Fruitvale gears up for annual Día de los Muertos celebration: ‘It is a very important holiday for us, where we honor our ancestors.’

In a nook between the parish offices and the sanctuary, with its pearly white walls and stained glass windows, a line of worshippers has come to St. Elizabeth church in Fruitvale looking for answers to the unexpected and unexplainable.  A woman, her son by her side, is weeping, hyperventilating, her head tilted down as she stands before the still figure of La Virgen de Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary. Behind her, another woman waits patiently for her turn to feel…