Day of the Dead : The County’s Catholic Diocese Is Keeping a Mexican Tradition Alive With Outdoor Mass

Six years ago, when a priest first asked her to build an altar for the Day of the Dead, Patty Duarte had no idea what he was talking about.

A third-generation Californian and devout Catholic, Duarte knew little about Mexico, the home of her great-grandparents, and even less about its traditional celebration of All Souls Day.

But like many Orange County Latinos, she was about to get a lesson on her mestizo roots--and the spiritual significance of a colorful Mexican holiday--from the church.

Now, Duarte expertly threads bright yellow and gold marigolds into a cross, arranges photographs of dead relatives and friends and neatly writes a list of parishioners who have died in the last year. She buys a special sweet bread, known as pan de muerto, candy skulls, which capture the whimsical side of the ritual, fruit, crosses and candles.

Duarte will pile it all high on an altar she plans to build this morning as part of a row of altars representing about 20 Orange County parishes at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in rural Orange.

Hundreds of faithful will converge on the graveyard by 1:30 p.m. to join a procession, heavy with incense, leading to an open air Mass. In order not to detract from Sunday services, the celebration was moved a day earlier than the actual All Souls Day.

Like others, Duarte then plans to spend a quiet afternoon cleaning, adorning and visiting the graves of relatives and friends.

“It makes me remember my roots, my heritage,” Duarte said. “And it helps my children to know where they came from. I always think that someday I will be buried there too, and I hope to God my children will keep the tradition alive.”

Though losing ground in much of modern Mexico, the traditional celebration of Dia de los Muertos has been embraced by the Catholic diocese in Orange County, reflecting changing demographics and a growing Latino membership--now about 50%.

The annual procession and outdoor Mass began in 1991, after a visit to Mexico by Msgr. Jaime Soto, vicar for Hispanic affairs in the county.

“I came back with the conviction that I wanted to try to work with my fellow priests to revive the religious fervor associated with the Day of the Dead,” said Soto, who will celebrate the Mass at 2 p.m. today.

Even many recent immigrants from Mexico are unfamiliar with some of the more colorful aspects of traditional celebration, such as building an altar in the home or offering food for the spirits of the deceased.

“I respect the traditions of the rest, but that is not my tradition,” said Maria Sandoval, who moved to Anaheim from Jalisco state 10 years ago and planned to help build one of the altars at the cemetery today. “I believe very much in God and the celebration of Mass in honor of the souls of the deceased. But the food? No, I don’t believe the dead come to eat.”

Virginia Cisneros, who moved to Santa Ana from Michoacan state 30 years ago, recalled visiting graves of relatives in Mexico as a girl but said she never saw a traditional altar until her priest asked her to help build one five years ago.

“For me, the most important thing is still the celebration of holy Mass,” she said. “After it is said, we take the flowers to the graves and pray. Even though I don’t have loved ones buried there, as a Catholic I have the obligation to pray for all deceased.”

Throughout Friday afternoon, Cisneros and other altar builders arrived at the diocese offices in Orange to pick up bundles of marigolds, known as zempasuchitl, the traditional flowers of the dead. Soto’s office ordered 500 bunches of the flowers, which are hard to find this time of year, from a San Diego grower.

Dozens of marigolds will cover each altar, along with food, candles and images of the Virgin Mary. Some parishes also invited members to drop off photographs of loved ones to be incorporated in the altar.

Richly colorful, the tradition has caught the imagination of popular culture buffs and folk art collectors in recent years. But Soto said the church is trying to highlight a deeper, spiritual significance to the Day of the Dead.

“Popular culture does to the Day of the Dead what it does to other religious holidays, like Christmas and Easter,” he said. “It tends to reduce them to caricatures, and the richer, transcendental quality of the feasts gets lost. The rituals have a moral content that says we have a commitment to each other, and our lives are rooted in something deeper than just the day-to-day grind.”

Soto said today’s Mass is just part of the church’s embrace of customs and rituals imported by the county’s diverse Latino immigrant community. “We have tried to instill in people a pride for the religious traditions of their ancestors,” he said, “as well as help them understand how those customs and traditions can enrich and give meaning to their lives today.”