Family members honor loved ones on All Souls’ Day

Retired Maria de Jesus, 70 years old, cast a look of affection and serenity at the tomb of her son, Sebastião Evangelista, while an employee at the Campo da Esperança cemetery, in Asa Sul, in Brasília, cleaned the tombstone and planted grass seedlings new.

“I always come on this date, only during the pandemic years that I didn’t come, but you have to be careful. I know he feels it. Life goes on, and he is following his spiritual life on another plane”, he told Agência Brasil’s report this Saturday (2). Her son, the third of six, passed away at just 27 years old, in 2006. Accompanied by her daughter, she has been repeating this ritual for almost 18 years. “It is a tribute to love and longing, and to know that he is alive in our memory.”

A national holiday observed annually on November 2, All Souls’ Day follows a centuries-old Catholic tradition of honoring the dead. The date attracts millions of people to cemeteries across the country. In the Federal District, the Secretariat of Justice and Citizenship (Sejus-DF), responsible for coordinating the concession of cemeteries in the DF, estimates that more than 600 thousand people will pass through the six public cemetery units this Saturday.

To welcome family members who come to visit their loved ones, the district government mobilized a large contingent of police officers and public servants. Tents for consultations with psychologists, guidance on funeral services and ombudsman service are being offered to the population, in addition to the provision of vans for movement between different points. DF cemeteries will continue to have their gates open from 7am to 6pm, during extended hours. In addition to Asa Sul, the DF has cemeteries in the administrative regions of Taguatinga, Gama, Sobradinho, Planaltina and Brazlândia.

The movement in Campo da Esperança, the largest cemetery in the federal capital, was intense in the morning, with many cars and thousands of people. Idalina Amorim Oliveira, 73 years old, was visiting the graves of her brother-in-law and sister, who died just a year ago. “The grieving process is very gradual, but every time I come here, I remember the love that will never end”, he says.

For the Undersecretary of Land Affairs at Sejus-DF, Gilce Santanna, the visitation movement only takes place on November 2nd, but one day before and after. “Yesterday it was very busy and tomorrow the movement should continue.”

Spiritual welcome groups and masses held by the Archdiocese of Brasília also take place throughout the day.