Pastor: Cemetery Visits in the Season of the Dead Prompt Reflection, and for Christians Death Is Not the End

In Latvian folklore, the period from Michaelmas at the end of September to Martinmas is known as the time of the departed (veļu laiks). During these weeks many people visit cemeteries more often to see relatives and friends who are no longer alive. Such visits encourage reflection and briefly slow down the pace of everyday life. The regional newspaper Zemgales Ziņas asked why this matters in a conversation with Valdis Vircavs, pastor of the Saint Anne Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Jelgava, who also serves the Sesava and Kalnciems-Klīve congregations.

The harvest festival

The pastor first explained the harvest festival, which the church celebrates on the first Sunday of October, as days grow shorter and nights longer. Congregants gather to give thanks for the harvest and for everything God has given. Vircavs stressed that the harvest can be understood more broadly than fruit and vegetables. It is anything a person can share with someone who lacks it, such as time or talents used to bring joy to others.

After the harvest festival, church life enters a somewhat longer quiet period with no major events beyond the usual services. Eternity Sunday, also called the Evening of Candles (Svecīšu vakars), follows soon after.

A Christian view of death

With Eternity Sunday approaching, the newspaper asked whether people ask more often about death and those who have passed away. The pastor said this cannot be claimed. Those who have recently lost a loved one do talk about it, but otherwise there is no marked wish to discuss death. In his view, death is not a dark event or the end of the world for a Christian. Christians live with hope of resurrection and the conviction that death is not the end of everything.