Honoring those who have died
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Eva Cavazos started celebrating El Día de los Muertos in a new way about five years ago.
The retired teacher still observes the holiday like she did as a young girl when her parents took the family to visit relatives' graves.
But she started a new tradition in 2003 after the Nave Museum selected her take part in a then new exhibit that followed the Hispanic tradition of making altars honoring the lives of family members who have passed away.
For Western Christians, the special observance day commemorates the lives of family members and saints who have died. The celebrations of El Día de los Muertos and All Saints' Day are today. All Souls' Day is Sunday.
Rather than think of the days as three separate events, the Rev. Stan DeBoe of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church said they could also be seen as three different ways of remembering those who have died.
El Día de los Muertos celebrations predate the Christian holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, DeBoe said.
The observance originated in pre-Christian Aztec traditions honoring the dead that Spanish missionaries to Latin and Central America combined with Catholic teachings before All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day were established, DeBoe added.
"Cultures have a way of honoring those who have died," DeBoe said. "It goes back to that human belief that life doesn't end here."
DeBoe added the Catholic church has done similar combinations of tradition and church teaching with Chinese traditions and tribal rituals in Africa.
"It speaks of something deeper in the human spirit that longs for a connection to those who have died," DeBoe said.
A spiritual connection rooted in the church's belief that whether a member of the community of faith is dead or alive physically, they are alive in Christ.
Feeling comfortable enough to share the lives her family has been a somewhat difficult transition for Cavazos.
The first two altars she made were more general in nature, dedicating the first to the memory of those who died in the 9/11 attacks. Then, a year later, Cavazos remembered the life of Andy Warhol in her second altar.
"Perhaps before then, I was not ready to share the lives of my close family with others," Cavazos said.
With her third and fourth altars, the artist began to honor the lives of family members.
Her third altar was the first to commemorate the lives of family, her grandparents.
This year, she made another altar to remember the life of her nephew, Samuel Castillo, who died in an auto accident in 2005.
"If you would've asked me a year ago, I would have said, "No, I can't do this,' but this year, I felt ready," Cavazos said.
Her altar is on display in the museum's El Dia de los Muertos exhibit, which runs until Nov. 3.
Nov. 1 - El Día de los Muertos and All Saints' Day
El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is more of a family celebration for those who have died from our own families, said the Rev. ...
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Nov. 1 - El Día de los Muertos and All Saints' Day
El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is more of a family celebration for those who have died from our own families, said the Rev. Stan DeBoe of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. During this holiday, families set up an altar in their home with pictures and mementos of loved ones who have passed away. They also visit their graves at the cemetery.
All Saints' Day commemorates those particular people the church has recognized as saints, and the people the church doesn't know who have gone immediately to heaven because of their holy lives, DeBoe said.
Nov. 2 - All Souls' Day
All Souls' Day remembers everyone who has died and is an opportunity for the church to pray with that community of faith for those have gone on into the next life, DeBoe said.
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