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services staff at St. Mary Cemetery and Funeral Center in Sacramento to perpetuate the longstanding tradition of Día de los Muertos within the cemetery setting. She recalls how, five decades ago, most celebrations were small, home-based activities. Partnering with St. Mary Cemetery marked the beginning of recognizing Día de los Muertos widely, colorfully and prayerfully.
“I thank God I have been here this long to continue it,” she says, expressing gratitude to her grandmother and her mentor, Angel Bertha Cobb, 92. Both women handed down the traditions and taught Lupe the fine details of the celebration. She, too, has handed them down to her daughters and, more recently, to her grandchildren.
“It is most important to remember our loved ones,” Lupe explains, and stresses how “everyone stops and goes to the cemetery.”
“My youngest one has been doing this since she was in my womb!” Lupe exclaims, impressing the equally important holiday legacies of observant longevity and loving commitment. “It is like Memorial Day when we remember our veterans but, on this day, we remember everyone,” Lupe adds.
Prayers for the Dead
Jorge Mendoza, director of parish and community outreach for Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services, collaborates with Lupe and a special committee charged with implementing the activities on the St. Mary Cemetery grounds on Saturday, Nov. 2.
A graduate of Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, Jorge speaks of Día de los Muertos with reverence. His Hispanic heritage honors the pre-Catholic Meso-American roots of the Day of the Dead custom. At the same time, as a former seminarian for the Diocese of Fresno, Jorge turns to the lens and language of faith to capture the essence of the day and translate its significance as a vivid reminder of the importance of ongoing prayers for the dead as the Church emphasizes.
“For example, part of the mythos that we see is that if you stop praying and you stop remembering loved ones, they disappear,” Jorge says, pointing to a popular 2017 animated movie that portrays the Día de los Muertos customs of the Mexican culture.
Catholic teaching on purgatory informs the tradition further.
“We must constantly remember our loved ones in prayer,” Jorge clarifies, because the souls in purgatory “cannot pray for themselves … our prayers will elevate them to the heights of heaven.”
“Through the catechesis and evangelization of the Mesoamerican people, the Spanish Catholics who arrived in Mexico saw how these traditions blended with the teachings of the Catholic faith,” Jorge explains, signaling that “for me, as a Mexican Catholic, this celebration is part of the roots of our faith.”
Citing All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2, when the entire Church commemorates those who have passed away and enters into November as a special time dedicated to remembrance, Jorge underscores how the calendar reminds the faithful to continually pray, “to pray constantly,” year-round for the souls in purgatory.
Outside of grief
“It’s one of the times that we bring people back into the cemetery for a purpose that isn’t for mourning,” Jorge reasons, suggesting that “grief isn’t embedded in everything we do.”
“This is an opportunity to represent a greater reality that death isn’t the end but a transition,” Jorge offers as he describes the committee objectives to “share the light of faith.”
Especially in this 49th year at St. Mary Cemetery and Funeral Center, gearing up for and anticipating its milestone 50th anniversary next year, Jorge views Día de los Muertos and other offerings of Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services as an impressive foundation that “plants a mustard seed of faith and hope.” Outside of grief and moments of sadness, this celebration and other activities “help people see cemeteries apart from when they need (them),” that is, when a death occurs, he says.
Jorge, Lupe and fellow committee members set out to make those six hours on Nov. 2 an uplifting, faith-filled and intentional experience. Some of the differences participants may see include greater community involvement and engagement to include people of all ages; improvements and attention to traffic patterns and parking to accommodate a growing attendance; and cultural enhancements with emphasis on the historical journey and timeline of the Día de los Muertos celebration in California. Jorge indicates that some information suggests that the St. Mary Cemetery commemoration represents the state’s oldest and ongoing Día de los Muertos observance.
A garden of hope
Jorge discusses some of the traditional symbolism of Día de los Muertos and how the custom of outfitting altars – the ofrenda – with photos of the deceased and their favorite foods is a means of remembering. The imagery of a bridge of marigolds typifies “the transitory nature of life with these beautiful stages … how everything comes to an end,” but also the thought of the cempasúchil bridge points to the communion of faith, he explains, “the bridge of prayers reaching between heaven and earth.”
“A big mistake,” Jorge cautions, is the frequent inclination to assume a loved one is in heaven. “We canonize people and that can lead to us not praying for them,” he says of the comfort derived from this among the living. On the contrary, “we need to keep the reality alive.” Jorge adds that Christian hope in the resurrection emphasizes the need to continue to pray for souls, “remembering the love that God gave us through them.”
“Some often view our cemeteries as ‘gardens of hope’ because one day they will be the site of the glorious and beautiful resurrection,” Jorge shares, referencing the 2017 Vatican instruction, To Rise with Christ.
“The Church who, as Mother, has accompanied the Christian during his earthly pilgrimage, offers to the Father, in Christ, the child of her grace, and she commits to the earth, in hope, the seed of the body that will rise in glory,” Jorge quotes.
Día de los Muertos marks a time when “the community of people who are at rest here” gently reminds the living of their prayerful responsibility as a “community of those who wait for the Second Coming of our Lord,” Jorge says, noting the beautiful evangelization that naturally occurs when hundreds upon hundreds come together to celebrate the day of the dead.
Día de los Muertos at St. Mary Cemetery and Funeral Center on Saturday, Nov. 2
12 to 2:30 p.m. – Aztec dancers and various community organizations process throughout the cemetery imparting traditional blessings and laying wreaths upon gravesite lawns designated for infants, children, veterans and all men and women, including veneration at the Our Lady of Guadalupe lawn.
2:30 p.m. – Return to the altar to pray the rosary (bilingual), led by Lupe Portillo.
3 p.m. – Mass at the altar with mariachi
4 to 6 p.m. – Cultural celebrations
St. Mary Cemetery is located at 6509 Fruitridge Rd. in Sacramento. Similar celebrations occur at Calvary Cemetery in Citrus Heights and All Souls Cemetery in Vallejo. These celebrations begin at 2 p.m. on Nov. 2.