Día de los Muertos, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day: Is There a Difference?

Lucienna Guess is entering her junior year at the University of Kansas, majoring in English and Philosophy. She has also served as a student assistant at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, participating on the OCIA team. This summer Lucienna is working as a curriculum intern at Ave Maria Press. She offers this entrance activity where students complete a matching activity to learn about the difference between Día de los Muertos, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is celebrated from November 1st through November 2nd. It is a holiday in Latin America to recognize that death is simply another milestone in one’s life and not something that should generate fear or anxiety.

It may be surprising to find out that it is not actually a Catholic holiday in and of itself; despite the connection to Catholicism through honoring and often praying for those who have died.

But what about the Catholic feast days on November 1st and 2nd? Those are All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day respectively.

These feast days have a very similar theme to Día de los Muertos and are celebrated at the same time.

Help your students to recognize the differences and similarities by creating a handout and having them complete the matching activity below. 

  HANDOUT

Place each of the phrases in the bank below into the category it best fits into. Each phrase will only be utilized once. 

 PLACE IN THE CORRECT CATEGORY

ANSWER KEY

 Photo Reference: Fra Angelico, The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, 1423-24 (Photo: Public Domain)