After drizzles and overcast skies in Cebu yesterday, expect some rain when visiting cemeteries today for All Souls’ Day.
“People are advised to bring umbrellas. The rain may last throughout the day,” Al Alcazar of Pag-asa Mactan said.
Cebu will experience scattered rainfall due to an Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Visayas and Mindanao, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (Pag-asa).
The ITCZ and a low-pressure area in Mindanao may subside by tomorrow.
The light rain yesterday didn’t stop families from flocking to cemeteries yesterday, All Saints’ Day, to light candles, offer flowers, pray and hold picnics near tombs of their departed loved ones.
Masses were offered every hour at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral yesterday and the Sto. Rosario Church from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Msgr. Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer, said the day was dedicated for praying for souls of the dead who were beatified, canonized and whose souls are already in heaven.
“It’s a day to thank God and celebrate. Instead of spending it in the cemetery, the celebration should be in church,” Dakay said.
Traditionally, however, crowds peak at cemeteries on Nov. 1 rather than Nov. 2.
Dakay said that today, which is All Souls’ Day, should be commemorated in the cemetery. He said it is the day to pray for souls in purgatory to help “cleanse imperfections of the soul” before they can enter heaven.
He said lighting a candle is a representation of “living faith.” The candle light represents one’s faith while the heat represents a person’s good works.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas reminded the public to dispose of trash properly and said cemeteries should have garbage bins to encourage waste segregation. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter