“SALGA, salga, salga” (“Come out, come out, come out”). The plaintive cry emanates from a darkened cemetery on the island of Janitzio in Lake Pátzcuaro, Mexico. There a devout Tarascan Indian beseeches his dead relative with the aid of a written prayer. “Let the Holy Rosary break the chains that bind you,” he implores.

It is the Day of the Dead. From the early hours, women and children have bedecked their family burial places with flower petals and decorated wooden frames. They have placed offerings of fruit and pastries in front of the graves. And now they brave the chill of night to chant prayers or keep a silent vigil in the pale light of thousands of flickering candles lighted on behalf of the dead.

What seems strange or even bizarre to an outside observer is for these people a time-honored religious tradition: the Catholic celebration of All Souls’ Day. In many Latin American lands, tradition dictates that thousands of believers flock to the graveyards and offer written prayers and gifts for their dead.

For example, All Souls’ Day virtually parallels the Buddhist festival of “Ullambana,” a day set aside for “the expression of filial piety to deceased ancestors and the release of spirits from bondage to this world.” (The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1976 edition, Micropædia, Volume 1, page 260)