Every culture has significant and unique rituals surrounding death and funerals. In Mexican communities, death is as important a stage in life as any other rite of passage we celebrate. This feeling goes as far back as to the Mayan and Aztec worlds. The casual and accepting attitude toward death is a part of being Mexican.
With the introduction of Catholicism, the old rituals combined with the church’s beliefs to form a deeply spiritual attitude toward death. One of the holidays that is celebrated by Mexicans and Mexican Americans alike is the Day of the Dead. Westerners sometimes do not understand this day of remembrance and mistake it for an irreverent celebration. This is far from what it is meant to be, which is a day to honor those who are deceased.The celebration includes decorated and doll-like skeletons that play instruments, dance, and sing. This celebration is an affirmation of an afterlife and a way to ease the grief that they have experienced.
Most Mexican Americans are Catholic, and a funeral is a sacred part of life. Many friends and family members attend and honor the deceased, assisted through the mass by the priest. If the family lives in a rural location, the funeral might take place in the home of a family member. Again, numbers of friends and family members come to pay their respects and strengthen their connection to all who attend. In such a setting, the casket might be placed on a table or might be placed beneath burning candles and herbs. If the family lives in town, the wake can take place at a mortuary. Either way, the ceremony ends with a church mass.
During the church mass, a mariachi band may play. This is a way to show respect and comfort the family of the deceased. Mariachi Alegre de Tucson follows in this tradition and is proud to offer this service to the family.It is with great care and much sympathy that they participate in this celebration of the beloved family member who has died. This has been a Mexican tradition for over 100 years.
The music of the mariachi band is one way to take away some of the pain and sorrow being experienced by the family. Mariachi Alegre de Tucson believes that their music also enables a connection between the older and younger generations. Many of the deceased are of the age to have been raised to the sounds of Mexican music. Mariachi Alegre hopes that their music is a demonstration to the young people attending the service that the life of the music, the spirit of the mariachi is a way in which the deceased can remain connected to his loved ones.
Other countries, Italy, for example, have similar customs. Can you remember the funeral ceremony in the film The Godfather? This is a tradition carried on today. Also, in New Orleans, many still have the jazz band playing sad music as the procession moves to the burial site. But, once the departed is interred, the band and family members dance to happy, even joyous music as they process away from the site. This represents the celebration that the deceased will have in heaven that very day.
Please contact us if you need our services in this way. It is a privilege to offer our music in this manner.
Mass (Misa) in town (en el pueblo): $225 hr (hora)
Mass (Misa) out of town (afuera) : $325 hr (hora)
We can offer reduced prices with mass and burial.
Call (520) 981-3459
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