The celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day illumines the path of our faith that looks beyond and transcends the earthly realm in order to attain the Unseen that lasts forever
Family members clean a grave at the cemetery at St Inez in Panaji ahead of All Souls Day on November 2.
Photo Credits: Narayan Pissurlenkar
In November, two special days are commemorated throughout the Catholic Church, the All Saints Day on November 1 and the All Souls Day on November 2. The celebration of both events illumines the path of our faith that looks beyond and transcends the earthly realm in order to attain the Unseen that lasts forever.
ALL SAINTS DAY
When we recite the Creed, we profess the “Communion of Saints”. This belief is celebrated on All Saints Day. Those of our brethren who are already in heaven and those of us who are still here on earth, and living in union with God and one another, make up the “Communion of Saints”. Those who are already with the Lord are our own brothers and sisters, our protectors and intercessors. These include those who are proclaimed as Saints and raised to the honours of the altar by the Church.
We venerate with great devotion St Francis Xavier, St Anthony, St Joseph Vaz, St Teresa of Calcutta and many others whom we hold in great esteem, with a fervent desire to emulate them.
Thus, when we celebrate All Saints Day on November 1, we join them in praising the Triune God, and seeking their intercession for us. We also wish to become like them and be where they are. Churches and chapels are named after saints who are regarded as patrons of the faithful in their needs and supplications. Names of saints are also given to infants for their protection and Christian upbringing.
The feasts celebrated to honour the saints aim to manifest the wonders of Christ, brought about in their lives, and also to portray them as models of a Christian life to be adopted by the faithful. We also express and strengthen the union that exists between the pilgrim Church and the celestial Church.
The veneration of the saints in no way diminishes our reverence for God, but, on the contrary, it ennobles and enriches our divine worship. It leads us to Christ, who is the “Crown of all the Saints”.
The saints never cease to intercede with God the Father for us. They become for us a hopeful sign that we too, one day, will receive the eternal reward which they have already received. They are our benefactors too. We invoke their assistance to obtain from God through Jesus Christ the blessings we need to live an authentic Christian life.
ALL SOULS DAY
The Catholic Church commemorates in a special way all the faithful departed on November 2, which is known as All Souls Day. We, too, remember with affection our deceased family members. They need our prayers until their purification is complete. To pray for the dead in the hope of the resurrection is a holy and a pious practice so that they might be freed from their sins.
On this occasion, the graves are decked with lawns, flowers and lit candles by the family members who offer Mass for the atonement of their sins. They also visit the cemetery and pray for their souls. The cemetery, neat and clean, wears a festive look of a verdant garden. However, care is taken to safeguard the environment. On the pretext that the souls of the deceased appear at night-time, a lot of destruction and damage used to take place in the past.
Given the spiritual significance of the day, the Church permits its priests, following an old tradition since 1915, to celebrate three Masses: one for the personal intention of any individual, and the second and third Mass compulsorily for all the faithful departed and for the intentions of the Holy Father respectively.
Besides, the Church grants the Plenary Indulgence applicable only to the souls in Purgatory, on the fulfilment of certain obligations, namely to visit devoutly a cemetery or just pray mentally for the dead on any one of the days between the 1st and 8th of November; and to visit a Church or a chapel devoutly and pray the Our Father and the Creed on All Souls Day.
(The writer is Parish Priest of Immaculate Conception Church, Panaji)
