Undas: Remembering the Dead, Examining the Living

By Fr. Francis A. Tordilla

Every November, our cemeteries become small towns. Families gather around tombs, clean gravestones, light candles, offer flowers, share food, and keep vigil through the night. For a few days, the dead bring the living together. We remember names, revisit stories, and return to places where love and grief have left their mark.

There is something deeply beautiful about this Filipino instinct. We do not easily forget our dead.

Even the word Undas carries a history of remembrance. It is generally traced to the Spanish honras, meaning honors or tributes, as in honras fúnebres, the rites performed in honor of the deceased. Through linguistic adaptation, honras eventually became undas in popular Filipino usage. Contrary to a popular explanation, it is not an acronym for Unos Días de las Almas y de los Santos (De La Cruz, 2025; PressOnePH, 2022). In Bikol, it’s more straightforward: “Pyestang Kalag” or Feast of Souls. 

Yet a tradition must continually be examined in the light of the faith it professes. Do we remember our dead as Christians, or have we allowed remembrance to become an annual cultural 

routine?

Two days, one communion

The Solemnity of All Saints grew out of the early Church’s veneration of martyrs. An important milestone came in 609 or 610, when Pope Boniface IV received the Pantheon in Rome from Emperor Phocas and dedicated it as a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all martyrs. A temple once dedicated to the gods of Rome became a Christian place of worship. Later, Pope Gregory III established a celebration of all saints on November 1, which Pope Gregory IV extended to the universal Church (Davis, 2010).

All Souls’ Day developed along a related path. Around 1030, St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, directed the monasteries under his care to commemorate all the faithful departed on the day following All Saints. Their observance included Masses, psalms, prayers, and almsgiving (Odilo of Cluny, ca. 1030/1701).

The sequence is significant. On November 1, we celebrate those who have attained the fullness of life with God. On November 2, we pray for the faithful departed, entrusting them to God’s mercy and praying for those undergoing purification.

Both celebrations proclaim the communion of saints: the spiritual bond uniting the faithful on earth, the souls being purified, and those already enjoying the glory of heaven. Death does not destroy this communion. In Christ, love is not imprisoned by the grave.

When remembrance loses its meaning

Our Filipino practice of Undas deserves an honest examination.

We crowd cemeteries on November 1, but do we remember that it is first and foremost the Solemnity of All Saints? We spend hours beside the graves of our loved ones, yet sometimes neglect the Eucharist. We bring flowers and food, but how often do we offer prayers, have Masses celebrated, or extend charity in the name of those who have died?

In some cemeteries, vigils become occasions for excessive drinking, card games, blaring music, and indiscriminate waste. Candles and flowers abound, but prayer becomes secondary. A place that ought to invite silence, reverence, and reflection becomes another venue for entertainment.

Family gatherings and sharing food are not inherently contrary to Christian faith. They can express solidarity, gratitude, and affection. But we must ask whether these practices have deepened our understanding of Christian hope or gradually displaced it.

We can spend an entire night beside a grave and still fail to pray for the person buried there. We can decorate a tomb beautifully and neglect the spiritual work that the Church asks of us.

The danger of transactional remembrance

There is another uncomfortable dimension that deserves attention, particularly within the Church.

Every year, many families request Mass intentions for their departed loved ones. This is a legitimate and beautiful expression of faith. The Eucharist is the Church’s highest prayer, and offering it for the dead is an ancient practice. Yet we must examine how this devotion is sometimes understood and administered.

Have we reduced remembrance to the number of Masses requested, the amount of the offering, or the elaborate arrangements made for the deceased? Have we unintentionally encouraged a transactional understanding of spiritual care, where people begin to associate the efficacy of prayer with what they can afford to give?

The Eucharist is not a commodity. God’s mercy cannot be purchased.

Mass offerings support the Church and its ministers, and the Church recognizes the legitimate practice of accepting offerings for Mass intentions. But the offering is not the price of the Eucharist, nor does it determine the measure of God’s grace. Canon law itself cautions against even the appearance of trafficking in sacred things (Code of Canon Law, 1983, cann. 945–947).

This calls for a pastoral examination of conscience. Do we explain the meaning of Mass intentions adequately as we distribute envelopes generously? Do we make people feel that their departed loved ones are somehow less remembered when they cannot afford an offering? Are our pastoral structures equally attentive to families who have little or nothing to give?

There is a related social question: while we make provisions for the spiritual care of the dead, how seriously do we attend to the material needs of the living?

What does it mean to spend generously on flowers, candles, and elaborate tombs while nearby families struggle to provide food, medicine, education, or even a dignified burial for their own dead?

St. Odilo’s practice offers an important reminder. His commemoration of the departed included almsgiving. Prayer for the dead was accompanied by charity for the living. Pope Francis likewise insists that the Church’s concern for the poor is rooted in the very heart of the Gospel, not merely in social activism (Francis, 2013, paras. 198–201).

Perhaps our parishes could make Undas an occasion for organized works of mercy: assistance for indigent burials, support for bereaved families, food and medical assistance, and scholarships for children who have lost their breadwinners. A separate, voluntary Undas charity offering could complement the customary Mass intentions.

The challenge is clear: Can we honestly claim to honor the dead while remaining indifferent to the suffering of the living?

Recovering the meaning of Undas

Recovering the Christian meaning of Undas calls for a few concrete commitments:

• Return to the Eucharist. Celebrate All Saints’ Day as a solemnity and participate in the Mass for the faithful departed on November 2.

• Make prayer central. Pray the rosary, read Scripture, and entrust our departed loved ones to God’s mercy.

• Offer Masses without commodifying grace. Teach the faithful the meaning of Mass intentions and the spiritual value of praying for the dead, regardless of one’s financial capacity.

• Rediscover indulgences. From November 1 to 8, the faithful may obtain a plenary indulgence applicable to the souls in purgatory by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed. The usual conditions apply: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, and complete detachment from sin (Paul VI, 1967).

• Make remembrance an act of charity. Support indigent burial assistance, bereaved households, and other parish social services. Let the memory of our departed inspire care for those whom society has forgotten.

• Respect the cemetery as sacred ground. Keep graves clean, dispose of waste properly, and preserve an atmosphere of prayer and reverence.

What does our remembrance say about how we live?

Undas is ultimately a reminder of our own mortality. The names engraved on tombstones speak of people who once worked, dreamed, struggled, loved, and hoped. Some left behind wealth and accomplishments; others left little except the memory of their kindness. In the end, what remains is not simply what we possessed but what we gave, not merely what we achieved but how we loved.

All Saints’ Day challenges us to pursue holiness as our common Christian vocation. All Souls’ Day reminds us to sustain our communion with the departed through prayer and hope.

Perhaps we should bring home two questions from the cemetery: Are we living lives worthy of the faith we profess? And when we leave the cemetery, will we carry with us a renewed responsibility toward the living?

Our departed need our prayers. The living need our compassion, solidarity, and concrete works of mercy. The greatest tribute we can offer those who have gone before us is to allow their memory to make us more generous, more compassionate, and more committed to building a community where no one is forgotten.

May Undas become a genuine celebration of communion, a school of Christian hope, and a summons to charity. For in Christ, death does not have the final word.

References

Code of Canon Law. (1983). Codex iuris canonici. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/cic_index_en.html

Davis, R. (Trans.). (2010). The book of pontiffs (Liber pontificalis): The ancient biographies of the first ninety Roman bishops to AD 715 (3rd ed.). Liverpool University Press. (Original work compiled ca. 530–715)

De La Cruz, C. I. (2025, October 29). The Spanish origin of the Filipino word Undas. Esquire Philippines. https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/the-spanish-origin-of-the-filipino-word-undas-a3690-20251029

Francis. (2013, November 24). Evangelii gaudium: Apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html

Odilo of Cluny. (1701). Statutum de defunctis. In J. Mabillon (Ed.), Acta sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti (Saec. VI, Pt. 1, p. 585). Paris. (Original work issued ca. 1030)

Paul VI. (1967, January 1). Indulgentiarum doctrina: Apostolic constitution on the revision of indulgences. The Holy See. https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_01011967_indulgentiarum-doctrina.html

PressOnePH. (2022, October 28). Fact-check: Where did the word ‘Undas’ come from? https://pressone.ph/fact-check-where-did-the-word-undas-come-from/