The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-11-02
ALL SOULS DAY.

The Nature and Origin OF the Festival
and Its Religious Observance.
THIS ID IAN Souls Day'-a day on which the
most solemn and pathetic concentrations for the
repose OF the souls OF the departed are ofered up
In almost every religious edidce throughout the
C6rntan world. Yesterday the glorihcatien Of the
elect was commemorated with mingled choruses Of
JOY and Thanksgiving: to-day the souls
OF those who have passed "that bourne
whence no traveller returns" are remem-
bered in the present prayers and Calculations Of
their friends. Yesterday the trappings Of gadness
gllded the interior Of our city temples and "Ho-
sannas'' reverberated through their aisles. To-
day their affairs clad in the sable garments OF
mourning, and only the solemn strains of the 'Dies
Ira and Miserere" will be heard throughout the
services, which, however, will, no doubt be beau
tiful and touching in the extreme. Solemn re-.
QUEEN masses will be celebrated In all the Catho.
lie and ritualistic churches of the city, II Is also
customary for various Protestant denominations
to assemble in their places Of worship and offer
up prayers for the eternal rest OF their friends
accordance with the spirit OF the text In Macca-
bees ana Matthew:-"It Is holy and wholesome
thought to pray for the deadn
ORIGIN OF THE FESTIVAL.
The fatth and practice OF the Christian Church
from It's foundation regarding the commemoration
OF the dead are manifest from the writings OF the
primitive Fathers, as Wen as from those Of Catho-
express mention is made OF prayer ana sacrifice
for the dead. Tertullian, the oldest Christian
writer, says:-"We make yearly offerings for the
dead and the feasts Of the martyrs Jeremy
Taylor, In his "Hoy Living and Holy DYING rec
i as IA pous practice Which ought to
nowned Protestant theologian, ays:-"The
is SO general and so ancient that it cannot be
thought to have come In upon imposure. Its orr
gin Is referred to Odilon, Abbot OF Cuny, England,
In the ninth century. The Council Of oxford in
1922 declared it holiday OF the second class, on
which certain necessary and important kinds Of
work were allowed. Some di0ceses kept 1t hO-
day only till noon on this account, but those Of
Vienne and Tours kept it the whole day. 1t was an
Old custom In England to sound signal in the
streets upon which every congregation assembled
IN the bassilic and there sang thirty psalms toge-
ther for the souls OF the dead-preates and abb
bots sang 600 psalms and caused 120 masses
to be celebrated, set at liberty three
slaves, and gave them three shiIlings each.
beth. At Naples 1t was customary to expose to
view the skeletons Of friends in the charnel houses
and In SalernO, In Italy, superstition pre-
vailed that the ghosts of the dead on this day
revisited their earthly homes and part0ok OF
banquet which the inmates left prepared for them,
while they themselves retired to pray in the
churches. In the Catholic countries OF Europe it
is still custom to pray over the graves OF the
dead.
The Christian Church approves of these per-
petual anniversaries for the dead, as 1t holds that
some souls may be detained In purgat0ry to the
end OF the world, though after the Day Of Judg-
mont no third state will any longer snbsiot, but
that God may, at the end OF the world, make the
torment OF souls which have not satisfied His
justice so intense In one moment that their debts
may be discharged The Greeks offer up mass
every Saturday Tor the dead, and keep this festival
on the Saturday before Whitsunday.