Holidays of the Dead

Holidays of the dead were and are present in many various cultures and religious traditions around the world. They can be both of religious character as well as secular. Contemporary holidays and festivals of the dead have their origins in ancient rituals and beliefs. The two most well known and popular are: Halloween, especially popular in the United States but also found across contemporary Western civilization, and El Día de los Muertos, originating in Mexico. Other, lesser known examples are Christian All Saints' and All Souls' Days, Bon Festival, which is a Japanese Buddhist custom, and the Vietnamese festivals Thanh Minh and Tet Trung Nguyen. All of these have their sociological (corporate and psychological) and individual dimensions and functions (e.g., building and sustaining the self-identity, coping with loss, and integration with local community). Each of the previously mentioned holidays will be considered from three main aspects: history and/ or ancient roots, beliefs, and rituals.

All Saints' and All Souls' Day

According to Roman Catholic tradition, the 1st of November is All Saints' Day and the 2nd of November is All Souls' Day in the religious ritual calendar. The former is devoted to the commemoration of all Catholic saints, who at first were usually martyrs. The holiday arose from the tradition of solemnizing the martyrs in Christianity and the commemoration of Christ's martyrdom. We find the first traces of this tradition during the days of the early Christian church in Antioch, on the Sunday after Pentecost. At first only martyrs and Saint John the Baptist were honored by a special day, but gradually, other saints were added to the religious calendar. Pope Gregory III (731–741 C.E.) consecrated a chapel in the Roman Basilica of Saint Peter to all the saints and fixed the date for communal commemoration to the 1st of November, when Catholic churches hold special masses. This day is now a national holiday in some countries (e.g., Poland).

All Souls' Day is focused not on those in heaven, as is the case of All Saints' Day, but on those in purgatory, which according to Catholic teaching are the average believers. The belief underlying this holiday is that the prayers of the living, on behalf of the dead, can help the dead achieve salvation and go to heaven. On this day, all the masses are requiem, dedicated to the dead; believers donate to the Church for the sake of salvation of the souls in purgatory. The ritual also involves visiting cemeteries and gathering together and praying beside the graves of family, friends, famous people, and national heroes. People decorate the gravesites with lit candles, flowers (chrysanthemums usually in Central and Eastern Europe), and wreaths. The general character of this holiday is rather sad, full of grief, and pathos. This Catholic tradition goes back to the sixth century Benedictine monks who decided to offer the mass on the day after Pentecost for their deceased community members. In 998 C.E., Odilo, Abbot of Benedictine monastery in Cluny, changed the date of their commemorative mass to the 2nd November, the day after the Feast of all Saints. This custom spread, and in the 13th century, Rome put the feast on the Church calendar.

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