Here’s a look at a few ways that Viatorian communities marked All Souls Day and El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead):
Día de los Muertos 5K
On Sunday, November 1, Cristo Rey St. Viator College Prep hosted its first Día de los Muertos 5k race. The course in North Las Vegas started and ended on campus, sending runners out on a route along the Las Vegas Wash and winding through the area.
Participants received specially designed medals with Día de los Muertos artwork and the school logo. Many people came in face paint and special clothing to mark the day, and the prayer procession was led by Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Gordon with a mariachi band and dancers. Congratulations to all the runners and the whole school community!
Viator Youth Makes All Souls Visit
Also in Las Vegas, teens from youth ministry at St. Viator Catholic Community visited the Viatorian section at Davis Cemetery. Beside the resting places of many Viatorians, the young people prayed a decade of the rosary together. Then, they visited each grave and left fresh flowers for all our dear departed.
Back at the parish, the Year 2 Confirmation teens also set up an ofrenda (the term for these Día de los Muertos memorial altars) in the parish vestibule.
Thank you to our young people for remembering those who have gone before us, including our late religious Viatorians.
Hermanas’ Ofrenda at the Province Center
In Arlington Heights, IL, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe set up a Día de los Muertos display in the Province Center dining room.
Their ofrenda is a cluster of altarcitos (small altars) where pictures of deceased loved ones are placed alongside keepsakes and special items that remind us of the dead. The sisters memorialize their own late sisters as well as the Viatorians they have known.
They have worked in collaboration with the Viatorians since the 1950s, and we are grateful for their friendship, partnership, and shared life of prayer.
The Church observes All Souls Day on November 2, remembering all those who have died, often with special attention to those who passed away in the last year. In the Province of Chicago of the Viatorian Community, we remember especially Fr. Donald Fitzsimmons, CSV, Fr. Lawrence Lentz, CSV, and Fr. Daniel Mirabelli, CSV. Through the mercy of God, may they and all the faithful departed rest in peace.