Homage to the Dead : Faithful Build Altars, Join Mass to Mark Dia de los Muertos and Honor Mexican Traditions

ORANGE —  She was born Maria Luisa in Guadalajara, but in her childhood in West Los Angeles the name morphed to Mary Louise. Along the way, the customs of the old country faded too.

On Saturday, Mary L. Anderson came to a sun-scorched hillside here to reclaim part of her Mexican heritage as more than 300 of Orange County’s Roman Catholic faithful held a Day of the Dead celebration.

It was the second year in a row the 54-year-old secretary from Laguna Hills came to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery for the occasion. She and other parishioners from the Diocese of Orange honored loved ones by building shrines and attended an open-air Mass.

At the edge of the cemetery, Anderson set up a table with black-and-white photographs of her father, Jesus, and grandmother, Lorenza. True to Mexican tradition, marigolds and grinning sugar skulls adorned the altar.

Anderson also brought something special for her father, in keeping with the belief that the dead need sustenance when they come back for a visit.

“He loved pumpkin,” she said, forking pumpkin cooked in brown sugar onto a paper plate. “We share it with them. You want to have a piece?”

Her offer showed the festival’s lighter side. “We celebrate death because it’s a happy thing,” Anderson said. “Because they’ve gone to heaven. It’s not sad.”

On the church calendar, Saturday was All Saints’ Day. South of the border, where church and pre-Columbian cultures have fused over the centuries, it is tradition on Nov. 1 to honor the souls of dead children. Today, All Souls’ Day, is the Mexican Dia de los Muertos.

In the Mexican heartland, the holiday’s ritual adornments can be seen in churches, graveyards, town squares, marketplaces and many living rooms, even though the American customs of Halloween are becoming more popular.

In 1991, Orange County church leaders began holding the Day of the Dead procession and Mass at the cemetery, a reflection of the county’s deep and growing Latino roots.

On Saturday, parishioners set up altars on 17 folding tables. There was one for Mother Teresa, with burning incense, a marigold cross, sweet breads, red grapes, pomegranates and books about her.

The altars were set with tortillas, apples, bananas and avocados for making guacamole. The dead spirits also could partake of Coors Light and Jack Daniels, though in Mexico they might get Bohemia and tequila shots.

Benjamin Sanchez, 28, a youth worker in Santa Ana, laid a serape from Queretaro state on his altar, which was decorated with lollipops, piles of oranges and sugar skulls named Luis, Jose Luis and Sofia.

Sanchez said the Day of the Dead has deep roots among Latinos in the United States.

“‘Sure, there is a clash of cultures here in this country. But it gets resolved,” Sanchez said. “This is a time of year when churches fill up. It’s a strong tradition.”