A Sunday Thought About All Saints and All Souls
Friday was All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation in the U.S. for Latin-right Catholics. It just occurred to me that, as child, I would have been extra-excited that this holy day fell on a Friday, giving me a long weekend "off" from school. In the days before the government jury-rigged holidays like Memorial Day, Columbus Day, "Presidents" Day, etc. so that we'd have long weekends with a Monday off, this three-day weekend would have been something special.
But more special would have been the day itself. The Faith was vibrant, alive in my childhood parish in a way that doesn't seem to apply these days. The Sisters of Charity who taught us in grammar school wore black habits. The Mass - at least for the early years of grammar school - was the Mass we now refer to as the "Extraordinary" Form. Then it was just Holy Mass. Since I both sang in the choir (a decent children's choir that sang serious liturgical music, including Gregorian chant), and served as an altar boy, much of my daily life revolved around our local parish church, in addition to attending our parish school. I'm not saying it was a perfect world, but it was so much more, well, Catholic than our children experience in many parishes and parish schools these days. Add to this the fact that the secular culture - certainly growing in strength as it had been doing for decades - was still respectful of our Catholic religion at that time, something that sadly has gone by the wayside these days.
Okay, so I'm waxing nostalgic a bit, something I don't care to do much as its indulgence can tie us to a past already gone and distract us from the task at hand: growing in sanctity day by day - which brings us back to All Saints Day.
The greatness of this Holy Day hasn't diminished for me. The very idea that a "Church Triumphant" exists and that the holy souls there intercede for us willingly and joyfully, if only we ask for their help, still provides a lift to me, especially on certain dreary or difficult days. Just thinking about this even now really is thrilling. How blessed we are to have the Blessed in Heaven so earnestly praying for us, we who struggle day in and day out here on earth!
And in her wisdom, Holy Mother Church places the feast of All Souls the very next day. On this day (and in a special way throughout the entire month of November, the month of the Holy Souls), we of the Church Militant, bolstered by our brothers and sisters of the Church Triumphant, pray for the Church Suffering, those who have died and await their eternal glory, temporarily undergoing the cleansing of their souls in Purgatory. Here we of the Church Militant can seize the opportunity to really "make a difference" during our time on earth by the prayers and sacrifices we offer for those undergoing the suffering of Purgatory, as we beg Our Lord to have mercy on their souls and perhaps hasten their entrance into the glory of Heaven.
Wrapped in this Catholic blanket of grace, this special "long weekend" I'm left not with pining for the "good old days" of nuns in habits, and the privilege of singing in the choir as well as serving at the altar, but rather with a clear and present sensus catholicus, the Catholic sense that should inform our lives each and every day during our during our journey on this earth.
And please don't forget to pray for the Holy Souls in a special way throughout November.
But more special would have been the day itself. The Faith was vibrant, alive in my childhood parish in a way that doesn't seem to apply these days. The Sisters of Charity who taught us in grammar school wore black habits. The Mass - at least for the early years of grammar school - was the Mass we now refer to as the "Extraordinary" Form. Then it was just Holy Mass. Since I both sang in the choir (a decent children's choir that sang serious liturgical music, including Gregorian chant), and served as an altar boy, much of my daily life revolved around our local parish church, in addition to attending our parish school. I'm not saying it was a perfect world, but it was so much more, well, Catholic than our children experience in many parishes and parish schools these days. Add to this the fact that the secular culture - certainly growing in strength as it had been doing for decades - was still respectful of our Catholic religion at that time, something that sadly has gone by the wayside these days.
Okay, so I'm waxing nostalgic a bit, something I don't care to do much as its indulgence can tie us to a past already gone and distract us from the task at hand: growing in sanctity day by day - which brings us back to All Saints Day.
The greatness of this Holy Day hasn't diminished for me. The very idea that a "Church Triumphant" exists and that the holy souls there intercede for us willingly and joyfully, if only we ask for their help, still provides a lift to me, especially on certain dreary or difficult days. Just thinking about this even now really is thrilling. How blessed we are to have the Blessed in Heaven so earnestly praying for us, we who struggle day in and day out here on earth!
And in her wisdom, Holy Mother Church places the feast of All Souls the very next day. On this day (and in a special way throughout the entire month of November, the month of the Holy Souls), we of the Church Militant, bolstered by our brothers and sisters of the Church Triumphant, pray for the Church Suffering, those who have died and await their eternal glory, temporarily undergoing the cleansing of their souls in Purgatory. Here we of the Church Militant can seize the opportunity to really "make a difference" during our time on earth by the prayers and sacrifices we offer for those undergoing the suffering of Purgatory, as we beg Our Lord to have mercy on their souls and perhaps hasten their entrance into the glory of Heaven.
Wrapped in this Catholic blanket of grace, this special "long weekend" I'm left not with pining for the "good old days" of nuns in habits, and the privilege of singing in the choir as well as serving at the altar, but rather with a clear and present sensus catholicus, the Catholic sense that should inform our lives each and every day during our during our journey on this earth.
And please don't forget to pray for the Holy Souls in a special way throughout November.
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