I drove from Kentucky to Washington, DC last Saturday. The mountains of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland were alive with the glory of God. It has been a late fall this year. The frost needed to turn the trees from green to gold, orange, and red came late. As a result, they all turned color at once—something I have rarely seen. True, there was substantial brown because of the delay and a few trees had lost their leaves, but, generally, the beauty was so intense that my heart just naturally prayed most of the day. I was a bit surprised to find that as I prayed in this glory, my mind kept thinking of today’s readings for the celebration of All Souls Day. I just naturally prayed for the faithful departed.
Still Actively Loving Those Who Have Entered Eternal Life
As November begins, we Catholics are encouraged to love in a special way: we are encouraged to pray for those who have died. One of the beautiful aspects of our Catholic faith is our confidence that we remain connected with our loved ones who have gone on to be with the Lord.
We can pray for them, to them, and with them. When we say in the Apostles Creed, “I believe in the communion of the saints,” we are expressing our appreciation of the union through the Eucharist for all of us in the pilgrim church here on earth and our union with those who have died, both those who are in heaven and those who are on their way to heaven.
For us Catholics, active, giving love does not end when someone dies. We can love on through prayer.
Why Do We Catholics Pray for the Dead?
Prayers for those who have died have been a part of the Church from her earliest days. The Catholic catechism tells us why: “because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins, the Church offers her suffrage for them. Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.” (CCC 958)
When we pray for those who have died, we connect ourselves with them. We help them. And our prayers help them help us. As the first reading today says, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they 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 himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.”
Only that which is perfect can enter the presence of God fully–which is what happens in heaven. We pray that our loved ones (or others) who were not perfect when they died, may be purified to enter into God’s presence.
With the Feast of All Saints on November 1 and today’s Commemoration of All Souls on November 2, the Church gives us special opportunities, called indulgences, to offer prayers for those who have died.
Indulgences for the Faithful Departed
“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven…An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.” (CCC 1471)
While we don’t hear a lot about indulgences, they remain a part of our Church. They remain a way we can love brothers, sisters, parents, children, friends, and fellow Christians.
To find a complete list of indulgences free online, type Enchiridion of Indulgences in your browser. It is available on the vatican website, but I could not find it this morning. Other sources on Catholic websites will give you pdf versions. It is interesting reading!
Cemetery Prayers in November
During the first 8 days in November the Church offers special indulgences if you visit a cemetery and pray for the dead.
All visits and prayers help those you pray for. If you meet certain special requirements you can gain a plenary indulgence—you can release someone from the state of purgatory into heaven! These requirements are: to receive Communion (preferably on the same day), to pray for the Pope’s intentions (an Our Father and Hail Mary), to go to Confession within 3 weeks, to pray for the deceased, and to be free of all attachment to sin, even venial sin.
Two years ago our parish began to have “Cemetery Prayers” each day the first eight days in November. We meet in a building near the Catholic section of the cemetery around noon each day. We hear a scripture reading, pray a rosary with meditations focusing on the faithful departed, offer some intercessions for those who grieve, and conclude with the Prayer of St. Gertrude.
This practice has come to be important to me. I am planning my time around it for these 8 days. I see doing this as a way to show my love to eight people I love. Some may be long ago in heaven. Some may be helped by my prayers. It is also a way to be with members of my parish who are grieving or praying for loved ones, too. It is a way to carry the Remembrance Service we have on November 2 as part of our All Souls mass a bit further—to love more, to love beyond time and space.
All Souls as Winter Comes
I have been working in Washington this week, but I will drive back to Kentucky today. Since last Saturday there has been lots of rain and wind. I suspect I will not be driving home in the midst of glory. I suspect God has let many of the leaves fall. The mountains will be darker, less colorful as the browns and grays of tree trunks replace the brighter colors.
Even though much of the glory has faded, I know the trees are alive. They enter a period of rest. Yet they are becoming—growing—living. They remain the custodians and makers of soil on the mountains. They capture the rain and snow to preserve the hills for the spring.
And so the mountains today will urge me to pray, just as they moved me on Saturday. There may not be the great joy of the beauty of God’s glory in the leaves, but there will be the quieter peaceful glory that God has all the stages of life in his hands. He holds people who are dear to me who have passed into eternity. He also holds those who mourn. We are ALL in his hands.
On the news yesterday morning in the US were pictures of early snow north of here. Winter soon comes now to us in the northern temperate zone. But there is the warmth of fires in fireplaces, of soup cooking on the stove, of doors barred against the cold, of ordinary human love. So, too, it seems to me, are our prayers for those who have died—they warm me, they bind me to those beyond death. It is a good practice today on All Souls Day, and through this season when the earth turns brown and gray, to pray for those who are being purified.
Jesus Wants All the Faithful Departed With Him
As the Gospel says today, “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”
It is a healing and beautiful gift to pray for those who have died. Today, visit a cemetery, pray in church, pray at home. Participate in the Communion of the Saints.
Prayer:
Our Cemetery prayers end with this prayer of St. Gertrude the Great. It is traditionally seen as a great help to souls undergoing purification:
Eternal Father, I offer You the most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for all sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
