After Four Years Away, Catechetical Day Returns to Calvary East L.A.

Photo: Two young students from Resurrection School work intently on their paper flowers.
(For more photos visit our Catechetical Day 2024 Photo Album)

It was a happy day at Calvary Cemetery in East L.A., and the rebirth of a vaunted tradition at one of the Archdiocese’s oldest operating cemeteries.

On Wednesday, Oct. 25, some 200 third graders from nine neighboring Catholic schools descended on Calvary for Catechetical Day, a precursor for the annual Day of the Dead celebration, set this year for Saturday, Oct. 28. It was the first time since 2019 – just before the Covid-19 pandemic – that Calvary hosted Catechetical Day in person.

They’d spend a half-day learning about the Day of the Dead, its rituals and significance, and its deep roots within the Latino community here in Southern California.

Following a welcome and catechetical presentation inside the mausoleum chapel, students headed outdoors for a round of arts-and-crafts activities -- painting paper masks and sugar skulls, decorating picture frames, making paper flowers, and getting their faces painted if they so choose. (Plenty of grown-ups joined in the face-painting too.)
 
From there, they returned to the spacious mausoleum, where each class had reserved rooms to construct a shrine for the departed. Using the frames they had decorated moments before, they adorned each shrine with pictures of departed loved ones, along with the paper flowers they’d also made. There were yellow rosaries and orange and yellow marigolds – the pungent flowers that are an ageless part of the Day of the Dead festivities. Upon completion, each shrine received a blessing from Fr. Emmanuel Sanchez of Resurrection Church, located a short drive from the cemetery.

Their day ended with a hearty taco luncheon, punctuated by much chatter and boisterous laughter, before the youngsters climbed back on their big yellow buses and returned to their schools. Barring the unforeseen, we’ll welcome another group of youngsters next year as this timeless L.A. tradition continues.

“It is truly wonderful to have this special event back in person, as it holds significant meaning for so many people. Not only do we know that the children enjoy and benefit from it, but our staff and crews also eagerly anticipate this day as it provides them with renewed energy and motivation.”  Said Brian McMahon, Community Outreach Director for Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries.

Dia de Los Muertos Catechetical Day Online Resources Available Here.