Many Episcopal churches around the country celebrated Dia de Los Muertos – the Day of the Dead, on All Souls or sometime during the past 4 days. The Skagit Valley Herald in Washington state reports on one in Mt Vernon, WA.
Moises Ibañez and his wife, Teresa Santos, cupped their hands to protect two tiny white candles as they carried them from the back of the church and down the aisle to the altar.
One of the flickering flames represented Ibañez’s mother, the second his father.The couple’s two candles were among many carefully carried by members of La Iglesia Episcopal de la Resurrección in observance of the Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Parishioners brought the candles from an altar near the church’s entrance to the main altar.
Flames flickered from tiny tea-lights on the main altar as the Rev. Jo Beecher sang in contralto voice the names of those who had died in the past year.
About 25 members of the Resurrección church gathered Sunday evening at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Many Western communities — from Tucson, Ariz. to Missoula, Mont. — celebrate Dia de los Muertos with parades, parties and church services. The observance is celebrated in Mexico, and it blends All Saints Day and All Souls Day with the Mexican indigenous cultures’ celebration of spirits of the dead. Some scholars say that the roots of the celebration may be older than the Aztec and Mayan cultures.
Read it all here.
Photos from Day of the Dead celebration in Arizona here.