ALL SOULS DAY: REMEMBERING AND REVIVING AGE-OLD TRADITIONS

October 04, 2005 - 12:00 PDT

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The custom of praying for the departed comes from the Apostles of Jesus Christ. That doctrine is certain. The Old and New Testaments prove that it was a religious belief among the Jews. The early Christians prayed at all times for the repose of their departed friends.

After celebrating the glories of the saints in heaven on November 1st the hurch, on the following day, on the 2nd of November, remembers all her departed, all the souls who have gone before, who are waiting to be delivered from their prison and to be admitted into the happiness of heaven. It follows the sublime doctrine of the communion of saints, that the Church is made up of three parts, the saints of earth, the blessed in heaven and the suffering souls of purgatory.That feast was initiated by the Apostles themselves, but the whole Office for the Dead was revised by Origen.

The objest of these services is that the general prayers of the Church may aid those suffering souls with her spiritual benefits, for they cannot in any way help themselves. Its origins go back to the time of the patriarchs, for we read that when Jacob was dead they wept over him for forty days in Egypt, and when they brought his body to Hebron, there they mourned him seven days. Today the bodies of the patriarchs are guarded with jealous care in the double cave which Abraham bought. Their bodies are never shown to Christians, but a traveler who disguised himself succeeded in entering the cave where lie the embalmed bodies of the patriarchs.

Again we read that when Moses died, for thirty days the children of Israel wept over him, the same as they did at the death of Aaron and of Mary, his sister. From this custom of the Jews weeping for thity days over their dead, the Christian Church has, from its beginning, observed the "Month's Mind." on the thirtieth day after death and from this arose the custom of Gregorian Masses which remember a departed soul for thirty days.

From the example of the children of Israel weeping seven days over Jacob in Hebron, the custom of Mass for the Dead on the seventh day arose, and in remembrance if the three days of our Lord in the tomb, Mass is said on the third day after death. Some of the early Christians used to have a "novena" of Masses said for their departed for nine days. The custom of having anniversary Masses for the repose of the departed is also very ancient. The year, as it were, revolving ever into itself, represents eternity into which the souls of the departed have passed. The anniversary for a departed friend can be held as often as we wish, for we cannot tell how long the souls remain in the other life before entering heaven.

When the anniversary of a saint falls on a Sunday or a feast day, it is put off till the next day it can be held, but when the anniversary of the departed falls in the same way, it is sometimes said before, so as to receive the benefit of the Mass as soon as we can offer it. On Sundays and feasts we cannot offer the holy sacrifice for the dead, unless the body is present, because it would draw the people away from the services of the day.

We should pray each day for our departed friends, but on this day, we pray in general for all the departed, for there are many who die without friends, without anyone to pray for them, and "their Mother, the Church, takes the place of all these." As in the old law no oil of joy or sweetly smelling incense was offered in the sacrifices for sin, thus as death is a symbol of sin in the Offices of the Dead, no songs or signs of joy are seen or heard, all is mourning, for death has swallowed up his victims. Thus following the law of Moses the incense is not offered at certain times during the Masses for the departed.

In the early times, when a person was about to die, following the example of St. Martin, he was laid on ashes or on straw. This was not a universal practice. The early writers say that after death the body was washed to signify that it would rise gloriously from the dead on the last day. To follow the example of our Lord they used to sometime anoint the body of the departed with oil. The custom of saying Psalms for the departed was commanded by some of the early Councils of the Church. They also ordered that the body should be carried by members of the same station in life and of the same profession. That was the origin of the pall-bearers.

The people from the most ancient times have been accustomed to make some offerings to their clergy for Masses for their departed friends on the 2nd of November. We are not able to find the beginning of that good and holy custom, but we are inclined to believe that it has always been in the Church. Among ancient customs there has also been the practice of each of the clergy saying three Masses for the departed on this day, and the custom of erecting a catafalque or casket-like structure near the foot of the sanctuary, draped in a black funeral pall and surrounded with three unbleached (brownish-orange) beeswax candles on each side of the catafalque as a visual reminder of this solemn day.

The Gospel often read on the Feast of the Departed is taken from the Gospel of St. John, where our Lord says the time will come, on the last day, when the departed in their graves will hear his voice, and all will rise from the grave, some into everlasting life in heaven and some into everlasting death in hell. He speaks of the general judgment.

Such is the last of the chief feasts of this season of the year. On the last Sunday of the year the Church often reads at the Mass the Gospel giving the prophecy of our Lord relating to the last and general judgment, for this season tells of the time of the Church which will close the age of this world by the end of all things. That Gospel is read to bring before the minds of all people their last and final end. Thus the year of the Christian Church is like a sublime arena, whereon the miraculous birth, the holy life, the wonderful works, and the awful death of the Son of God is opened out before the minds of men in mystic rites, in striking symbols, in majestic ceremonies, and in beautiful portraits, so that generation after generation comes and goes on the stage of this world; their creation by God, their fall by Adam, and their redemption by Christ, are each year vividly brought before their eyes.

Reads who may desire to have their departed family members, relatives or friends remembered at Masses for the Departed on All Souls Day, November 2nd, may send a printed list of the names of the departed to the Sisters and volunteers of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Society. The Sisters and volunteers will forward requests to missionary clergy who will offer the Masses for the Departed.

The suggested donations are as follows: for departed family members, relatives or friends the suggested donation is $10.00 for each name submitted; for a nine-day Novena of Masses for the Departed the suggested offering is $90.00' and for the 30-day or Gregorian Mass for departed family members, relatives or friends the suggested offering is $300.00.

Please send the printed names of the departed together with your donation check or money order to: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Society, Attn: All Souls Day, P.O. Box 785, Wyandotte, MI 48192-0785. Donations are tax-exempt.

The Sisters who are retired, come from various Religious Orders of women, and together with volunteers gather and accept no longer needed vestments, sacred vessels, and other liturgical articles to assist missionary clergy in their work in the former soviet countries as well as other missionary regions. Their support comes from donations alone.

Contact

O.L. OF PERPERPETUAL HELP SOCIETY
http://www.saintmarysguild.com
MI, US
SR. MARY AMBROSINE (KLICHOWSKI) - Director, 734 281-3082

Keywords

ALL SOULS DAY, MASS FOR THE DEPARTED, NOVEMBER 2nd

Category

Liturgy

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