Cultural and Heritage Events

Culture is an integral dimension of faith. University Ministry opens spaces for students, faculty, and staff to celebrate particular cultural traditions that make the Church a diverse and living community. These are moments of immersion in history and the lived experiences of faith of various peoples. We invite our communities into rich and textured narratives presented within their complex contexts.

El Día de los Muertos 2020 Ofrenda
The Spirit de la Comunidad

Bienvenidos! The 2020 Día de los Muertos Virtual Ofrenda, entitled, "Spirit de la Comunidad" is the result of a dynamic collaboration between student leaders in University Ministry’s Sr. Melissa Waters, OP Internship program and students from courses and disciplines across the curriculum. The images you see emerged from the imaginations of students in classes taught by Prof. Anthony Suárez-Abraham and Prof. Allyson West, titled “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of a New Creation” and “Quantity Food Production and Service."

Remembrances are offered on five second intervals on the video above. We invite you to witness, pray, accompany, and celebrate the lives featured here and pause as you need to read and be with those that we remember.

As a community of faith, Dominican gathers as a sign and living witness to those who have gone before us to the newness of life. In this same Spirit, the community stands at the ofrenda as instruments in the process that guides the world towards a more just and humane existence. It is in the Spirit of the risen Christ that la Comunidad is united as a sacrament no matter where we are, offering its own daily life, for the life of the world to come. The theme of the Spirit and its implication for community and communal life is deeply embedded in the tradition of the ofrenda, in both its Christian and indigenous roots. In these traditions the Spirit functions to unite each individual as a community that then witnesses throughout time and space as the people of God. It is this spirit that unites us today, not only to one another but also and at the same time to our loved one(s) that have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

Submit an image (and optional memorial narrative) of a loved one that you would like to remember during this year’s virtual celebration of the Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos ofrenda.

Click here to access the submission site for details and guidelines.

We welcome the memory of your loved one in our fiesta.

Past Events and Annual Opportunities
  • Día de los Muertos: exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art and altars on campus
  • Cultural Heritage Liturgies: collaborations with Dominican University’s Polish Club, the Organization of Latin American Students, and Black Student Union
  • Interfaith outings: accompaniment outings with various faith communities across a variety of traditions including trips to the Illinois Holocaust Museum