As a child I remember our elders telling us pray for all the beloved dead an Our Father and Hail Mary everyday so that when they go to heaven they will tell Jesus about you! Much more on November 1, we must go for Mass to bring them home as at the tolling of the church bells from the noontime till November 2 noon, they visit us! And to pray one Our Father and I Believe.
Yes, as innocent and simple children we believed all what was told. Making visits to the Church and Cemetery and at the door post of our homes! In many places, people attend churches, which are appropriately draped in black, and visit family graves to honour their ancestors. It’s a delight to see most of the cemeteries on November 2, though nowadays the faithful are advised to decorate that which is acceptable to mother earth.
Today we understand why our elders asked us to pray the Our Father and the I Believe. It was an indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, and granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray for the departed. The indulgence is plenary, under the usual conditions, each day from November 1 to 8; a partial indulgence is granted on any other day of the year. When we visit a Church or Oratory on All Souls Day a Plenary indulgence can be obtained. A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, may be obtained by those who, on All Souls Day, piously visit a church.
I remember how much fun it was as children to see things displayed at different places in the name of the dead. At the same time it was noticed that some people took revenge and did damage that was irreparable. All our vases were found on the church compound one year. So the next year we kept vigil to avoid the pranks of the villagers.
Nowadays, we hear about Halloween Parties and in Goa too we have these parties organised where most people are in costume, each one more chilling and morbid than the other! Those of who don’t want to miss out on the fun join these parties as if inviting the demons!
We are all pilgrims and the Universal Church consists of the Militant Church – that is we the pilgrims on earth; the Suffering Church – that is Purgatory, which is thought to be where most people, free of mortal sin, but still in a state of lesser (venial) sin and the Triumphant Church in heaven – where all our saints who pray and intercede for us and whom we venerate and make them as our idols after the heart of Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches that the purification of the souls in Purgatory can be hastened by the actions of the faithful on earth. Its teaching is based also on the practice of prayer for the dead mentioned in 2 Maccabees, 12:42–46. So let us remember our dearly departed ones and also those who have no one and offer prayers, that one day we too will share the hope of the resurrection from the dead.
