By Joseph Plummer
On November 1 and 2 in San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico, people will celebrate “El Día de Los Muertos,” the Day of the Dead festival rooted in ancient Aztec culture and blended with the Catholic holidays, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. During this unique, rich, and colorful Mexican fusion of faith traditions, the living reconnect in memory with the dead.
Mexicans aren’t alone in observing a special day to honor those preceding them in death. Cultures throughout the world celebrate various observances, theologies, and religious traditions celebrating the deceased. In the varieties of this worldwide tradition, we learn about death and immortality. All agree upon one point: Those who continue to live discover a profound value in setting aside time to remember those no longer with us who have touched our lives.
Sunday’s hybrid (in-person and online) UUFSMA service will celebrate the deceased loved ones of our community. We have recreated a virtual “Altar of Remembrance,” first introduced during the pandemic, which will be shown during the service. And participants attending our service in person at the Hotel Aldea will create an “ofrenda” presenting the traditional symbols of the holiday—water, wind, earth, and fire—and decked with cempasúchiles, the marigolds that decorate the altar to which participants are encouraged to add a photo or memento of a deceased loved one. Pianist Mauro Ledesma and tenor Olymar Salinas will perform “La Martiniana” and “Recuérdame” as part of the service’s musical repertoire in the tradition of the holiday. Reverend Tom Rosiello, Minister of the Fellowship, will lead the worship and reflect on legacies from those who have gone before us and which we will leave to those who come after us.
“In our remembrances, those who have gone before continue to live within us,” Rev. Rosiello says. “As we get older, we might live better lives by giving more thought to how we will live on in the lives of others after we are gone.”
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal faith, inviting its community to gather around a set of harmonizing values and principles for living. Our UU Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender identities. Belief in a divinity is not the central issue around which we gather for worship and generous action. Rather, we come together with a belief in community, love, compassion, social justice, and reverence for nature, all within the interconnected web of existence.
UUFSMA donates generously to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page Donate button.
To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25am. Enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/UUFSMA.
*Joseph Plummer is the UUFSMA Board Secretary.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday Service
“Celebrating the Legacy of El Dia de Los Muertos”
Reverend Tom Rosiello
Sun, Oct 30, 10:30am
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040
Password: 294513
