The following comes from an October 17 San Luis Obisbo Tribune article by Dan Krieger:
The Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos, is a celebration born in the Americas. In the years that followed the Spanish conquest of Mexico, it fused the Old World Catholic celebrations of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, Nov. 1 and 2, into the rich elements of Native American culture.
I know of no better place to get a perspective on this fusion than Mission San Antonio de Padua. It is an especially meaningful experience on a cool autumn afternoon.
On Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m., you have a rare opportunity to experience a traditional religious ceremony celebrating the “Day of the Dead” at California’s third oldest and most remote mission.
The ceremony will begin with leaders of the Salinan Tribe of San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties, greeting Father Jim Nisbet, former pastor of Mission San Luis Obispo and a Native American who was active in promoting the cause of 17th century Mohawk Kateri Tekakwithaas the first Native American saint.
There will be a traditional Four Directions ceremony honoring Father Sky, Mother Earth and Spirit Tree.
Everyone then proceeds into the restored mission church for the All Souls Day Mass.
Prayers will be chanted in the Salinan language by tribal elders and children.
Sayyy whaaaaatttt???!
this is the kind of ‘traditionalism’ that intrigues the public. kind of akin to the offbeat fusion in haiti that produces quaint, homemade rituals still thriving in new orleans and many spanish-speaking countries.
and it reduces religion and religious belief to the level and atmosphere of a carnival or a tourist attraction.
Yea, it’s called Voodoo.
The traditional (read: Pagan) Four Directions ceremony honoring Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree seems to be missing a Direction.
Perhaps it’s Cousin Cannabis.
How does one “fuse” Christianity with paganism without mutilating either? One either believes one or the other.
One might assume from some of the comments above that many are unfamiliar with various aspects of the Catholic faith and how it is celebrated around the world.
The Day of the Dead has been celebrated in California since the Spaniards invaded and occupied the territory. Father sky, etc. comes right out of the traditions of St. Francis. Christmas was an offset of the winter solstice celebrations of the pagans, etc. To think that all of Catholicism rituals are the same as those of North Europe. is specious.
Holidays can be celebrated in a Christian manner or a pagan one. Halloween (All Saints’ Eve) has gotten out of hand here with an emphasis on the gory, and some costumes unfit for Christian men, women and children. Mothers have even complained about the “little hooker” costumes sold for pre teen girls. The Catholic homeschoolers wear costumes of saints at parties with cupcakes and cookies decorated with plastic icons of saints. Children do like the scary — skeletons and such — but it needs to be kept in line. Many Evangelicals emphasis the harvest part of the season as the Jewish people do.
I should have written that “parents” are complaining as dads are complaining too.
“Father Sky” (Ouranos) and “Mother Earth” (Gaiea), Bob One, are the primitive paganism preceding the. Greek gods. The same pagan principles rise and recur throughout history.
Serious, Campion? They are words from the famous “Cantical of the Sun”, a hymn praising God, written by St. Francis of Assisi. Its as Catholic as you can get, been around for hundreds of years and used often even today. Look it up!.
The Canticle of the Sun
“Most High, all powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor and all the blessing. To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name. Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures.”
Then and only then did St. Francis go on to say that the Lord God was praised and honored through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, wind, fire, etc. All the honor went to the Almighty because he created them. We must be careful about that.
Bob 1, there is no “Father Sky” nor “Mother Earth” in St Francis’ famed Canticle (correct spelling, BTW). As others have pointed out, there is “Brother Sun” & “Sister Earth”,which Francis observes as created beings of the Creator, the “Most High Powerful Good High Lord.” Francis never attributes independent deity-status to any of these poetic images.
The 4 Directions and “Father Sky” and so on in the native American pantheon are however different spirit-deities. Mixed in with Catholicism as mentioned in this story, that is syncretism,
And again, “Father Sky” & “Mother Earth” were part of the pre-Olympian god hierarchy, and this paganism recurs throughout history. Sorry you can’t understand this point.
St. Francis, I am sure, got his idea for the canticle from the Biblical canticles, such as Psalm 148, where everything on earth praises the Lord. Let us hope that the author of the article above did not explain the prayer to be used very well, and that it does praise the Lord for creating the sky, earth, etc. I do not know. I have never heard the ritual before this. I do know that many years ago that I refused to be involved in a Hindu prayer because it was dedicated to Brahma and the gods.
St. Catherine Tekakwitha would never countenance such foolishness (indeed, she suffered because of it). Among the challenges the Jesuits encountered among the Mohawk, Huron, and Alongquin was their enslavement to superstitions including weird, disgusting, and obscene dreams on which they felt compelled to act.
Funny, nowadays it’s the Jesuits themselves causing nightmares.
At the Mass recessional, maybe Fr Nesbit and the Medicine Man could do the Wolf Cry to the Blue Corn Moon while Painting with All the Colors of the Wind. No? Oh well, maybe next year.