The season of light has begun on the Downtown Campus this week with the celebration of Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead, celebrated on November 2) and Diwali (celebrated this year on November 4). 

On October 27, Lower and Middle School students joined in special chapels where our sixth-grade Spanish students and seventh-grade post-Spanish Immersion students shared their research on the symbols of Día de los Muertos, including mariposas (butterflies), pan de muerto (bread of the dead), velas (candles), flores (flowers), and papel picado (tissue paper flags). We used our new technology skills learned during the pandemic to hold chapel virtually, which enabled students to learn a special craft: making their own papel picado. These colorful banners now decorate the Devey Dining Room and the Middle School Cafetorium as a reminder of the holiday and it’s rich symbolism. If you’d like to hear our student presentations, or try your own hand at papel picado, then this video of Middle School Chapel is for you!

On November 3, our special chapel speaker was Priest Anand Sastrigal from the Hindu Temple Society in Allentown. Priest Anand was a regular guest teacher in Chapel before the Pandemic, and we were excited to welcome him back to campus. He taught us more about the celebration of Diwali, a central holiday in Hinduism. Priest Anand was greeted by a very colorful room, as students enjoyed a special dress-down day, many wearing cultural clothing from Mexico and India to celebrate Día de los Muertos and Diwali. 

As the night grows longer and the days shorter, these two holidays will be followed by other festivals of light, including Hanukkah, St. Lucia’s Day, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. It is one of our favorite seasons at Moravian Academy, when we are reminded, again, what a gift it is to share our light with one another. As you celebrate with your family, whatever you celebrate, we wish you the joy of being together.