Traveling with Heart: A Pilgrimage of Memory on All Souls Day

By Marie. November 1, 2025

All Souls Day - A Ritual of Return

In the Philippines, All Souls Day is not merely a date on the calendar — it is a ritual of return. Families gather in cemeteries, light candles, offer flowers, and whisper prayers to the wind. It is a day of remembering, of rethreading the ties between the living and the departed. And in this sacred pause, we are reminded that every journey worth taking begins with honoring where we come from.

Three Generations Gathered at the Graves of Our Forefathers

This morning, I saw photos of my niece Carmena, her daughter Jam, and young son Toffy — three generations gathered at the graves of our forefathers. Tatay Meno. Nanay Mameng. Mommy Virginia. Tito Meo. Mamang Desping. Each name a story, each grave a chapter in the book of our becoming. Mamang Desping, especially, rises in memory — the woman who raised us when Mommy, a single mother, was away working to feed a growing family. Her love was quiet, steadfast, and formative.

And yet, as I looked at those photos, I felt a pang of solitude. I couldn’t be there. I couldn’t join the ritual. The candles, the flowers, the shared silence — they unfolded without me. And in that absence, I felt the ache of distance. Not just physical, but emotional. A longing to be part of the remembering.

Traveling with Heart

But perhaps this, too, is part of traveling with heart. To honor memory even from afar. To let the rituals of others stir our own quiet prayers. To feel the pull of tradition and respond with tenderness, even if we cannot respond with presence.

In Sta. Cruz, Laguna, where my ancestral house now cradles both my living and my leading, I light my own candle. I speak their names aloud. I let the river outside my window carry my prayers. And I remember: traveling with heart means letting memory move through us, wherever we are.