All Souls Day - November 2nd

The last holy day of the three day triumvirate of Halloween, All Saints and All Souls, this day focuses on those faithful departed who might not yet be in heaven with all the saints.  Catholics believe that those who are destined for heaven but still need to be cleansed of venial sins or, for justice' sake, need to make up for harm they've done on earth, no matter how repentant, must be purged before they can be in the presence of pure good, God.  There can be no sin in heaven. 

So we have the idea of Purgatory, a place of waiting and purification so that those who are saved can enter heaven.  This idea actually has Jewish roots, as it is the ancient custom to pray for the dead.  If you have ever prayed the Mourner's Kaddish at a Jewish ceremony, many of the prayers ring true for Catholics. 

The way the Church now does things is to call for a day of commemorating the dead, praying for them, and attending Mass for them.  It is not a holy day of obligation, but it is a lovely way to remember this feast.  My parish has a Mass for all those members of the parish who died that year.  I don't attend regularly, but I have attended in years when I have lost family members.  It is quite moving. 

I am lucky in that I live only 20 minutes from my family's grave site.  November 2nd was also my mother's birthday.  So I have made it my custom for the last many years to visit the family grave, put flowers on the tombstones and pray a rosary there for them all. 

One custom that seems to be gaining popularity is celebrating the Day of the Dead. One year we did make sugar skulls and read about the practice.  Since it is not of my own culture (largely Irish Catholic) I don't really focus on this custom.  And right now as a zero waster and a no-sugar advocate, the plastic molds for the skulls and the bags of sugar in plastic don't appeal to me whatsoever!

However, I do think it is a meaningful practice to set up an altar someone in the house, with photos of beloved family members who have passed on, and maybe decorate the area with candles, flowers, mini-pumpkins, mementos that remind you of the persons.  Including a crucifix, a statue of Our Lday or a rosary or two, etc reinforces the spiritual meaning behind it all.

My parish dedicates the month of November to praying for the dead.  We have a book we can enter names into and this book is kept on the altar throughout the month. 

Some other suggestions for enriching this holy day:

You might join the clergy in praying the Office of the Dead, a litany of prayers especially for All Souls Day.

Read Dante's Purgatio in the month of November.  He was hugely influential in captivating the imagination of our beliefs in the afterlife.  His epic is profoundly religious.

Read (now Saint!) John Henry Newman's famous poem, The Dream of Gerontius (much shorter than Purgatio but along the same lines).

Watch the Disney movie, Coco and then read Steve Greydanus' review of the film.  This would be best to do with middle to high schoolers.