ALL SOULS’ DAY; 2nd NOVEMBER

ALL SOULS’ DAY

2nd NOVEMBER

According to the Roman Missal*, this day invokes “the practice of recommending to God the souls of the departed in that we may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, [a practice which] is most pleasing to God and most profitable to us.”
The Mass today is the Requiem Mass, the Introit commencing the Mass by the words:
“Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis,”
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O lord and let perpetual light shine upon them”
It is a day when we pray for our loved ones - our relatives, friends, benefactors, teachers and those who have assisted us in our lives. And, we also pray for our enemies - for all souls, as God’s eternal spouses.
Three Masses are said on All Souls Day, in order to give ‘increased help to the suffering souls in purgatory; Francis Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1952, at p. 310.
The Office of the Dead is said on this day, and in many places, the graves are blessed by the priests at the cemeteries. The most striking aspect of the Requiem Mass, in the traditional form, is the Sequence of the Dies Irae, a beautiful sequence of sung poetry speaking to the living– to advert our minds to the inevitability of death and a consequent need for amendment of life.
“Dies irae, dies illa,
Day of wrath and doom impending…
….
Fount of pity, then befriend us.
Think, kind Jesus, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous incarnation,
Leave me not to reprobation.
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the Cross of suffering bought me,
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Righteous judge for sin’s pollution,
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere that day of retribution,
Guilty now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning,
Spare O God, Thy suppliant groaning.
Through the sinful woman shriven,
Through the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given.
…..
“To Thy right hand do Thou guide me.
When the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me with Thy Saints surrounded.
Low I kneel with heart’s submission,
See, like ashes, my contrition,
Help me in my last condition.
Ah! That day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning,
Man for judgment must prepare him,
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.
Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest.
Amen.”
It is almost universal that graves are visited on this day. Customs throughout the world, however, vary – In Hungary and Poland, the graves are lit with blessed candles and the day is one of great solemnity. In Italy (Il Giorno dei Morti )and Spain, the day begins with a Requiem Mass before dawn and graves are decorated with flowers and candles. The day itself, however, is not a solemn occasion. In Mexico, famously, the day is celebrated with macabre symbols, the setting up of altars in the home and costumes celebrating the day of the dead, (Dia de los Muertos). The altars are decorated with some macabre symbols, but also food and drinks. The Food is frequently made to imitate skulls or macabre images.
TO CELEBRATE THE MONTH OF HOLY SOULS
• Visit the graves of family members on All Souls Day, with blessed candles and pray for their souls;
• Set up a Home Altar with photos of loved ones and blessed candles – a place of respect and remembrance for the children – children should be encouraged to reminisce about their relatives who are deceased.
• For the whole of the month of November, at meal times, say the prayer for the dead at the close of Grace both before and after meals, set out below:
Grace Before Meals:
“Bless us Our Lord for these, Thy gifts, which of Thy bounty we are about to receive, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
Thanks after meals:
“We give Thee thanks O Lord, for Thy great bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
* At the end of the evening say a Rosary, (or a decade of the Rosary), for all deceased family members, and all the souls, and close by reading De Profundis, (Psalm 129).
*1962, Baronius Press.

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