Rome Newsroom, Nov 2, 2023 / 08:04 am Pope Francis prayed for peace, hope, and mercy at a Mass to mark All Souls’ Day on a rainy morning at the Rome War Cemetery. “Today, thinking […]
Pope Francis delivers his Sunday Angelus message to about 20,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 22, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 31, 2023 / 08:50 am (CNA).
In the Catholic Church, the first days of November are an important time for remembering those who have come and gone before us — both the holy men and women who are canonized saints in heaven and our departed loved ones we hope and pray are also partaking in the beatific vision.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis will mark this holy and significant season with prayer and two liturgies.
On the solemnity of All Saints on Nov. 1, Pope Francis will give a short address and lead the Angelus, a traditional Marian prayer, from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at noon Rome time.
It is the pope’s custom to lead an Angelus on holy days of obligation.
Since All Saints’ Day falls on a Wednesday this year, Francis will not hold his usual weekly general audience.
For All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2, he will continue his recent custom of holding a Mass at a cemetery to pray for the dead.
Since 2016, Pope Francis has celebrated a Mass at five different cemeteries in or near Rome. For All Souls’ Day in 2019, he celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla, while in 2022 he did not visit a cemetery but offered Mass for deceased bishops and cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica — another papal custom during the week of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.
For 2023, Francis will again return to a cemetery to mark All Souls’ Day. He will preside over a Mass at 10 a.m. at the Rome War Cemetery, which contains 426 Commonwealth burials from the Second World War.
The small cemetery is near the Pyramid of Cestius, a Roman-era pyramid in the Ostiense neighborhood south of the historic center of Rome.
The following morning, on Nov. 3, Pope Francis will preside over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI and the bishops and cardinals who have died in the previous year. It is the pope’s practice to offer this Mass sometime during the first week of November.
In commemoration of All Souls’ Day, Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge celebrated Mass at a Fairfax cemetery and blessed the gravesites of the priests buried there on Nov. 2, 2022. / Photo credit: Diocese of Arlington
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 2, 2022 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
Speaking at Fairfax Memorial Park in Fairfax, northern Virginia, Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge said in his All Souls’ Day homily that it is a “sacred duty” to pray for all the faithful departed.
The 11 a.m. Mass, attended by about 750 people, was followed by a blessing of the gravesites of deceased priests. It was the sixth such Mass that Burbidge has presided over as bishop of Arlington.
“[A]s we continue this earthly journey, we are reminded today of the great privilege that is ours: the sacred duty we have to pray for our loved ones who have died and all the faithful departed, and each day to honor them — to honor them by putting into practice all that they have taught us,” Burbidge said in his homily.
It is a tradition in the Arlington Diocese that many of those in attendance have lost a loved one in the past year, diocesan spokeswoman Mary Shaffrey explained.
Burbidge said in the homily that taking a leave from home for a long time deepens the desire to return home.
“Our spiritual lives are no different,” he added.
“Right now, we are merely on a journey, a pilgrimage, and everything we do here on earth should be preparing us for our return home to the dwelling place, the eternal place that God has prepared for us from the beginning of time,” Burbidge said.
Burbidge reflected upon the mystery of eternal life. He said that Jesus tells us about eternal life. “There he says, ‘You will know rest and peace and life without end,’” he said.
“The Book of Wisdom says that the souls of the just will be in the hands of God and no torment will touch them. They will know grace and mercy,” he noted.
“St. Paul says that those who are reconciled with God, who die with him, will come to live with him,” he said. “And our Lord himself says, ‘All those who believe in me will be raised up on the last day.’”
Burbidge said that “on the day that the Lord calls us home to himself, we will be greeted by the loving embrace of God, his angels and saints, our beloved parents and spouses, and children and family members and friends who have died.”
“No wonder in a spiritual sense we long to return home,” he added.
One of the emotional highlights at the annual Mass for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed is when @BishopBurbidge blesses the gravesites of his brother priests at the end of the liturgy. “Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord…” #AllSoulsDay pic.twitter.com/OEsVh60P3T
— Catholic Diocese of Arlington (@arlingtonchurch) November 2, 2022
Burbidge then implored all to strive for holiness and love of God through compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. He added that by attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, those present are united with the faithful departed in “the most profound way possible.”
“We are united with them today in the most profound way possible as we gather around this altar, to celebrate the heavenly banquet and to celebrate the truth that by his cross and resurrection, Jesus has transformed darkness into light, suffering to glory, and even death to life,” he said.
Burbidge concluded his homily with the communal recitation of the ages-old eternal rest prayer.
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen,” he concluded.
Pope Francis praying in St. Peter’s Basilica on All Souls’ Day, Nov. 2, 2022. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Nov 2, 2022 / 06:53 am (CNA).
On All Souls’ Day, Pope Francis urged Christians not to “compromise with the Gospel” but to take Jesus’ words seriously when he says we will be judged by how we treat the poor.
“Often, out of convenience or comfort, we tend to tone down Jesus’ message, to water down his words. Let’s face it, we have gotten pretty good at compromising with the Gospel,” the pope said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 2.
“From simple disciples of the Master we become masters of complexity, who argue a lot and do little, who seek answers more in front of the computer than in front of the Crucifix, on the internet rather than in the eyes of our brothers and sisters; Christians who comment, debate, and expound theories but do not know even a poor person by name, have not visited a sick person for months, have never fed or dressed someone, have never made friends with someone in need,’” he said.
Pope Francis offered Mass on All Souls’ Day for the repose of the souls of more than 150 deceased bishops and cardinals who died in the past year.
In his homily, the pope reflected on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”
All Souls’ Day Mass at the Vatican
“May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.” pic.twitter.com/BVZCChYK5w
— Courtney Mares (@catholicourtney) November 2, 2022
The pope said that these words in the Gospel help prepare for death and the final judgment. He said God is “waiting for us among the poor and wounded of the world.” Pope Francis warned that there is a continual risk to “put the expectations of the world before the expectation of God” and to end up “losing sight of what matters.”
“The best careers, the greatest achievements, the most prestigious titles and awards, the accumulated wealth and earthly gains, all will vanish in an instant, everything,” he said.
The pope said that All Souls’ Day is a good occasion to ask “if our desires have anything to do with heaven.”
The Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica was offered for the 9 cardinals and 148 bishops and archbishops who died between Oct. 30, 2021, and Oct. 17, 2022.
Among the deceased cardinals listed in a booklet accompanying the Mass were Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former Vatican secretary of state; Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the former archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil, who had a significant role in the 2019 Amazon Synod; and Cardinal Antonios Naguib, the former patriarch of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Catholic Church.
Bishops who died in the past year included Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Anthony Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, Texas; Archbishop Emeritus Stanislaw Nowak of Czestochowa, Poland; Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Cheng Tsai-Fa of Taipei, Taiwan; and Bishop Emeritus Lawrence Donald Soens of Sioux City, Iowa.
After the Mass, Pope Francis made a private visit to a cemetery inside Vatican City. The Teutonic Cemetery, located next to St. Peter’s Basilica, is the burial place of people of German, Austrian, and Swiss descent, as well as for people from other German-speaking nations, particularly members of the Archconfraternity of Our Lady.
The cemetery is built on the historic site of Nero’s Circus, where early Christians in Rome were martyred, including St. Peter.
On All Souls’ Day and throughout the month of November, the Church makes a special effort to remember, honor, and pray for the dead. There are many different cultural traditions around this period, but one of the most consistently honored is the practice of visiting cemeteries.
Last year, Pope Francis visited a military cemetery in Rome on All Souls’ Day. In 2018, Pope Francis offered Mass in a cemetery for deceased children and unborn babies called the Garden of Angels, located in the Laurentino Cemetery on the outskirts of Rome.
A memento mori at the Teutonic Cemetery in the Vatican / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Nov 2, 2022 / 06:00 am (CNA).
On All Souls’ Day, the Catholic Church remembers all those who have died and prays for them in a particular way.But why do C… […]
Editor’s note: The following homily was preached on the Commemoration of All Souls, November 2, 2022, at Our Lady of the Atonement Church in San Antonio (Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter). Allow me […]
If you aren’t nerdy enough to read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and also the appendices to the books, then you aren’t nerdy enough. I’m kidding, of course, but it is true […]
Palermo’s Santa Maria dei Rotoli cemetery, seen from Mount Pellegrino. / Amelie56 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Rome Newsroom, Nov 3, 2021 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
As the Catholic archbishop of Palermo paid a visit to the Sicilian city’s largest cemete… […]
null / Everything I Do via Shutterstock.
Vatican City, Nov 2, 2021 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Nestled in Rome just outside the Vatican, a small unassuming museum dedicated to the souls in Purgatory displays simple items such as prayer books and clothing…. […]
The Church of St. Mary of Prayer and Death in Rome, Italy. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Rome, Italy, Nov 2, 2021 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
On one of Rome’s most important Renaissance-era streets lies a historic church dedicated to prayer for the dead, especiall… […]
© Catholic World Report