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mask131 · 1 year ago

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Autumn feasts of France: Le jour des Morts

Taken from "L'Inventaire des Fêtes de France, d'hier et d'aujourd'hui"

Le Jour des Morts - the Day of the Deads - on the 2nd of November, was for the Christians the day during which all the dead were to be remembered. It is following All Saints Day (the first of November), feast of all the martyrs and all the saints. Christians, who believe in the resurrection, are convinced that physical death is not the end of their relationship with God: for those that deserve it, death is merely a needed travel towards heaven.

The cult of the defuncts (from the Latin "defunctus", "those that have fulfilled their functions"), present in all civilizations, dates back to Prehistory. The cult of the martyrs (from the Greek "martur", "witness"), celebrated in Rome as soon as the early 7th century BCE, is a form of defunct-worship. This Day of the Deads, or "Jour des Trépassés", Day of the Deceased, placed right after the Toussaint (All Saints Day) was only truly expanded into a full holiday by the monks of Cluny. Saint Odilon, the abbot of Cluny, established it in the beginning of the 11th century in his monasteries, after learning by a pilgrim of Jerusalem all the torments that the deads had to endure "in the furnace in Vesuvius" or in "a deserted, volcanic island". Saint Odilon is in fact usually invoked to grant respite and rest to the souls of purgatory (according to the Christian dogma, the purgatory is a "time of trial allowing the purification of those that are allowed to share the happiness of God").

The Day of the Dead used to be a "jour chômé" (a non-working day). At the end of the 19th century, in the Bretagne region, survived the tradition of burning in the chimney, on Toussaint's evening (the night of All Saints Day), a log, reserved only for the deads that were supposed to visit the house during this night. It was forbidden to use this "log of the dead" for things such as cooking food or heating people. This log is comparable to the Christmas log, which was also very solemnly burned in the chimney. This custom also shows the sacred dimension of the Celtic celebration of Samain (which became Halloween), a time for celebrating the new fire. In Cornwall, a "bellboy of the dead" led a group of people, the bellboy dressed with a tunic covered with bones and tear motifs, and ringing the bells to a funeral tone. Starting at nine o'clock in the evening, they wandered from door to door, singing all the way to sunrise rhymes encouraging people to stay awake and not fall asleep (or to wake up if they were asleep), so that they could pray for the dead. They also begged for money each household they visited - and the collected money was used for funeral masses.

In several regions of France, this nocturnal "Wake up" chant did exist - but it was used for the Holy Week, as people sang to wake up the Christians so that they would "go see our (the singers') master, who died for you".

Nowadays, the Toussaint/All Saints Day replaced the Day of the Dead in the customs of many Christian, since it is upon this day that families gather in cemeteries to place flowers upon the graves of their ancestors.

#french holidays #the day of the dead #french celebrations #french culture #france #french customs #christian celebrations #french christianity #christianity #autumn feasts #autumn celebrations #autumn

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illustratus · 1 year ago

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