Fr. Lawrence's Page

Dear friends,

November 2nd is All Souls Day, and we join all the church in praying for those
who have gone before us. The church was slow in introducing a special liturgical
feast for All Souls because of the many superstitious rites of ancient times.

Some medieval Christians believed that souls in purgatory could appear as
witches to those who had offended them in life. In earliest times, it was believed
that on this day, the dead returned to their former homes to partake of the food of
the living. In Mexico, they celebrate the day of the Dead, when the faithful
build private altars and make little skulls of sugar with the names of deceased
ones on the forehead of the skull. It became a custom in parts of Europe to leave
cookies on the kitchen table for these returning souls, and the kitchen was kept
warm during the night.

The earliest evidence of an All Souls ritual is a Pentecost Monday celebration in
Spain at the time of Isidore of Seville. The choice of Nov. 2nd is often attributed to
Saint Odilo (1048 AD), who ordered all his Benedictine monasteries to pray for
the dead on the day following All Saints. This practice was eventually accepted
by all the Latin churches. In churches, many people set up an “altar of
remembrance” where parishioners bring framed pictures of their deceased loved
ones. These photos bring the dead to mind and provide a focus for prayer during
the entire month of November.

James Boswell wrote a famous biography of Samuel Johnson, the great 18th
century British author. Johnson told Boswell that the idea of purgatory had made
eminent sense to him. His reasoning was that the vast majority of people who
died, should not be judged so bad as to deserve hell nor so good as to deserve
heaven. So, he concluded, there must be a kind of middle state where some sort
of cleansing takes place.

Let it be our hope and prayer today, that should we be fortunate enough to get to
purgatory, our family and friends will remember us in their prayers. Jesus says in
the Gospel reading today that he will not lose those whom the Father has sent to
him. The Father will raise them on the last day, because those who have seen the
Son and believe in him will have eternal life.