All Souls’ Day
Saturday, November 2nd Readings Reflection: The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
Today is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, the day on which we pray for all the holy souls in Purgatory. In the Epistle today, which is from the Book of Wisdom, we read, “For if before men, indeed, [the souls of the just] be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of [H]imself. As gold in the furnace, [H]e proved them, and as sacrificial offerings [H]e took them to [H]imself.”
Herein lies one of the fundamental Scriptural passages behind the Catholic belief in Purgatory. It is only logical that our souls will require some degree of purging before we can enter the unveiled presence of God Himself, the Beatific Vision. In order to enter Heaven, where all is pure, we ourselves must be pure. However, there is a good chance that we will not die in this state of complete purity; we will likely still possess on our souls the stains of venial sins, some temporal punishment, and/or some attachment to sin. All of these taint our souls and make them less than perfectly pure, requiring purgation in order for our souls to be spotless before entering Heaven.
Purgatory is the just cleansing of our souls; we ourselves would not want to enter the Beatific Vision without first being purged of all that sullies our souls. Once we are in Purgatory, we can no longer do anything to help ourselves; we must suffer as long as needed to cleanse our souls. For this reason, it is important to pray for the souls of the faithful departed.
Today’s Masses are offered for the souls in Purgatory, and the Church grants one plenary indulgence to a holy soul each day that we visit a Catholic cemetery and pray for the faithful departed. We can obtain this plenary indulgence every day from November 1-8. Ordinarily we are permitted to obtain only one plenary indulgence per day; however, this limit is lifted on All Souls’ Day alone, when we can obtain a plenary indulgence each time we visit a church or public oratory and there recite an Our Father and Apostles’ Creed. In order to gain a plenary indulgence, we must be detached from all sin, receive the Sacrament of Penance within a week or two of performing the indulgenced work, pray for the Holy Father, and receive Holy Communion in the state of grace.
Today and during this Octave of All Saints, may we receive as many plenary indulgences as possible for the holy souls in Purgatory, that their time of cleansing may come to an end so that they can enter the eternal presence of God forever.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
