All Souls Day

My brothers and sisters in Christ, All Souls Day follows All Saints Day (by the way: in the United States the bishops have received permission from the Vatican to abrogate -temporarily waive- the requirement for Catholics to attend Mass on certain Holy Days of Obligation, when those Holy Days fall on either Saturday or Monday. All Saints Day is a Holy Day of Obligation. HOWEVER, when it falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated. For instance, All Saints Day falls on Monday in 2010; so Catholics in the United States are NOT required to attend Mass). All Souls Day solemnly commemorates the faithful departed, i.e. those who die with God's grace and friendship. Catholics believe that not all those who die in God's grace are immediately ready for the Beatific vision, i.e. the reality and goodness of God and heaven, so they must be purified of "lesser faults," and the temporal effects of sin. The Catholic Church calls this purification of the elect, "purgatory." The Catholic teaching on Purgatory essentially requires belief in two realities: 1. that there will be a purification of believers prior to entering heaven and 2. that the prayers and masses of the faithful in some way benefit those in the state of purification. The Church prays for, and remembers, the faithful departed throughout the entire year. However, All Souls Day is the general, solemn, day of commemoration, when the Church remembers, prays for, and offers requiem masses up for the faithful departed in the state of purification. Typically Christians will take this day to offer prayers up on behalf of their departed relatives and friends. Others may remember influential individuals that they never knew personally, such as presidents, musicians, etc. This may be done in the form of the Office of the Dead (Defunctorum officium), i.e. a prayer service offered in memory of departed loved ones. Often this office is prayed on the anniversary (or eve) of the death of a loved one, or on All Souls' Day. There are many customs associated with All Souls Day, and these vary greatly from culture to culture. Here at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church ob TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2nd, WE WILL HAVE THE ALL SOULS MASS (bilingual), AT 7PM IN THE MAIN CHURCH. Let us be united in adoration and prayer in the celebration of the Eucharist for all those who passed away; may God give them eternal rest in heaven ■ Fr. Agustin, Pastor.