We see Christ triumphant on the feast of All Saints! We see the Catholic faith triumphant! We see concrete holiness! Thousands of saintly souls are in Heaven right now celebrating with us and praying for us!
The saints we celebrate today are individuals who made it to Heaven by the grace Jesus obtained for them through His Incarnation, life, Cross, death and Resurrection. They are living proof that He is present in our midst, transforming us one step at a time as we seek to carry our Cross with Him. Following Him makes us holy. His grace is efficacious! The culture tells us otherwise and bombards us with noise and distraction. But today’s feast teaches us to see through the lies because Christ’s triumph reigns in our Heavenly brothers and sisters!
Our hearts must enter into this feast and let it soothe our despondency and invigorate our sluggishness. The path our saintly brothers and sisters took – every one of them – is the path we are on. Be encouraged by their triumph today because the constant battle to persevere day by day did not defeat them or hold them back. On the contrary, our Lord turned each of their struggles, temptations, familial dysfunctions, cultural pressures, evils experienced (sound familiar?) into good for their souls. He is doing the same for us and the stronger our faith, the more we see it. They walked one day at a time with Him in faith; we are called to do the same. He never gives up on us until the day we arrive at the personal holiness He intended for us from the day of our creation.
November 2, All Souls Day, Holy Mother Church asks us to pray for the holy souls in Purgatory.
Purgatory? Have you ever splattered tomato sauce on your shirt? Now imagine finding yourself on national television. Intense desire to escape notice! Such extreme discomfort is like standing before God with a stain of sin on the soul. His gaze of love and forgiveness in no way diminishes our desire to HIDE THAT SPOT. Purgatory is a gift of our merciful God. Instead of cutting our sinful selves off from His all-holy presence eternally into Hell, we can voluntarily place ourselves in the “washing machine” called Purgatory knowing that, although we will never be worthy of His presence by our own merits, it is His desire to welcome us into His embrace.
We cannot forget to pray for the dear souls in Purgatory whose most intense torment is having seen God but are yet unable to be in His presence. The Church takes on their plight in a special way each November and intensifies her intercession for them. As Dominicans, we hold dear an age-old tradition of praying daily and in various ways throughout each week for all the holy souls currently being purified of sin in Purgatory. Please join us in praying for them!
November 1st (All Saints) celebrates the triumph of every soul presently in Heaven
CANONIZED SAINTS
Souls we know to be in Heaven now by scientifically unexplained after-death miracles
NON-CANONIZED SAINTS
• By-passers of Purgatory (no stain of sin, straight to Heaven after death)
• Graduates of Purgatory (stains have been washed away and they have gone to Heaven)
November 2nd (All Souls)
Holy souls currently being purified of sin after death in Purgatory
Prayers of the Church increased from November 1-8
We, the Dominican Sisters of Mary pray the De Profundis daily, the Libera every Monday, offer Mass & Holy Communion every Monday, as well as several other prayers throughout the week.
Indulgence Requirements (USCCB)
