Ognissanti And

[little2add]

we celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, on November 1st and November 2nd respectively. All Saints’ Day, Ognissanti in Italian, is the feast of all the Saints of the Catholic calendar and it is a public holiday, exactly like Christmas or Easter. We do not work nor go to school on that day.  All Souls’ Day is called Giorno dei Morti in Italian and it is the day when we remember those who have departed.

Actually, both days are devoted to the dead. On November 1st, it is customary to go to Mass and then visit the cemetery. Quite frequently, Mass is held directly at the cemetery, some other times Mass is held in the church and then there’s a procession that takes people to the cemetery, where the priest blesses the dead.

During the last week of October, cemeteries in Italy are quite busy and crowded with people. People clean and prepare graves, decorating them with fresh flowers, and visit the tombs of faraway relatives and friends.

Did you know that chrysanthemums are the flowers of the dead, here in Italy? 

I did some research to understand why it is so, but I haven’t found a proper answer. Surely. this must be partly because they are in bloom at the end of October/beginning of November, but I don’t know if there’s another reason for that. Sure is that chrysanthemums are closely linked to the Day of the Dead and no Italian would ever give them as a present to anyone. Keep that in mind if you are coming to Italy and want to give a nice bunch of flowers to someone!