All Saints day New Orleans style

All Saints Day finds families celebrating the past

By NOLA.com | The Times-PicayuneThe Times-Picayune
on November 01, 2012

Enlarge Brett Duke, The Times-PicayuneSt. Peter Catholic Church Pastor Martin Smullen spreads incense during the blessing of the graves at the church's cemetery following a Mass in Reserve Thursday, November 1, 2012. Photo by Brett Duke, Nola.com | The Times-PicayuneAll Saints Day in Reserve gallery (9 photos)

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The line between the present and the past blurs in New Orleans. On All Saints Day, it tends to vanish altogether.
All Saints Day, Nov. 1, is a day when families gather in graveyards to spruce up the tombstones of their loved ones. It is the busiest day of the year for cemeteries in the metro area, as families gather to clean tombs and adorn them with flowers, paying tribute to long-gone ancestors. But this being New Orleans, it is also a chance to socialize, too.

Enlarge Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-PicayuneDolores Tinson waits by her family graves, fashioned with simple wooden crosses as Father Joseph Tran sprinkles holy water on the tombs at St. Thomas Church in Pointe a la Hache, La in celebration of All Saints Day, Thursday November 1, 2012. Tinson has 20 family members buried at the site and made all the crosses herself. (Photo by Ted Jackson, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)Catholics celebrate All Saints Day in Pointe a la Hache gallery (4 photos)

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In centuries past, All Saints Day was taken so seriously that people might have been judged by the manner in which they cared for the family tomb. Society would shame anyone who allowed the family tomb to fall into disrepair.
From Reserve to Pointe a la Hache, priests blessed graves as families prayed, swept and planted. At Lake Lawn Cemetery in Metairie, New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond blessed the extension of All Saints Mausoleum before Mass.

Enlarge Dinah Rogers, NOLA.com | The Times-PicayuneArchbishop Aymond was on hand to bless the All Saints Mausoleum expansion site along with leading the annual All Saints Day Mass on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, at Lake Lawn Meteirie Funeral Home and Cemeteries. (Dinah Rogers, NOLA.com / The Times-Picayune)Annual All Saints Day Mass at Lake Lawn Metairie gallery (6 photos)

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