November 2nd
On this day, the advice of St. Paul for the first Christian communities resonates throughout the Church:
And we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, so as not to be sorrowful, like these others who do not have hope.
(1 Tes 4, 13)
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Dead, a day on which the Church exhorts us to suffrage with special generosity, with fasts, alms and prayers, the souls of those who suffer in Purgatory, is a favorable occasion to remember some basic points of the Christian faith regarding the “Four Last Things“. First of all, it is necessary to know that, right after death, the human soul presents itself before God to receive the sentence of its particular judgment, by virtue of which it will, in a definitive and irreformable way for:
– Hell, if you died in mortal sin;
– Heaven, if you are fully prepared for the beatific vision;
– Purgatory, where you must pay the temporal penalty for your sins not yet satisfied, in addition to purifying yourself of the imperfections that prevent you from entering eternal glory.
It means that, on All Souls Day, we do not pray for the dead to be saved, since, after death, the fate of each of them is already sealed forever. Once the judgment of the private court has been handed down, the prayers made in favor of a convict are of no avail.
Hence it follows that Purgatory, contrary to what is sometimes thought, is not a moment of “indecision” in which the soul, in a last chance, could decide to love God, and thus go to Heaven, or reject Him forever, and so rush into Hell.
Those who go to Purgatory, in effect, are already saved: they are therefore guaranteed their eternal bliss, to which they will only have access after they have purified themselves, suffering without merit in the afterlife what they could have profited from this, from the penalty due to your sins already forgiven for guilt. These blessed souls, who are in a purely penal condition and are unable to do anything for themselves, can nevertheless be helped by the suffrages of the faithful, in the form of Masses, prayers, alms, fasts and other works of piety, especially by indulgences.
That is what the Holy Church exhorts us today; it is the fulfillment of this sacred duty of charity towards our brothers, killed in the faith, that today leads us. It is true that, except for special revelation, we cannot know whether a relative or friend of ours, deceased perhaps suddenly and tragically, with no chance of receiving the sacraments, went to Hell or Purgatory.
However, this same uncertainty, sustained by the hope that God does not deny anyone the necessary and sufficient aid for salvation, should impel us to pray, yes, for all the faithful who, killed in divine grace, now need our help to that the penalties they endure should be relieved and the time of suffering shortened; but also for all those who, even without giving visible signs in this life of having converted to God, may very well, in a supreme act of mercy of our most clement Judge, be in Purgatory today, where they will remain even longer if we do not open our hands to assist you generously.
Our Mother SS., Who knows the end of the dead for whom we pray today, will know how to make good use of the suffrages we offer, and will give them a better and wiser application.
Therefore, today is not a day of sadness and regrets, but of transforming our homesickness, and even tears, into forces of intercession for the faithful who, if they are in Purgatory, count on our prayers. So this day was established to support the souls of the righteous who are still in Purgatory.
The invitation to prayer made by our Mother Church is based on the reality of the “communion of saints”, where through the spiritual solidarity of those who are inserted in the Mystical Body, through the Sacrament of Baptism, prayers, sacrifices and Masses are offered for the souls of Purgatory.
Very old is the use of the Church to pray for the dead, that they will be freed from their pain.
Tertullian says that it is from apostolic origin and writes: “Every year we celebrate the anniversary of the dead, according to the traditions of our ancestors”.
Gregorio Nazianzeno, on the occasion of the death of his brother San Cesario, promises to send his suffrages to him every year.
Saint Augustine says: “Who can doubt that the prayers, sacrifices and alms given by the dead are not a relief to them? “
Although the Holy Church has always inculcated to honor the deceased faithful, to pray for them and to offer masses in their suffrage, even so, for a long time, only particular souls were helped, without a day dedicated to the memory of all dead.
In the East, the Byzantine Church set a special Saturday for prayers for the dead, while in the West, prayers for the dead were almost general in 7th century monasteries; and in the 10th century, Saint Odilone Abbot of Cluny ordered all the convents dependent on him to sing the Office of the Dead on the night of November 1, and, in the next day, the priests to celebrate Holy Mass for all the souls who were still in Purgatory.
This custom gradually became universal and the Church confirmed it and included it in her liturgy on November 2nd, the day chosen by Saint Odilone. This is a duty of charity for all souls, but especially for those who have no one to remember them.
After the Church instituted on this day, piety for the souls in purgatory was increasingly intensified over the centuries and churches and altars were erected, mass bequests were left, sacred works were instituted, to support the souls of the dead.
During the great war, when the whole world was mourning their dead, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XV, in 1915, extended to all Christianity a privilege that already existed in Spain, since it aimed at the war dead, sick and poor, it means, he allowed each priest to celebrate three masses in suffrage for the dead on November 2nd: the first should be applied according to the offerer’s intentions, the second to all deceased faithful and the third according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff .
Nothing is more compatible with the spirit of Christian charity than charity for the souls in purgatory. They are souls of parents, brothers, superiors, benefactors, friends and acquaintances, who ask for mercy and relief in the most atrocious pains. Miseremini mei, miseremini mei, jump out amici mei: “Have pity, have pity on me, at least on you, my friends”. These poor souls can do nothing for themselves; instead, we can lift them up and free them with little effort.
We think that maybe one day we will also find ourselves in these flames and we will be pleased that others remember us. So let us do to others what we would like them to do to us.
Thus, it is salutary to remember, on this day, that “the Church calls Purgatory this final purification of the elect, which is completely different from the punishment of the condemned” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
Therefore, the soul who died in the grace and friendship of God, however, needing purification, resembles an adventurer walking in a desert under a scorching sun, where the heat is suffocating, with little water; however, he sees beyond the desert the mountain where the treasure is, the mountain where fresh breezes blow and where he can rest forever; that is, “Heaven has no doors” (Santa Catarina de Genoa), but a providential ‘anteroom’.
These souls will also reciprocate our act of charity from heaven a thousand and a thousand times and will not allow us to fall into the eternal pains of Hell.
“O my Jesus, forgive us, deliver us from the fire of Hell. Take all souls to Heaven and help those most in need! Amen!”
Prayer. – O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of your men and women servants the remission of all their sins, so that, through these pious supplications, they may obtain the mercy they have always desired. You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen. Our Father and Hail Mary. – Give them, Lord, eternal rest, and may the perpetual light illuminate them. Rest in peace. Amen.
References:
Site Padre Paulo
Site Il Santo del Giorno
Site Biblia Catolica
and my free translation
Conservative Blog 