Remembering Them on All Soul's Day

In the Philippines, the Araw ng Mga Patay is celebrated with a big fuss. It is a tradition that we Filipinos (especially the Catholics) observed every year. Araw ng mga Patay means Day of the Dead is also called Todos Los Santos, Fiesta ng Patay, Pista sa Kalag (in Irigueño), and Undas. November 1 is All Saint’s Day and November 2 is All Soul’s Day a holiday in the Philippines ever since I remember.

It is the time wherein the families remember and honor their love ones who had already departed. Aside from the flowers and lighted candles, people also offer mass and prayers for the repose of their soul.

Filipinos treated this holidays like a festive event and more like as a family reunion because it is an opportunity for families to bond together. People from different places go back to their provinces to celebrate the Undas.

In our family, the preparation for Undas started few days before November 1st. My cousin and her children went to the cemetery to clean the family mausoleum They did some repairs and repainted the walls and the tombs.

 

Early morning of November 1st, we went to market to buy flowers and foods to be brought to the cemetery. My cousin who is gifted with the art of flower arrangement did the work and she did it beautifully with ease.

It was my sister’s first All Soul’s Day so we were a bit emotional (it always was whenever we visit her) when we arrived at the memorial park.


If you have a religious family like us, prayer is the highlight of the Undas. Aside from the flowers, candles and foods that we brought, praying together as one family is the best we can offer to them.

After we offered our prayer to our  loved ones, we also visited the graves of our other relatives and friends who had passed away before us.

This tradition teaches us that even though they already passed away we should always remember and show our love for them. It also tells us that we must show our love and respect to our love ones when they are still alive and not when they're already gone.

Looking Back

Reflection

It has been a while since my last post (almost three years actually). And yes, I’ve been busy. My life had been a series of roller coasters that so many things took place in the last years. Looking back, I could say that it was been a very fruitful years for me and at the same time a years of trials and sorrow.

Few of the good things that happened to me was that I was hired as an employee by a government agency which had given me more financial rewards and benefits and I have met a lot of new friends from my current employment who became very dear to me. I was able to pay my debts which I incurred during my previous employment (because they’re not paying us on time). I enrolled and finished Methods of Teaching (as I plan to become a teacher someday). And I was able to pursue my studies in Law after stopping for five years (hopefully to graduate in 2020).

I fell in love and hurt. I fell from a stair and hurt my elbow; I was in pain for days and in a cast for two weeks just so lucky that my elbow wasn’t fractured. 

The most dreadful thing that happened to me and to my family was the passing of our youngest sister Joan. She was diagnosed with gastrointestinal tuberculosis and after 6 months of treatments she died last February this year at 31 years old. It was a very hard and trying time for us and it hurt us so badly seeing her suffering and we could not do anything to ease her pain. It saddened us very much that she left us but we felt relieved because we know that she is already at peace and not in pain anymore. 

My sister was survived by her eight-year-old daughter and I became an instant mother – which I accepted wholeheartedly. I am planning on legally adopting her and making her my own. 

As I reflect on these memories, I realized that I have so many things to be thankful. There were happy moments and unfortunate ones. I can say that all those things that happened to me made me a better person than before. It also gave me a more purpose in life by giving me a daughter that I will love and care for the rest of my life (although I have been loving her before as my niece).