Socialising 89external mourning, but this practice is more obvious in the
countryside and among very traditional families. Today, it
is a matter of personal choice whether or not to dress in
black for an extended period.
One month following the death of a loved one and
then every year on the anniversary of the death, a full
Catholic mass may be offered in the deceased’s memory.
Other families may opt to offer their prayers in silence.
On 1 November, All Saints’ Day, family members go to the
cemetery to visit the grave of a loved one.
In the past, the remains were interred in mausoleum type
concrete blocks. Only the wealthy could afford graves in the
ground. A common practice was to remove the remains
of a spouse from the mausoleum after a period of time,
place them in an urn and return them to the mausoleum.
This allowed both spouses to be buried together. Newer
cemeteries tend to offer graves in the ground.
Many people send flowers when a person has died to offer
their condolences. A growing number of people now prefer
to make a donation to charity in memory of the deceased.
The charity then sends a sympathy card with the name of
the donor to the family. An obituary is placed in the paper
to announce a person’s death. Friends may take out their
own notices in the paper to remember the deceased.
In rural areas funerals can be a much more involved
affair. The wake itself can last for a few days, either at the
deceased’s home or the local church. Many mourners bring
food and the eating continues until the funeral takes place.
In the event that a baby has died, the mourners sometimes
hold a Velorio del Angelito (Little Angel’s Wake). It is widely
believed that the baby will go straight to heaven, so it cannot
be a mournful event.