La Toussaint is celebrated on 1st November in France. Across the land, families gather at the graves of their dearly departed and place chrysanthemums, symbol of death. Known as 'flowering of the tombs', generations of families unite in order to remember the dead. France remains a devoutly Catholic country and maintains its traditions which to me, orphan and without siblings, is wonderful to observe. The Catholic faith is also civilising: families abandon their differences for an annual pilgrimage where it is not about them but those who have died.
I went to mass last Sunday and as much as I groaned at the priest's extra long homily, the message of loving one another as Christ loved us was not lost on me.
I don't have family tombs to place flowers upon. Just memories of a far away place, a time so long ago.
Photos copyright SvD.
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