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St.Fancisville, Louisiana
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This post is not supporting any one specific Christian religion, but to share my view of the day.
All Saints Day
It is a fact we are all going to face death, whether you are christian, atheist, or somewhere in between.
For me All Saints day means going to the graveyard and placing flowers on the graves of family and friends that have left this earth.
I do not worship the dead, I simply recognize what my loved ones brought into my life. I totally understand that going to the graveyard is so very hard for many people.
Don't get me wrong, I do not place those that have passed in the back of my mind and only think of them on All Saints Day.
Not one day goes by that I do not think of my baby brother, Wesley. ( I replace his flowers often, as I feel that it is my gift to him on his birthday, Easter, Christmas, etc.)
On this day as my husband and I go together. I stand at my brothers grave, my husband brushes the leaves off, places his flowers, he asks me a question. I am so absorbed in looking at Wesley's picture on his headstone, deep in my own thoughts. I did not really hear what he was saying, nor could I answer. It was one of those moments that if I spoke my voice would crack and I would not be able to control the tears,(my brother would not want that). My husband looks over at me waiting on his answer and then silently understands with just a nod.
We actually walk around three different graveyards. We pass graves of friends and extended family taking a brief moment to stop and remember what that person brought to our lives.
At some we stop in amazement, as we notice the date on the headstone. It is then that we realize how much time has passed.
One date we noticed that my mawmaw was 27 before she married, that was "old" in her day (their anniversary date is etched in the vase between mawmaw and pawpaw.) We shared a laugh, because now marrying older is the norm. I must note, she lived to be 100, so she enjoyed many years with my pawpaw.
As I pass graves, I think of my husbands aunt, a friends mom, friends, some are even my children's friends that have been tragically killed ... I think of their loved ones, and the sorrow that must certainly still burden them.
We remember those that are buried in other places or chose cremation. My grandparents and nephew in Santa Fe, the great aunt and uncle who donated their bodies to science.
Why do this you ask? Why should my husband and I take a moment out of our busy life, to open our hearts and go back to those sorrowfull emotions that we try to hide away deep in our soul.
It is on this day that we may laugh and cry without an explanation.
All Saints Day helps us to remember that we are only here for a short time.
As we reminisce about the memories our loved ones have left us, we realize all too well, that memories will be all that we leave behind.
All Saints' Day (in the
Roman Catholic Church officially the
Solemnity of All Saints and also called
All Hallows or
Hallowmas[3]), often shortened to
All Saints, is a
solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of
Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after
Pentecost in
Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the
saints, known and unknown.
Other Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in different ways; for example, in the
Methodist Church, "saints who have helped extend and enliven God's kingdom" are remembered—that is—the entire
Church universal and those significant to a particular
local congregation.
[2]
In
Argentina,
Austria,
Belgium,
France,
Hungary,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
Malta,
Portugal,
Spain, and American cities such as
New Orleans, people take flowers to the graves of dead relatives.
In
Austria,
Croatia, the
Czech Republic,
Finland, Catholic parts of
Germany,
Hungary,
Lithuania,
Moldova,
Poland,
Romania,
Slovakia,
Slovenia and
Sweden, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives.
(Information source is Wikipedia)
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