Through a Glass Darkly for November 5, 2009

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Nov 5, 2009 - Page: 1D

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Growing up Baptist, I didn’t participate in All Saints Day, though living along Bayou Lafourche exposed me to the concept at an early age.

To be honest, I’ve seldom thought much about the day, but this year I got a feel for its beauty.

Though mainly thought of as a Catholic tradition, a number of faiths observed the day Sunday.

The theology behind those services varied as greatly as the means in which different churches commemorated it.

Some churches had congregants bring pictures of departed loved ones. Some churches had people bring flowers.

The celebration my wife, Mary, and I attended began shortly before sunset in the cemetery adjacent to a beautiful old wooden church in Hungarian Settlement.

The graves in the cemetery of Albany Hungarian Presbyterian Church go back to the early members of that settlement, some of whom came to Livingston Parish more than 100 years ago.

Some words are etched in Hungarian. Tombstones bear such names as Kovach and Fekete.

Carved into other markers are such names as Jones and King. Some of the non-Hungarian names were Anglicized, some are of non-Hungarians who joined the church or married into this tightly knit community.

As might be expected in Louisiana, there is even an Arceneaux.

The cemetery exudes the signs of being manicured by people who care about their ancestors and about their community as a whole.

On Sunday the graves were adorned with fresh flowers and ringed with candles. As darkness fell, the rows of graves glowed in candlelight and the reflection of a full moon. Around the graves, people gathered in small clumps to visit living relatives and friends and to tell stories about the departed. Some brought lawn chairs and sat by the graves of their ancestors. Others stood or sat on benches around the cemetery’s stately live oaks.

As the candles burned into the night, some people went home for supper and then returned to continue the vigil.