Deacon Steven Ferran blesses the graves at La Fontaine Hilltop Cemetery in Lacombe celebrating La Toussaint, All Saints Day, with annual lighting of graves in 2021.
FILE PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Ruby DuCre-Gethers makes the evening trek with her family from Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church to Williams Cemetery every year on All Saints Day.
It's one of 11 cemeteries in Lacombe, where the graves are lit by candles at dusk to honor the deceased. But Williams Cemetery is special to DuCre-Gethers.
"It's my family cemetery," she said. "I'm 68 years old, and I've been doing this for 68 years."
Placing candles on tombs and graves isn't as widespread among Louisiana Catholic churches as other All Saints Day traditions, but it does have a special meaning.
Ayden Nunn lights candles on a family grave on All Saints Day at the La Fontaine-Hilltop Cemetery in Lacombe in 2025.
STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD
"The candles are a sign of prayer and a sign of faith," said the Rev. Alexander Albert, director of the Diocese of Lafayette's Office of Worship.
Albert likens the All Saints Day grave candles to those marking the beginning of life at baptism.
"At a Catholic baptism, we pour water on the child, and we pray," he said. "But one of the things we always do is hand either parent or godparent a candle, and they light that candle from the Easter candle."
From there, they say, "This is the light of faith."
Albert said that many candle ceremonies are a reference to the baptismal candle and first receiving the light of faith.
"A candlelight ceremony on All Saints Day is usually a way of saying, 'Hey, we're going to remember the light of faith in a special way,'" he said.
And though not all churches use candles to observe the feast day honoring all saints in heaven, both named and unnamed, most follow the standard traditions of cleaning and priests' blessings of prayer and holy water.
Candles light up the cemetery at the All Saints Day lighting of graves at the Madisonville Cemeter.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY IRIS VACANTE
Feast day traditions overlapΒ
This is where traditions overlap as a few lines get blurred in modern times, with the merging of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
They're not one and the same. While All Saints Day celebrates those who are in heaven on Nov. 1, All Souls Day on Nov. 2 is a day of prayer for those who are not yet there.
"All Souls Day is more solemn and somber," Albert said. "It's more penitential and it's more prayerful. It's about, 'Hey, my loved ones weren't bad, so they didn't go to hell, but they weren't saints, so we're praying that they can make the final step into heaven.'"
However, hectic schedules often prevent parishioners from attending Masses and church ceremonies on two consecutive days.
Father Thomas Kilasara blesses the graves at La Fontaine Hilltop Cemetery in Lacombe to celebrate La Toussaint, All Saints Day in 2021.
FILE PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
"The cleaning and blessing of the tombs are actually All Souls Day traditions, but All Saints Day is already a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church, when people are more likely to go to Mass," Albert said. "So, the church will go ahead and do the blessing of the graves on that day, because more people are there."
In Louisiana, the one-day observance is called La Toussaint, French for All Saints Day.
Cleaning begins early
Back in the St. Tammany Parish community of Lacombe, DuCre-Gethers, like so many Catholics throughout the state, started cleaning her deceased family members' graves in the weeks leading to All Saints Day. Grass was trimmed, weeds pulled, tombs whitewashed and fresh flowers placed.
The cemetery isn't ignored during the year. DuCre-Gethers' great-grandfather organized the benevolent society Keys of Charity No. 4 in Lacombe in 1906 to maintain the grounds.
"So, it's the members of this group, and our family membersΒ β our children and grandchildren and cousinsΒ β who go out and clean Williams Cemetery," she said. "We do it all ourselves."
Candles are lit to honor the deceased in the Madisonville Cemetery on All Saints Day.Β
PROVIDED PHOTO BY IRIS VACANTE
And these cleanings have a special meaning among Catholic families.
"In Christianity, one of the central points is that we look forward to the resurrection," Albert said. "We all know we're going to die, but we also know at the end of time, we'll get new bodies or our bodies back in a better form. So, even after we die, there's this attitude of reverence and respect for the body because we know that we're going to get one back."
Albert added that it's also a way of showing devotion and love for the deceased.
History also is honored
Meanwhile, in Madisonville, All Saints Day traditions are attached to local history in the Madisonville Cemetery.
"Its the oldest cemetery on (Lake Pontchartrain's) northshore," said Iris Vacante, who heads the Friends of the Madisonville Cemetery. "Ours is not a church cemetery, but we do have the priest from St. Anselm Catholic Church come out and bless the graves on All Saints Day. It was a community cemetery, then it became family cemetery, then a church cemetery, then it went back to the community."
Father David Doyle blesses the graves as children light some candles in the Madisonville Cemetery on All Saints Day in 2025.
FILE PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
The town of Madisonville, also in St. Tammany Parish, now owns the cemetery, which is in the process of being restored.
"The oldest burial here, that we have a record on, is 1790," Vacante said.
Some notable figures in Louisiana history, including members of Louisiana Gov. William C.C. Claiborne's family, are buried there. And though not all deceased were Catholic, the Friends group makes sure the All Saints Day ceremonies adhere to the church's traditions while shining a light on the cemetery's history.
And one way of doing that is lighting candles in the evening, a tradition the Rev. Tom Ranzino experienced when he was pastoring St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Pierre Part. He's since retired as the director of the Office of Worship in the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.Β
Part of Cajun culture
"The candles are not exclusively a Catholic tradition, but I believe it's very strong in the Cajun culture, because their family traditions are so strong," Ranzino said. "Part of our tradition at the Easter vigil is lighting the Easter candle each year, and it represents Christ being our light in the darkness and death."
He said that placing candles on graves is another way of connecting with the Easter light that proclaims Christ has risen from the dead.
In the meantime, DuCre-Gethers looks forward to the All Saints Day visit to her family cemetery. The post-Mass procession from Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church once led to Williams Cemetery, but the focus is now on the La Fontaine Hilltop Cemetery.
"The path to our cemetery goes through the trees, and they didn't want to walk there in the dark," she said. "But it's a good road."
She said that some may want to drive to reach the site, but she prefers to walk.
"The cemetery is surrounded by bamboo, which has protected it," she said. "It literally looks like a room, and when we light the candles, it's beautiful."