The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-11-25
NOVEMBER REFLECTIONS.


As we review the fast speeding days :of wailing
winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and
scar we realize that III no other month of the year
dc earth and heaven approach SO closely as in No
vember. When the church bell called for the Office
of all saints, we rejoced with the triumphant host
and congratulated the elect for having terminated
their lives in so blissful an eternity Trusting in
the mercy of God, we derived consolation from the
thought that our loved ones now reckoned among
the dead are celebrating the feast in the heavenly
Jerusalem In spirit we see them joining the tri-
umphal procession of all the blessed; we behold
them lost in admiration of the infinite PROJECTIONS
of the holy trinity; we hear their meodious voices
blending i'll the harmony of eternal hymns of praise
and thanksgiving.
But bark What IS this doleful sound breaking
in upon our joyful contemplation! 1t is the toing
of the bell ushering in All Souls Day The priest
clad i'll black vestments goes to the foot of the
altar accompanied by acolytes robed III the same
moumful color During the holy sacrifice the deep
solemn notes of the De Profunds resounding be-
meath the vaued ceiling seem in unison with that
plaintive cry from the other world, "Have pity on
me at least you my friends because the hand of the
Lord hath touched me-"
Where is the certainty of yesterday. Alas.
Our imagination may have deceived us Justice as
ents loved brothers and sisters are perhaps paying
the penalty of transgressons to which we were ac-
cessory Love has blinded us and in our grief we
see only their good deeds-forgetting that the re-
cording angels have kept q strict account Of both
good and evil and that every farthing must be paid
before we enter that Eternal Counting House where
God Himself balances all books. Let us then re-
solve not only in November, but also during the
coming years, to relieve by spiritual aims those
to whom. i'll life. we refused nothing, and who now
more than eyer need our aid.
The infdel tells US there is no God no eternity
What must be the despair that fills his soul as he
accompanies the remains of his only friend to their
last resting place. Not so is it with the Christian
for as the chill November winds sweep over the
newly made grave and moan strange requiem in
passing through the crisp autumn leaves, there lives
in his heart the hope that in better land he shall
meet again the dear one whose loss he mourns
Since our childhood days have been taught that
Mother Church in her love for the suffering mem
bers of her family has fondly appointed the month
of November for devotion to the Holy Souls in
Purgatory. She bids us offer to God for their re-
lease prayers notifications and above all the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass as at the dawn of each day
we gather before the altar While with Gods an
nointed we beg the Eternal Father to accept as
ransom the precious blood flowing from the wounds
of His Divine Son, she at the same time encour-
ages us to show our gratitude to God for our pres
ervation and sustenance, and fitting conclusion
to the month of November we have day set apart
by our forefathers for q general Thanksgiving for
the many favors received during the year This is
most appropriate. Although every day brings in
Vulnerable blessings eliciting profound gratitude,
it is deplorable fact that Thanksgiving Day has,
lost much of its primitive significance. The early
New England colonists returned thanks for all the
blessings they had received during the year, in
which they frequently included however, only
scanty existence. Is it because we live in abund
ance that God is forgotten To thousands of
American citizens this day is but one of rest, of
amusements and good cheer. It is to be hoped that
the people of our glorious country will soon learn
to recognize in the midst of plenty the Oliver of all
good gifts-a hope which would undoubtedly be
realized if all benefited by the advice of our noble
and honored president in his thanksgiving procla-
nation: "That the people gather in their homes
and places Of worship and in rendering thanks
unto the Most High for the manifold blessings of
the past year, consecrate themselves to life of
cleanliness, honor and wisdom, so that this nation
may do its allotted work on the earth in manner
worthy of those who founded it and of those who
preserved it."