MSI Press Blog

  ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre El Día de Muertos y Halloween?   Halloween no es parte del Día de Muertos, aunque el período y algunos símbolos son los mismos o similares. Hay siete diferencias principales.   1 El Día de Muertos dura 3 días, mientras que Halloween dura solo un dia. 2 Aunque los católicos generalmente celebran el Día de Muertos y Halloween, el Día de Muertos es una fiesta sagrada, mientras que Halloween es una fiesta secular. 3 El D ía de Muertos es una oportunidad para celebrar la vida y recordar, un día para reunirse con los familiares. El significado del Día de Muertos influye en las actividades. Ese significado se ha mantenido fiel a sus orígenes; no se ha perdido con el transcurre del tiempo. Halloween llega en la víspera del Día de Todos los Santos, y antiguamente se llamaba en inglés Hallow’s Eve (la víspera santificada). Siglos atrás, los celtas pensaban que esa noche las almas de los muertos volvían para dañar los cultivos y hacer otras

  Dia de Muertos is a holiday celebrated now throughout the world though is began a long time ago in Mexico. It is too good a holiday not to be adopted by others. Honoring ancestors is part of nearly every culture, but none does it quite as richly and publicly as the Mexican culture with Dia de Muertos.  The eating of specially prepared (yunny) foods at the graves of those who have passed, a sacred sharing, is a culmination of sorts of all the other activities that include: altars remembering the dead (Sula shown visiting one above) yummy, yummy, yummy food served at restaurants, eaten at home, shared with friends posadas (parades) around town - sacred and fun at the same time paper-cutting (really ornate) Sula's book, Dia de Muertos , contains a history, authentic recipes (!!!!), explanation of symbols, directions of how to make the paper cuttings, and lots and lots of pictures. Proofed by a Mexican priest -- Sula wanted to get it 100% right because, as with many other things, mis

  We are hard at work on our next cat book, again by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission: Sula and the Franciscan Sisters . It is mainly a picture book, great pictures, some incredible pictures. We now have it available on pre-order for only $10! (Post-release price is anticipated to be $14.95.) We hope to have it out this month -- but not yet at the stage where we can promise a September release. This book is envisioned as a memorial to the Franciscan nuns who lived at the convent in San Juan Bautista for many years and helped to take care of Sula. How they loved her, and how she loved them! The beautiful pictures in the book show that. For more posts about Sula and her books, click HERE .                 

  Photograph by Stacey Gentry  And now, about me— Every morning, I make the rounds of the museum, grounds, and church, after starting my day at Mass in the Chapel with the priest and parishioners I love—and, appropriately, on a bit of an empty stomach though I do not take communion (being a cat, you know). After Mass, I go to the Mission Gift Shop for breakfast and, depending upon the day, I begin my rounds somewhat later. Actually, if you have read my other books, you know as much about me as it is possible to know. For those who have not read them yet, I can tell you my tale in a nutshell. It is pretty simple because the beginning is rather cloudy. I only know what the people at the Mission Gift Shop remember about me some 12 years ago. Yes, I am quite a big girl now with my own set of life experiences. It seems that I was always in San Juan Bautista, a beautiful Mission town in the Mexican tradition. Lots of Spanish spoken here, so I have had to learn to meow in and respond to two l

  Photo by Kaleena Scargill Some of the people who form a big part of my mission [taking emotional/spiritual care of the parishioners at Old Mission San Juan Bautista] struggle with cancer. I do understand them—their fears, their pain, their sometimes-sadness. I feel those things, too, at least as much as a cat can feel. I know that God made humans to have even deeper feelings and a greater range of feelings, and I am glad that some of those feelings include loving animals because it is through that love that I can connect with them and bring them the message of God’s love. I have to tell you about one of my special friends, Loryn. She understands me because she had cancer, and I understand her because I had cancer—the same way Cody and I understand, support, and love each other. Maybe it is better if I am not the one to tell her story, though. Maybe she should tell her own story. I think you will find it more interesting that way. So, here is what she wrote for my book about her exper