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Seasoning the Seasons™ The Institute for Christian Formation, Inc. logo©2004 by R Fulwiler Text ©2007 by Sandra A. Chakeres. All rights reserved. All Saints/All Souls All Saints and All Souls All Saints/ All Souls Love never dies. We have experienced, and we will experience, the death of those we ∗ All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, is love. But love itself never dies. Perhaps this is the basis for honoring our dead - for the eve of All Saints Day. It is keeping alive their memory. Look around your home. Chances are you have at least one therefore much more about the photo of a deceased loved one. You most likely have mementos month of November than October! of those who have gone before you - perhaps a piece of jewelry ∗ November 1st is the Solemnity of that belonged to your grandmother. All Saints, a holy day of obliga- Every culture throughout the ages has in some way, shape or tion. form honored their dead. And as Christians, we know that ∗ On November 2nd we celebrate death is not the final word. By his death and resurrection, Jesus the Commemoration of All the Christ trampled death itself. And we share in Jesus’ victory. Faithful Departed. We have evidence that from as early as the second century, ∗ The Communion of Saints is made Christians were praying for their dead and celebrating Mass for the dead. This often up of the living and the dead. happened on the third day after death (note that Christ rose on the third day!), and on the anniversary of the death. Soon there were remembrances associated with the thirti- eth, and then the fortieth day after death, as well. By the fourth century in the East there was a celebration in honor of the martyrs - those who had died for their faith. Eventually this included all the saints, not just the martyrs. In 844, Pope Gregory IV celebrated a feast of all the saints on November 1st. Martyrs who had shed their blood for the faith, and all saints were included, and this was 150 years before we had our first “canonized” saint! In the seventh century, Bishop Isidore of Seville ordered his monks to celebrate Mass for the souls of the faithful departed on the day after Pentecost. In 998 Abbot Odilo of Cluny ordered all monasteries he governed to celebrate a memorial of the faithful departed. This was accepted in Rome by the fourteenth century. And, as you Inside this issue: will note below, we continue this custom to this day. We Are Family! 2 All Saints and All Souls on Today’s Calendar The Communion of 2 Saints In our Church Year, No- The word “saint” comes It is good to note that vember is a month in which from the Latin word Halloween isn’t about the Saints 2 we especially remember “sanctus” which means month of October. those who have gone before “holy.” The word “hallow” Rather, it is ushering in The Commemoration 3 us marked with the sign of means to “consecrate” or to the month of November - of All the Faithful faith - the faithful de- “make holy.” (In the Lord’s the month we remember Departed parted. November 1st is Prayer we pray “hallowed our dead, the faithful The Light of Christ 3 the Solemnity of All Saints, be thy name.”) An old name departed. Keep that in a Holy Day of Obligation in for All Saints Day was Hal- mind as you keep these Trick or Treat 3 the United States. Novem- lowmas. The evening before days: All Hallow’s Eve, ber 2nd is the Commemo- Hallowmas was called All All Saints Day, and the Homecoming 4 ration of All the Faithful Hallow’s Eve. Hence the Commemoration of All Departed, or All Souls Day. name “Halloween” for Octo- the Faithful Departed. ber 31st. Seasoning the Seasons™ All Saints/All Souls We Are Family! Genealogy is a popular hobby trace our ancestors in faith. very few women are included, and these days. Some people We are sons and daughters of you might be surprised at which spend hours, weeks, months, the living God. Jesus is our women are included! even years researching their brother. Would you like to find Do we have other ancestors in family tree. Sometimes this out more about your faith fam- faith? We most certainly do! Mil- may take them on long jour- ily tree? A good place to begin lions of them, as a matter of fact! neys to far away countries. might be with Jesus’ human Who are they? What are their And sometimes their investi- family tree. We can find this names? Some of the names we gations lead to some surpris- in the Bible. know and some we do not. Some ing results! The Tree of Jesse of these people are our blood rela- Open your Bible to chapter one Iconographer: But do you realize that we tives. Some are not. We are part in Matthew’s Gospel. Here you Michael Damaskinos also have a “faith family of a very large faith family with a will find the genealogy of Je- Early 17th Century tree”? Just as we trace our sus! And it is pretty interest- very long history. We are part of St. Catherine’s Church blood ancestors, so too can we ing. You might take note that the Communion of Saints! Heraklion, Crete The Communion of Saints When we are baptized we be- Think about the Rite of Bap- family of faith! Our ancestors come part of the Body of Christ, tism. We listen to the Word in Scripture and the Saints the Church. We die and rise of God. Then, following the born during and after Jesus’ with Christ in baptism, which Intercessions and prior to lifetime are all part of this you might say is our “first the prayer of exorcism and family, as are all those - liv- death.” And in faith, we believe pre-baptismal anointing, we ing and dead - who have been that the end of our earthly life invoke the Saints. Think marked “by the sign of faith.” is not the final chapter. By about the Word of God and We share a communion “in Christ’s death and resurrection, the Litany of the Saints. holy things” and “among holy All Saints the gates of paradise have been Why would we hear the persons” (CCC 948). Think of Fra Angelico opened for us. If we are faith- Word and invoke the Saints the wonderful family reunion 15th Century ful, we will enjoy life everlasting immediately prior to bap- we will celebrate for all eter- praising God with all the angels tism? Because the person to nity in the new and heavenly and saints! be baptized is joining the city, Jerusalem! Saints On certain days in our Church Year we celebrate the Feast Day of a particular saint. For example, on October 18th we celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist. Then on November 1st we cele- brate All Saints Day. Why do some saints have a specific feast day on the calendar, as opposed to All Saints Day? When we talk about the Communion of Saints, we are talking about the entire Church on earth and in heaven. We are among Jesus’ disciples still journeying here on earth. Then there are those very faithful disciples who have died and are now sharing in the glory of heaven. Some of these people were known by many and their good deeds have been recalled down through the ages; Saint Francis of Assisi or Saint Joan of Arc, for example. Dead for centuries, we still know them by name, and their holiness has been officially recognized by the Church. We may or may not know the names of other faithful disciples who have died and are now in heaven. Perhaps a bystander in a Scripture story whose name was never recorded but was a close follower of Jesus, perhaps someone who died for their faith whose name was never recorded, and perhaps a friend or relative we have loved who faithfully followed Jesus while alive. We remember all of these saints, named and unnamed, on All Saints Day. Page 2 Seasoning the Seasons™ All Saints/All Souls Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed The communion of the Church of heaven and earth consists not only of those of us who are the disciples of Jesus still journeying here on earth and of the saints who are already experiencing the full glory of heaven. There are also those who have died and are in the state of purgatory, being purified. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 954-959.) We remember all of our faithful departed on November 2nd. From very ancient times, those who are living have remembered and honored their dead. How this has been done has varied somewhat from culture to culture. Many of our modern traditions and customs come from these ancient practices. In Mexico and Central America and other Hispanic cultures, November 2nd is celebrated as Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. In homes, an altar or ofrenda, is set up, which might include such items as photos of the deceased, decorated sugar skulls, wildly dressed skeletons, can- dles, and foods and beverages favored by the deceased. Rather than being a time of mourning, this takes on a much more celebratory nature, much like a family reunion. Sometimes this celebration is spread out over three days, October 31-November 2nd, the Days of the Dead. Celebrations such as the Day of the Dead help us to remember that we really are all one family.

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