Is there any particular way in Québécois culture to honor the dead? This month I have birthdays and remembrance days of several of my Québécois-American ancestors so I was curious. Also are there any particularly Québécois ways to observe All Souls’ Day to honor the dead? Or folklore associated with the holy day?
Thank you so much, @pagan-stitches
Well hi! Yes, there is! Get ready for a long post! (My devotion to my great-grandmother pictured above)
While October is still filled with Saint feast days, Quebecois and Acadian communities didn't typically have what you'd expect in terms of ancestors celebrations in October. That's more for November 2nd, on All Souls' Day, where they remember their dead known and unknown, in Heaven or Purgatory.
November is the month dedicated to the souls in Purgatory. All Saints' Day (November 1) is a feast of obligation in the Church calendar. This feast day, since the seventh century, commemorates all the saints known and unknown. All Souls' Day (November 2) is the day where the spirits of the dead are known to be particularly active in Quebecois and Acadian households and communities. It was a time where feux-follets, and loup-garous would be most prominent in the forests, swamps and countryside, and you NEEDED to avoid those places at all costs. You also couldn't work the land on November 2nd, as folklore dictated that the earth itself would bleed. Children were terrified of roaming a barn or an isolated corner of the village on that day and into the night. It was a firm belief that the dead came back from midnight on November 1st to midnight on November 2nd, for good or ill. On the day of November 1st, families would visit their local cemetery and pray to their dead. I'm talking picnic blankets and spending some real time with your departed loved ones. (Dupont, p. 331)
If anything, the tradition of jack-o-lanterns was shared via our Irish neighbours that we got along with! Whatever tradition you've learned about Samhain and carving turnips, good chances are that our francophone ancestors also participated!
For example, in the 1940s, in the Beauce region, at every All Saints' Eve (October 31st), groups of young boys would go in a single file with lit pumpkin lanterns in the fields, held atop these big canes. It resembled a line of departed souls in the dark of the night. This reflects the Irish legend of Jack "O" Lantern.
In many Acadian communities, there was a tradition of stealing a cabbage on the night of October 31st and cooking it into a cabbage stew the next day. It was considered not a sin to steal a cabbage that day.
Here's the recipe from "A Taste of Acadie" by Marielle Cormier-Boudreau and Melvin Gallant, translated by Ernest Bauer. Goose Lane Editions, 1991. It's an indispensable book of recipes and folklore from Acadian cooking!
The Soul Auction and the Old Folks' Auction
In Québécois and Acadian cultures, there's the "Criée des âmes" (Soul Auction), where the parish would raise money via auction on the steps of their church, and that money went towards holding masses for the souls of the dearly departed. People would usually auction off choice pieces of beef, a good bag of potatoes, or a piece of artisanal folk art. Nowadays, some Quebecois parishes still do these auctions, but to raise money to preserve their church buildings. In some parishes, like in Islet-sur-Mer, they do the Soul Auction in February actually! They have a traditional parade of 'berlots' (horse-drawn traditional wooden carriages from Quebec) followed by the auction at the church. These were items auctioned in 2011.
On November 1st morning, there was also the "Vente des vieux" (Old folk's auction), which was an opportunity for beggars, old widows and widowers, or old folks without any support to get the promise from a community member to take care of them and house them during the winter. Offers would start on the higher end, but the goal was to bid the lowest.
Song and Prayer for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day
Our Quebecois and Acadian ancestors adored singing canticles and religious complaints, as for them, it was equal in value to prayer. François Saint-Laurent de Tourelle from Gaspésie knew the "Chanson de la Toussaint" (All Saint's Song) in 1918. (Marius Barbeau Collection, MN, no. 2124, see images below). Gaspésie as a region is incredibly rich in oral tradition of Mi'kmaq, Quebecois and Acadians living there, a long history of Acadians coming there in the Deportations and adding their musical repertoire to Mi'kmaq singing and Quebecois and Irish folk tunes.
At the end of the song, it's customary to say the following formula to demand that our patron saint (whichever it would be) to protect us:
"Grand Saint.e, sois notre bon génie; Protège-nous du haut des cieux; Conserve pure notre vie, Nos coeurs fervents, nos jours heureux."
"Great saint (enter name of saint if you want), be our good common sense, protect us from the heights of heaven, preserve the purity of our life, our fervent hearts, and our happy days."
The All Saints' Song (my own translation into English, pardon if it doesn't rhyme!)
Come, young and old, come listen and hear, a true story, one which will stupefy you. It's to have you understand All Saints' Day, a terrible story of three libertines.
One day, these libertines, by a great feast day, took by disdain the saints, sermons and vespers; drunken like beasts, spending night and day, despite the host and hostess present, insulting Jesus-Christ.
The waitress tells them: "Sirs, I beg of you, cease your debauched lives, you must pray to Jesus-Christ and his Mother who will be here soon."
Three cadavers entered, horrible and dantesque, sat at the table of these libertines, saying, "Comrades, pour us glasses of wine!"
There was a loud cry at the centre of the chamber, a cry so hair-raising that it made the hardiest man tremble. The entire neighbourhood in droves ran to the scene, seeing this abhorrent spectacle these victims witnessed.
One foamed at the mouth, the other howled like a beast, the youngest of them was moved by the scene, and asked the priest; "My Lord and my master, have pity on me, Saint Virgin Mary, preserve me!" (Pomerleau p. 808)
Known folk practice with the Souls in Purgatory
In Chéticamp, it was known that some folks had a devoted practice to the Souls in Purgatory. They'd pray for them, but also pray to ask of them favours, promising in return prayers or certain sacrifices such as cutting on certain vices, or doing better generally. Folk practice said that if you asked them to wake you up at a very precise time that night, you would actually wake up at that precise hour. (Chiasson, p. 216)
Modern Practices Inspired by This Knowledge
I still hold a ceremony for my dearly departed on November 2nd, with photos and things they enjoyed in life (whether that be a piece of folk art I made that they also loved doing in life, or even maple syrup for those that had a sweet tooth), I talk to them as if they're there, I catch them up on my life. It's like visiting them at their graves.
2. Spiritual hygiene to protect yourself from werewolf spirits and will-o-the-wisps are a good idea, make sure you are always living in integrity, with a content soul. They attract those that are lost.
3. Cook that cabbage stew! And if you get caught, LOL, know that back then they'd have forgiven you.
4. Enlist friends to make art projects or artisanal kitchen products like breads, baked goods, and donate the proceeds to a cause you care about! Say a prayer of devotion above the items to bless them for the purpose of appeasing lost souls before starting the sale.
5. Start a devotion to the Souls in Purgatory, see what you can glean from their wisdom and their mistakes.
6. See if there are any old folks' homes in your area that need volunteers!
Sources: Jeanne Pomerleau. Saints et fêtes du jour au Canada français, Éditions GID, 2014. p. 808
Père Anselme Chiasson. Chéticamp, histoires et traditions acadiennes. Éditions des Aboiteaux, Moncton, 1972.
"A Taste of Acadie" by Marielle Cormier-Boudreau and Melvin Gallant, translated by Ernest Bauer. Goose Lane Editions, 1991
Dupont, Jean-Claude. Héritage d'Acadie. Éditions Leméac, 1977.
Here's the link to getting the Chéticamp history and traditions book in ENGLISH!!!! Enjoy!
