The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, November 2, 2025
This weekend the Catholic Church celebrates All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) as we begin November, the Month of the Dead. Actually it all begins on October 31, Halloween. Halloween is the vigil of the Feast of All Saints. Catholic solemnities begin the evening before with the vigil. Examples are Christmas Eve and Holy Saturday (Easter). On the evenings before a solemnity, we begin the feast itself. The same with Halloween and All Saints Day. Halloween in old England was known as All Hallows Eve, "hallow" being an old word for holy, thus the eve of the feast of all the holy ones, all saints. Halloween became a spooky holiday since there is a mystery and fear around death. It eventually became a fun day for kids to dress up and get candy. It has become a time now for young adults to dress up and go drinking!
All Saints Day assures us that our destiny is heaven, that God opens heaven for all people, not just for those famous ones who get canonized. Everyone, doctors and farmers, mothers and grandmothers, children and old people, store clerks and entrepreneurs—all people of every time, place and way of life—are invited to be saints in heaven. Virtually all of us will be forgotten on earth within a century of our death, but no one is forgotten by God.
All Souls Day is a day to pray for those who have died and who are on their way to heaven, but not there yet. All Souls Day assures us that even the imperfect, those not fully formed in Christ, can find absolution after death. Catholics believe in purgatory, a place of preparation for the fullness of salvation. All Souls is a hopeful feast—for who of us dies without some sin? Purgatory is one of the best teachings about mercy, that God's mercy pursues us even beyond our earthly life.
As we age, the month of the dead has more importance. In our youth, death seems so far away that it seems that it will never happen. Then years pass and our parents die, siblings perhaps, friends also. And we suddenly find that we have dear ones to pray for. The Church's doctrines assure us of continued connectedness to the dead in Christ. We find ourselves comforted that we can pray for them, reach them beyond life. When believers finally know that they must die soon, they often look forward to reunion with loved ones who have already passed.
The month of the dead consoles us that our loved ones are not gone, not forever, but they are still reachable through prayer and especially in the Mass. And as we age, we face the truth that one day, in the not so distant future, we will die. It is inevitable and it is scary. But for one who believes in Christ, death is also the gateway to reunion with our dead loved ones and our final destiny to be with God in love forever.
Beginning this Sunday, the Feast of all Souls, we will offer a novena of Masses (nine days) for those whose names are submitted. Special envelopes for the Novena are available in the back of the Church. We will also gather in the cemetery after all the weekend Masses and offer prayers for all of our deceased.
