THE HERITAGE OF CATHOLIC-CHRISTIANS COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY SOULS............

Today we liturgically and devotionally commemorate All Souls Day, also called the Day of the Dead, in some cultures; a commemoration of our Faithful Departed whose bodies have died, but whom we continue to remember and pray for the eternal salvation of their souls.  We trace it back to the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament in the Book of Maccabees.  In 2 Macc 12:44-45; we read, "For if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead, whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout.  This is why he had this atonment sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin".  This passage of Scripture is referring to what Judas Maccabeus did, after his soldiers were killed and idols were found among them.  In the early centuries of Christianity customs, devotions, and prayers / Masses of remembrance also developed in memory of the beloved dead.  Then in the 7th Century, St, Isidore of Seville established a commemoration of the dead, having his fellow monks celebrate the Eucharist for the departed souls on the Monday after Pentecost.  At that time the Feast of All Saints was calendared on the Sunday after Pentecost.  In 998 A.D., St. Odilo, the Abbot of Cluny. established the day of commemoration the day after All Saints Day, which by then was set on November 1, thus All Souls Day became November 2.  It was a day when, "the monks of Cluny would keep with joyous affection the memory of all the Faithful Departed, who have lived from the beginning of the World to the end".  This Commemoration spread with the Dominicans in Valencia,  Spain; in the 14th Century extending it to the celebration of 3 Masses celebrated for the Dead, which Pope Benedict XV, during World War I in 1915, extended as a custom to the priests of the Universal Church.  And so we observe this liturgical feast of prayer and worship for the Holy Souls who we believe as Catholic Christians we can assist with our prayers to be freed from the temporal abeyance of Purgatory and the attainment with God's Mercy of the Kingdom of Eternal Life.  All Souls Day opens our month long November remembrance of the Faithful Departed, all our Beloved Dead.  Let Us Pray there souls and ours will one day be reunited in the Eternal Embrace of God's Everlasting Love............Fr.  Troy