St. Thomas students gathered in the createspace Wednesday to honor their loved ones who have passed through the celebration of Dia de Los Muertos.

Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a traditional Mexican holiday that has spread to many other Latinx cultures and is celebrated from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

“It’s two days where you remember your loved ones in the lives that they lived,” said Hunter Santos, president of the student group Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Achievement.

HOLA, Diversity Activities Board and the Office of Spirituality hosted the event. There were plenty of things to do, such as face painting, painting sugar skulls and picture frames and making decorative headbands. Students could also just enjoy food, music and good conversations.

There was plenty of food, which is an important part of the Day of the Dead tradition. Crafts and face painting were also available for students to enjoy.

“Things people do traditionally include eating and cooking these really big meals and families talking and sharing stories about their loved ones that have passed on, building something called an ofrenda, which is a decorated altar, where you put pictures up of the loved ones that have passed” Santos said.

Dia de Los Muertos is much more than a colorful celebration of life, it also has religious ties to the Catholic church.

“Many families will go to mass to remember their loved ones and will pray for them. And many families will gather together for dinner. But it is still in a more mournful and missing their loved ones,” Marta Pereira Vindas, the director of the Office of Spirituality, said.

Day of the Dead is another name for the Catholic tradition of All Souls Day.

“It’s interesting because that makes the idea of the Communion of All Saints, which is a Catholic tradition,” Pereira said. “Part of the mysterious ways were in communion with family members who have departed from us on Earth.”

Dia de Los Muertos is celebrated differently across Latinx cultures and communities. The Mexican influenced Dia de Los Muertos, where the celebration lasts three days, is predominantly reference in popular culture.
But, as Pereira describes, other cultures take this time to mourn and reflect on the lives and memory of their loved ones.

The important thing about Dia de Los Muertos is that it is not a day of sadness, but a day of remembrance.
“I think it’s really important that the St. Thomas community recognizes that there are so many different ways that you can celebrate people’s lives than just what we could say typically is just kind of a funeral,” Santos said. “There’s so many different ways that you can think about death, and they don’t always have to be sad.”

Mae Macfarlane can be reached at macf7507@stthomas.edu.