Date Issued: NOVEMBER 2015
ALL SAINTS DAY
November 1 is All Saints’ Day (Todos Los Santos or Undas), a cherished tradition among Filipino, particularly Catholics, who pay honor and respect to the memories of their departed loved ones by going to memorial parks, mausoleums, columbarium, and cemeteries to hold vigil, offer prayers, flowers, candles - even food, and reunite with relatives. Filipinos consider All Saints’ Day an important holiday, next to Christmas and Holy Week. They go home to their loved ones are buried to meet with relatives and friends, share stories, and together pray for their dearly departed - a wonderful testimony of strong family values and kinship. Tombs are cleaned, repaired and repainted prior to Undas observance. On the day itself, they are lighted and decorated with flowers, candels and balloons, a way of letting the spirits of the dead knowthat even though they are gone, their memory stays in the hearts of those they left behind. On Undas eve in rural communities, groups of older ppeople, and sometimes children, organize singing groups that go from house to house to serenadefamilies called “pangangaluluwa” or the Visayan “kalag - kalag” (souling), a practice believed to bring peace to departed souls. Government agencies, as well as private companies and individuals, make sure that the traditional event will be peaceful and orderly. The Oplan Undas and the Lakbay Alalay assistance programs for motorists are activated to ensure that roads and highways are in good shape. Buses are inspected and medical personnel are ready in strategic areas. The Catholic Church has set up a special website where Filipino workers abroad who cannot come home to visit the graves of their loved ones can offer prayers, light candles, say the rosary. All Saints’ Day observance in the country is similar to the Mexican Tradition of “Dia de los Muertos” of “Day of the Dead”, in which the focus is on similar gathering before tombs of loved ones. It is also called All Hallows Tide, All-Hallomas, or All Hallows’ Day. In many Wester churches, it is held on November 1, while in many eastern churches it is on the first Sunday after Pentecost. All Saints’ Day may have origated in ancient Rome which observes on May 13, 609, The Feast of Lemures in which restless spirits of the dead were propitiated. It was observed on different dates until Pope Gregory III (731-741) instituted November 1 to be the official date of All Saints’ Day. The church later declared All Saints’ day the feast for all Christian saints known and unknown.
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