November is a month of remembrance. It begins with All Saints Day and a few days later All Souls Day. Then we have the annual national commemoration of the war dead on Remembrance Sunday.
On All Saints Day we are encouraged by the Church to thank God for all the Saints known and unknown through 2000 years of it's history. On All Souls Day we remember with sorrow and grief, our own loved ones departed 'whom we love but see no longer'. The two days are very different, one is a day of rejoicing, the other a day of reflection and even sorrow.
The commemoration of All Souls is an opportunity for all Christians to remember and pray for the souls of the departed. As we grow older, we find the memories of those who have gone before us most precious and in the course of the year it is important to remember them on the anniversary of their death as we do in the course of the daily Eucharist. In Catholic countries on All Souls Day it is a long established tradition for relatives to visit the graves of their loved ones and lay flowers and light candles, how nice it would be for this to become a tradition here as it did when Diana, Princess of Wales last year. Prayer for the departed is important, after all, we too will join them soon enough!
All Souls Day reminds us that death is not the end. Death does not cut us off from those who have died, and we who remain have a constant duty in love to remember them in our prayers. It should be natural asking us to pray for them and we hope in return that they will pray for us. Our prayers and worship, as Christians, are a continuing link and unity in the Body of Christ here on earth and in Paradise with those who have died. Our prayer for them is that they will enter into the fullness of the life of the resurrection in Heaven.
All Souls Day is also a reminder to us that we are mortal not immortal and to take a look at our lives again and again, and prepare for our own death. An important preparation is making a Will, taking care to make proper support of any dependants and making a generous provision for the work of the Church and its mission. There are also the arrangements that should be made for our funeral, the choice of hymns, a requiem, burial or cremation, all this should be kept safely with the Will, and to inform relatives where to find it. How often do I find that regular and active Christians have made no provision for their funeral and in many cases it ends up with a quick service at the Crematorium! How sad.
All Saints Day reminds us of our glorious heritage, All Souls Day that we are mortal. Thanks be to God for His Holy Saints, may they pray for us and we pray that the faithful departed, may rest in peace and rise in the glory of the resurrection.
With my blessing and prayers.
Fr Malcolm Ferrier
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page last updated 1 NOVEMBER 1998