FAQ…. What’s Pan de Muertos?
- The Day of the Dead, el Día de los Muertos, is a festival celebrated on November 1st and 2nd in many Latino cultures, primarily Mexico and Mexican-American communities in the US—but also in Brazil and the Philippines, with some variations. It’s a national holiday in Mexico.
- It is a time to remember the dead and to celebrate the continuity of life. It’s a festival, not an exercise in morbid doom and gloom—something our American death-denying culture sometimes has trouble understanding.
- The festival dates to pre-Christian, pre-Hispanic, Aztec civilization. When the Aztecs were conquered by the Spaniards, the celebration, with its focus on the dead, was moved to the Christian feasts of All Saints and All Souls to Christianize the holiday.
- During the holiday, families visit the grave of loved ones, tidying them up and decorating them, and then picnicking and socializing in the cemetery, as they share food and stories about those who have died. Many families also set up small altars in their homes to welcome the dead back. These altars are decorated with flowers (mums or marigolds), pictures of the dead, and ofrendas, food offerings like sugar skulls and pan de muertos, a special kind of bread.
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Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
