Feast of All Saints: November 1
The great Feast of All Saints is about celebrating all the canonized saints and all the uncanonized saints as well. Of course, we are very familiar that the canonized saints are those we celebrate throughout the year. Those that we know about after reading their biographies or learning about them from sermons, homilies or other means. These are the saints whom the Church proclaims explicitly and publicly and without error that they are in heaven. They have finished the race; they have fought the good fight. They are victorious and enjoying the Beatific Vision of the Blessed Trinity now.
But there are many more saints in heaven than we can count or find in our liturgical calendar — many more than the number of saints found in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary liturgical calendars put together. St. John the Beloved told us what he saw. He saw a vision of “a great multitude which no one could count from every nation, race, people and town”. Most likely there are many more uncanonized saints in heaven than there are canonized. That’s why we have today’s great Feast of All Saints — to honor not only the canonized but also and especially the uncanonized saints today.
All Souls Days: November 2
The Church is composed of the faithful living upon the earth and those who have gone before us. The latter includes the Saints in Heaven and the faithful Souls being purified in Purgatory. Just as on November 1st we honor those who are with God, on November 2nd Catholics celebrate a Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Also known as All Souls Day, on this day we honor them for their fidelity in life, as well as pray for them, since they are being purified before entering the All Holy Presence of God. As Revelation 21:27 says of the Heavenly Jerusalem, “… nothing unclean shall enter in.”
- Does the Catholic Church still believe in Purgatory?
- Is Purgatory Biblical?
- What does one do on All Souls Day?
Does the Catholic Church still believe in Purgatory?
From the earliest days of the Church, Catholics have believed in a place of final purification for the faithful who died. Those who died a martyr were recognized as already with God, since they were perfectly conformed to Christ and His Cross by their martyrdom. For the many believers who never had the opportunity to give such a public witness, the Church offered prayers, especially the Mass, that having been purified from every imperfection they would enter into Heaven. This can be found in many ancient texts, as well as the witness of the catacombs and of tombs. In the Middle Ages the theological explanation was developed and the name Purgatory began to be used, since it aptly describes the belief of the Church from the beginning up until today.
All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect…. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030-1031)
Is Purgatory Biblical?
While the word Purgatory does not appear in Scripture, the possibility of purification after death certainly does in undeveloped form. For example, in the book of Maccabees, Judas Maccabee sends an offering to the Temple on behalf of his fallen men who had committed a superstitious act (2 Macc. 12:39-45). While this Catholic biblical text is not in the Protestant Bible, owing to its removal by the Reformers, it nonetheless witnesses to the faith of Israel in the 2nd century B.C.
In the New Testament, Our Lord advises us to settle our affairs before going before the judge, or else we may be thrown into prison, where we remain until our debt is paid.
Mt. 5:25-26 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
This is a basic principle of justice, debts of justice must be paid. We cannot pay our debt to God, it is infinite. Christ paid that debt, uniting our nature to His Divine Nature, and we receive forgiveness when we turn to Him in repentance through those whom He appointed for this purpose (John 20:21-23; 2 Cor. 3:5-6). The temporal guilt, due to the consequences in us, in others, in the good order of society, remain, and we must settle them to the extent we are able—returning stolen money, correcting injury to someone’s good name, asking forgiveness of someone we hurt, physically, emotionally, morally and so on—if not in this life, in the next. It is these debts within our power to repair we cannot simply set aside, whether in life or in death.
What does one do on All Souls Day?
Even though this is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is a good idea to attend Mass on All Souls Day. Also, the day should be spent, at least in part, in prayer for the souls of our loved ones, as well as those who have no one who will pray for them.
It is an honored custom, as well, to visit the graves of our deceased on this day, both to pray at the place where their bodies, hallowed in life by the sacraments, await the General Resurrection, and to leave some mark of esteem, such as flowers, to adorn their graves.