For those of you who don't know, I AM a practicing Catholic. For all you haters on the Catholic faith, this post isn't for you and as I am respectful of all other Christian denominations (especially after dating so many outside of the Catholic Church) I kindly ask that you. respect my beliefs as I've done for all others.
Now onto to what this post is about...You see we recently had two important celebrations this past week. All Saints Day and All Souls Day and for those of you who don't know, yes there is a difference between the two holidays. I love how simply the jesuit website puts it
(https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/resources-by-theme/all-saints-all-souls#:~:text=All%20Saints%27%20Day%20is%20celebrated,have%20passed%20within%20the%20faith.): "All Saints Day is celebrated to remember all saints and martyrs during Christian history, followed by All Souls Day to commemorate those who have passed on within the faith."
All Souls Day is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The day is primarily celebrated in the Catholic Church, but it is also celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a few other denominations of Christianity. The Anglican church is the largest protestant church to celebrate the holy day. Most protestant denominations do not recognize the holiday and disagree with the theology behind it. According to Catholic belief, the soul of a person who dies can go to one of three places. The first is heaven, where a person who dies in a state of perfect grace and communion with God goes. The second is hell, where those who die in a state of mortal sin are naturally condemned by their choice. The intermediate option is purgatory, which is thought to be where most people, free of mortal sin, but still in a state of lesser (venial) sin, must go. https://www.catholic.org/saints/allsouls/
This is all not to be confused or associated with Dia de los metros aka The Day of the Dead, something I think Americans have re-created into academia and the Disney movie Coco that this "holiday" originated in Mexico, something that is inaccurate - well at least somewhat. You see there are certain states in Mexico that have and celebrate this holiday but it's not something that's technically "Mexican made" so to say. Other Latin American cultures not just Mexican celebrate this holiday as well. I have a theory but considering that there are many "historians" or those who educate themselves on cultures and traditions, they could argue or refute my personal theory...but lets be frank, the fact is unless you submerge yourself into the culture and have lived it and breathed it for years or more importantly been exposed to the oldest of towns in Mexico you really won't get the facts behind which states in Mexico started celebrating the Day of the Dead, because believe me the family I still have in Mexico and even family friends from my parents that have had generations upon generations living in Mexico DO NOT celebrate nor have they ever understood how people claimed to to state that the Day of the Dead originated in Mexico.
Guess this is something I'm going to want to look into and find out more about...but hey don't take my word for it and do some digging of your own ;)
For all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ - hope you had a fun Halloween, a serene Saints Day, and a memorable All Souls Day.
Sincerely,
A Distinct Woman
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