The Virgin Mary, Saint Expeditus, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, among others venerated by the Catholic Church, were personified this Tuesday by girls and boys from Jujuy who came out to resignify their preaching with the delivery of stamps, all as part of a unique celebration for the All Saints’ Day that grows in the province.
“It is about revaluing our own culture, just like today with All Souls’ Day; to revalue our faith and the values that this implies, which we want not to be lost,” Mariana García, director of the Hogar Nuestra Señora de Belén, told Télam, one of the spaces from which the initiative has been replicated for seven years.
He added that there is a whole preparation during previous days in which the lives of the saints are shared with the children. “They were people as human as we are, with weaknesses, who by the grace of God have come forward in this journey of the world and have been able to reach the glory of the Lord,” he pondered what they bet on transmitting, in his case especially to Franchesca, her six-year-old daughter, who personified the Virgen del Carmen.
Finally, García indicated that the day of celebration is lived like a birthday and the children have fun, which has caused the initiative to spread, with invitations from the church and other multiple spaces. “There are several moms who were sharing with us, they loved it and today they are replicating it in their neighborhoods, even in other locations,” he pondered in this regard.
Along with their parents, it is the children themselves who choose who to personify and many times that decision has to do with the saint on which their name is inspired or special graces that accompany the life of the family.
In this sense, Valeria, Elena’s mother, Simón and Juan Cruz, ages 7, 6 and 5, who were found representing Santa Elena, San Juan de la Cruz, and Pedro Ortiz de Zárate, a priest of Jujuy recently beatified by Pope Francis.
“We are a family of faith and they know that they have their patron saint linked to their names, so two chose to come representing them,” Valeria told Télam.
“All this is very beautiful, much more than yesterday’s celebration, because it gives the opportunity to approach the life of faith through the experience that the saints had,” Valeria finally highlighted about the initiative.
“A neighbor invited us and we decided to come. It is good for them to know a little more about religion and faith, and also to integrate them and have fun”, valued, on the other hand, Esteban, father India Samaria, who just turned two years old represented the Virgin Mary.
The celebration program began with the first sharing of a sweet table and fresh drinks. Then there was a mini pilgrimage from the Hogar Nuestra Señora de Belén, located in the Mariano Moreno neighborhood of the capital city.
Singing “the church is passing through here”, the children handed out holy cards to the residents of the neighborhood and went to a nursing home located nearby where they were blessed. Finally, they returned to the starting point, where they continued celebrating as if they were on a birthday and also paraded telling about the saint they represented.
What is the Day of the Dead about?
The Day of the Dead, which in Jujuy is known as the Day of the Soulsis celebrated in Jujuy with offerings of bread, flowers, multicolored crowns, traditional foods, multiple drinks, and a kind of altar with images of loved ones who are no longer physically in this world.
The tradition accounts for the religiosity of a large part of the inhabitants of the extreme north of the country, but with a strong local popular imprint of their experiences and customs, evidenced in a jar of chicha on the table or perhaps the song of a heartfelt copla during the day.
The loaves arranged one on top of the other simulate crosses, angels, ladders, doves, images of adults and children, and others that represent what the deceased loved in his life, such as a pet or a guitar.
The local imprint is evident when drinks, such as wine, are added to the treat, and “people from the north are used to making the peanut or corn girl, which is one of the drinks that is never lacking,” he added.
During this day, the neighbors and relatives approach the different houses where the offering tables were set up, “Generally where there are new souls, that is, souls that left this year. There we pray and share a drink, perhaps a song and there is no shortage of anecdotes of people who have left this land, ”he revealed.
For this Wednesday the people of Jujuy prepare to visit the cemeteries and holy fields where the remains of their loved ones restsites that will take on a marked color due to the number of flowers and crowns that are deposited in the place.
In that framework, the Provincial government decreed for this Wednesday school and administrative holiday in order to collaborate with the popular and religious expressions that a large part of the community shares these days.
In recent days, the tradition caused the “Fairs of offerings and flowers” to be put into operation in various locations in the province of Jujuy, where a wide variety of products and flower arrangements were offered to commemorate the “Day of Souls and Faithful Departed.
More than a hundred entrepreneurs settled in the facilities of the Manuel Belgrano Cultural Center in San Salvador, to sell everything from bread to dumplings made with sweet cayote, rosquetes and sweet capias, typical preparations that are added to the offering table.
