If reports got it right, the liturgical celebration of All Souls’ Day will be observed today, Monday, not yesterday, a Sunday. Because the liturgy for Sundays is a set celebration, the solemnity of All Souls’ Day will have to be observed the following day. Whatever it is, if you missed offering prayers, fresh flowers, lighting candles for your dear departed these past two days, don’t worry. Catholic tradition has dedicated the entire month of November to prayers for the departed, which means that we have a full month to fulfill this religious obligation.Many resourceful people have written about the origin of praying for the dead. The stories vary from one culture to another. Easily the most outstanding of these festivals is the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, which is said to have its roots in the Aztecs, or about 3,000 years back. While other cultures find the Mexican version of All Souls’ Day a bit raucous, almost like a mini-Sinulog, there is a lot to learn in the way Mexicans weave traditional customs, like dancing and prayer vigils in gravesites, together with frank discussions about death. What makes this modern practice quite interesting is the fact that even children are encouraged to join in conversations about the dead friend or relative. In our country, death is considered an unpalatable subject and is consciously avoided in conversations even during wakes. A fascinating story about how the Catholic world established the celebration of the dead can be found in “Life of St. Odilo” written by Jesse Voyles. Odilo was descended from a noble family in France and who later became abbot of a Benedictine monastery. Known as the Archangel of the Monks, the saint was responsible for the rapid development of the monastery, first in Cluny in central France and later throughout Europe. St. Odilo had a magnificent monastery built in Cluny and at that time the Abbot of Cluny was as powerful as monarchs and popes. However, Odilo declined positions of power offered him by two popes and instead dedicated his efforts to reform the monastic system. Wikipedia says that Voyles’ work about Odilo narrates a story about a pilgrim who returned from the Holy Land. Cast by a rough storm on a desolate island, the pilgrim met a hermit who told him that “amid the rocks was a chasm communicating with purgatory, from which perpetually rose the groans of tortured souls.” The hermit claimed, he “heard demons complaining of the efficacy of the prayers of the faithful, and especially the monks of Cluny, in rescuing their victims.”
The legend goes that upon returning home, the pilgrim informed the abbot of Cluny, who then set Nov. 2, around the year 998 as a day of intercession on the part of his community for all the poor souls in purgatory. From the abbey in Cluny, the practice spread to other monasteries of the Cluniac order, then to other dioceses in France and throughout the western Church in Europe, although it was accepted in Rome only in the 14th century. Around this time, the Cluniac system declined and in 1790 the church was closed and later dismantled. Today, the ruins of Ancienne Abbaye de Cluny are all that remains of the once powerful monastic system in Europe. Tourists are attracted to the Saone-et-Loire region to view the Holy Water Bell Tower and the art museum which is housed in what was once the abbot’s former palace. A reason why we mix up our celebration of All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day could be found in the gospel commentary of Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM. He said that the feast of All Saints’ Day and the commemoration of All the Faithful Departed come one after the other because both “speak to us of what’s beyond.” “If we didn’t believe in a life after death, it would not be worth it to celebrate the feast of the saints, and even less, to visit the cemetery. Who would we go to visit, or why would we light a candle or bring a flower?”
Fr. Cantalamessa invites us to reflect on the Psalm, “Teach us to count our days that we may gain wisdom of heart”: “We live like tree leaves in autumn. The tree in spring blooms again, but with other leaves; the world will continue after us, but with other inhabitants. Leaves don’t have a second life; they disintegrate where they fall. Does the same happen to us? That’s where the analogy ends. Jesus promised: ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes, even if he dies, will live.’ This is the great challenge of faith, not just for Christians, but also for Jews and Muslims, for everyone who believes in a personal God.” |
