Feast Day - All Souls' Day (November 2nd)
Channel: House of Prayers for Everyone (HOPE)
Date: 01/11/2023

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, more popularly known as All Souls' Day, is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations every November 2.

Biblical Basis

In the Catholic Church, "the faithful" refers essentially to baptized Catholics; "all souls" commemorates the church penitent of souls in purgatory, whereas "all saints" commemorates the church triumphant of saints in heaven.

The clergy recite the Office of the Dead on this day and all the Masses are to be of Requiem except one of the current feasts where this is of obligation. Through prayers, intercessions, alms, and visits to cemeteries, people commemorate the poor souls in purgatory and gain indulgences. 

The Catholic Church teaches that the purification of the souls in purgatory can be assisted by the actions of the faithful on earth. Its teaching is based also on the practice of prayer for the dead mentioned as far back as 2 Maccabees 12:42–46.

42 And so betaking themselves to prayers, they besought him, that the sin which had been committed might be forgotten. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain.

43 And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection,

44 (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,)

45 And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them.

46 It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.

The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific vision and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, alms, deeds, and especially by the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Traditional Celebration

Notably, there are different observances of remembering the dead based on religious denomination and cultural beliefs. Still, many All Souls' Day traditions are associated with popular notions about purgatory.

Such traditions include bell tolling which is believed to comfort those souls being cleansed, lighting candles to kindle a light for the poor souls languishing in the darkness and help them find the right path, giving soul cakes to children singing for the dead now widely celebrated as "Trick or Treat", and many more.

Images attributed to the following:
- By William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70932
- By Holger Motzkau 2010, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11985984
- By J Bar - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3400926
- This image was produced by David Castor, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8312789