Every month of the Calendar year is dedicated to some event or for a specific purpose, wherein the laity is requested to pray for the cause or commemorate the festivity.
The month of October is dedicated as month of the Rosary. The month of December is awaited as Christmas time. In any month of the calendar you will recall as what is most important in that particular month.
Likewise the month of November is dedicated to the souls of our departed ones who have left us and gone to their heavenly journey after finishing their life on earth. Their journey on earth may last for one day or may be 100 years. They have left us in a void. They were there till yesterday as our own beloved ones. But today they have died and gone. We call them SOULS. Souls on their onward journey to heaven to meet the creator, The God the Father.
Some souls may be in Purgatory, some souls are already in Heavenly bliss. Some souls who are in Purgatory are in need of our prayers.
All these souls who are in need of prayers, are sometimes abandoned and await prayers and therefore the Holy Church has dedicated 2nd November as ALL SOULS DAY.
In Christianity all souls day commemorates all souls, the holy souls, or the souls of faithful departed, that is the souls of Christians who have died living a Christian life. We remember our deceased relatives on this day.
All souls day is dedicated to those who have died but not yet been permitted into heaven, such souls remain in purgatory till such time that the prayers of the faithful on earth are heard and they are compensated with salvation.
In many Catholic countries people attend appropriately draped in black and visit family graves to honour their ancestors.
All souls day is connected with all Saints day which is observed on the previous day. When people take time to decorate the graves of the deceased loved ones and light candles in their memory. Many people believe that the spirit of the dead return to enjoy a visit to their friends and relatives on this day which is a myth and present generation does not live in this belief.
Long before Sunrise people stream into cemeteries laden with candles, flowers to adorn the graves and illuminate the entire cemetery.
All souls day was first instituted at a Monastery of Cluny in 993AD and quickly spread throughout the Christian world.
On All Souls day the Catholics kneel at the Altar of their beloved one and pray that they have passed the purification process and have moved along from Purgatory.
The Prayers that are usually said include “Invocation for the souls in Purgatory and the prayer for a departed man”. Catholics believe that these rituals can help their deceased loved ones in their journey to Heaven.
We must continue to pray for the Souls not only on this particular day but every day. As there are so many souls waiting for our prayers. We may not know to whom the salvation will be granted but our prayers will definitely save many souls. Once these souls attain salvation and be with the Lord then we will receive hundred fold blessings because they are in the presence of our creator.
During this month we are also requested to visit various cemeteries in and around our dwellings and pray for these souls. All souls are in constant need of prayer. Now that they have died and gone they cannot pray. They entirely depend on our prayers.
So let us pledge that we will pray for these souls of our departed not only on All Souls day, not only in the month of November, but throughout the year. Whenever we remember souls, pray for them and God will bless you abundantly.
Rosarito Coelho