A celebration of faith and culture SAU: students commemorate Dia de los Muertos

By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger

DAVENPORT — Votive candles danced to life as St. Ambrose University students quietly lit them on decorative altars displayed in front of  the sanctuary in Christ the King Chapel the evening of Oct. 30. The warm glow of the candles reminded students, staff and family members gathered for Mass of their loved ones who had passed away, some in the past year and others a longer time ago.

Commemoration of “Dia de los Muertos” (“Day of the Dead”) took place during the regularly scheduled “Mass and More” celebrated Wednesday night at 9:15 p.m.  Dia de los Muertos is a holiday that blends “Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture,” History website states. The celebration runs Oct. 31-Nov. 2, which coincides with Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

Latinos Unidos, a St. Ambrose University club of Latino/Hispanic students, sponsored the Mass and refreshments served afterwards. The club strives to create a sense of belonging, empowerment and community through cultural celebration, academic support and personal development.

This year’s celebration featured a centerpiece altar that Alexa Avalos, a St. Ambrose University junior, created with her mother, Ana Villanueva. They fashioned their altar with empty boxes from McDonald’s, where Avalos works, to create four tiers covered with a large white cloth. They added lacy mats in magenta, orange, blue and purple to each tier.

Sunflowers, yellow mums, candles, a loaf of bread, grapes, pumpkin, cacti and ornamental skulls adorned the altar, as did a framed photo of Avalos’ grandfather, who died in 2007. He appears in a loving pose with his mother, who died in 2016. “It reminds me of my culture and to be close to my loved ones,” said Avalos, who also is the president of Latinos Unidos.

Mass-goers added their deceased loved ones’ photographs to the altar and four other simpler altars before Mass began. The university’s chaplain, Father Dale Mallory, painstakingly searched for the obituaries of the 110 alumni who died over the past year and placed their photographs on the simple altars he created with some decorating help from Latinos Unidos. He added photos from students and staff who made requests for prayer for their deceased loved ones, as well.

“Whenever we come together to worship Christ at the Mass, it is never just the people who are physically present who are praying … the entire body of Christ is present in that Mass,” Father Mallory said during his homily. “Today, we are honoring those who are present with us in that spiritual way, all of these loved ones who have died, over 150 people we are praying for.”

The beauty of the Church, he concluded, is “this cycle of all of us supporting each other, spiritually, physically, emotionally, so that we can all have that chance to know God’s love in heaven, on earth and in all the moments of our lives.”

After his homily, he invited the gathering to light candles on the altars for their deceased loved ones. For Avalos, this “was a thoughtful and emotional moment. It reminds me of my culture and (being) close to my loved ones. I felt as if they were sitting next to me and watching us.”

Other students expressed similar thoughts. Sebastian Mireles, a senior, remembered his grandpa, Jorge, who died in 2013. “This is something very important to the Hispanic community, to celebrate loved ones who have passed and are here with us spiritually,” Mireles said.

Yuliana Marceleno, also a senior, remembered her grandma, Josefina, who passed away in 2021. “It’s a beautiful tradition that my family has kept up for years. Since my grandma passed away, it has hit home more,” Marceleno said. Joining her at the Mass were her boyfriend, Grant Michel, her mom, sister, another grandmother, a niece and a nephew. Michel, a teacher who recently graduated from St. Ambrose, participated in his first Dia de los Muertos Mass last year. He describes the experience as cool. “It helps put someone’s culture into perspective,” he said.

Junior Dora De la Cruz tenderly touched a hand-painted picture frame holding a photograph of her late father, Victor, cuddling her as a baby. He died when she was 10. She said the Dia de los Muertos celebration at Mass “is a way to bring him to school with me and it’s a way for him to see all of my accomplishments and all that I am doing here.” She is grateful to St. Ambrose for the celebration.

Father Mallory was instrumental in building on the celebration because of his experience with the Hispanic community in Ottumwa, where he previously served. He told The Catholic Messenger, “Faith is the foundation of culture.”