Feliz dia de los Muertos to you! Thought you might like to see the Ligustrum Marianist Community altarcito honoring our departed families, with the Necrology on the altarcito remembering our Marianist departed. Understanding Los Dias de Los Muertos is challenging across cultures. At first glance, Day of the Dead decorations, colored paper garlands, little skeletons performing daily tasks and sugar skulls inscribed with names of community members, not the dead, but the living, reminds all of our call to new life, resurrected life. The altarcito (little home or domestic altars) memorial is a vital component to remembering our Saints and those who have entered into new life. We honor our ancestors and dead with these home altars, laden with harvest fruits, traditional bread with crossed bones on dough on top, all this to greet the spirits as they return home for a visit with us. The Dia de Los Muertos tradition is a perfect example of the complex heritage of the Mexican people. The beliefs of today's Mexican are based on the complicated blended Mesoamerican Aztec and Maya cultures, and Spanish invaders, layered with Catholicism. The origins of the Day of the Dead reach into the ancient history of Europe and Mexico dating back to the 1st century.
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