The Irish standard., 1903-11-07
ALL SAINTS, DAY.

All Saints Day. Halloween has some
significance because of the license
granted to the young to indulge in
FRANKS. But in most sections of the
United States the first day of Novem-
Der has no especial significance to the
public in general. There is ut least
one city in the country where the re-
verse is true, and that is New Orleans.
the Catholic City of the South. 1t is
what Decoration Day is in the North,
and more, for Decoration Day is
simply Il memorial day for the dead
who served in the Civil War. All
Saints Day is, in Catholic sense,
what the name implies: day on
which the living remember the dead,
not outwardly by decorating graves,
but inwardly with prayer and suppll-
cation. In New Orleans, All Saints
Day is all that the day is to Catholics
of Northern city, and in addition
thereto it is day for decorating the
lOluuo VI llIC uCuu"lOI Ilclc are uO
graves; the water being so close to
the surface the bodies of the dead are
placed in tombs instead of graves.
The Crescent City, true to it's French
and Spanish origin, has many fetes
and festivals and All Saints Day is
one of the most important and interest
ing Of these. There the customs con-
nected with the day, dating back for
ten centuries, are observed. In the
morning the greater portion of the
population attends mass, and during
the day give up their usual work and
repair, with flowers, to the cemeteries
on the outskirts of the city, where
they deposit their floral wreaths upon
the tombs. Even aside from the re-
ligious character of the day, it is a
most beautiful and touching festival.
With us, Decoration Day has been ell
larged upon, until now many people
Oh that day remember their dead in
some outward way, regardless Of
whether they served in the war or not
No change or improvement ON Ali
Saints Day is necessary. 1t was in
stituted in the hast years of the tenth
century as the day of the year espe
cially given up by the living for pray
or and meditation for all the dead
1t is day when men are called upon
to turn their thoughts to religion and
away from the usual works and gay
cites Of the world. Decoration Day,
instituted as Il national memorial day
to the lives of departed soldiers of the
Civil War, has already within few
years from its institution become a
mere holiday given up to the enjoy
ment of the living. The object for
which it was instituted has already
become secondary. All Saints Day,
after thousand years, retains it's orig
inal character and is in all Catholic
countries the feast of the dead. Even
to Catholics from other parts of the
United States the general observance
of the day in New Orleans is Il sight
not readily to be forgotten. For not.
withstanding the national gayety of
the French, Spanish and Italian popu-
lation, the city is intensely religious
and ObServnnt of the feast days of
the Church. They cast aside their
ordinary work and give the entire day
to observing the purpose for which the
feast was instituted. For weeks pre-
vious the Catholic supply stores in the
old French quarter are busily en-
gagged selling ornaments used by the
people in decorating the tombs. The
observance of the day is holy and
wholesome custom which reflects the
religion and sentiments of the people
Our Catholic cities in the North ar,
too busy to even attend mass in the
morning of that day, but we should
remember that those who constitute
these cities to-day will fifty years from
now he in the silent cities of the
dead, the cemeteries. which are now
never visited by us unless to bury
some relative or friend