All-Souls Day
All Souls Day
2 November , feast in commemoration of the faithful departed in purgatory. Abbot Odilo of Cluny instituted it in the monasteries of his congregation in 998 , other religious orders took up the observance, and it was adopted by various dioceses and gradually by the whole Church . The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy on this day and Pope Benedict XV granted to all priests the privilege of saying three Masses of requiem: one for the souls in purgatory, one for the intention of the Holy Father, one for the priest’s. If the feast should fall on Sunday it is kept on 3 November . See also:
Goffine’s Devout Instructions
New Catholic Dictionary
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
All Souls’ Day
The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this be a Sunday or a solemnity, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation.
The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass. (See PURGATORY.)
In the early days of Christianity the names of the departed brethren were entered in the diptychs. Later, in the sixth century, it was customary in Benedictine monasteries to hold a commemoration of the deceased members at Whitsuntide. In Spain there was such a day on Saturday before Sexagesima or before Pentecost, at the time of St. Isidore (d. 636). In Germany there existed (according to the testimony of Widukind, Abbot of Corvey, c. 980) a time-honoured ceremony of praying to the dead on 1 October. This was accepted and sanctified by the Church. St. Odilo of Cluny (d. 1048) ordered the commemoration of all the faithful departed to he held annually in the monasteries of his congregation. Thence it spread among the other congregations of the Benedictines and among the Carthusians.
Of the dioceses, Liège was the first to adopt it under Bishop Notger (d. 1008). It is then found in the martyrology of St. Protadius of Besançon (1053-66). Bishop Otricus (1120-25) introduced it into Milan for the 15 October. In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, priests on this day say three Masses. A similar concession for the entire world was asked of Pope Leo XIII. He would not grant the favour but ordered a special Requiem on Sunday, 30 September, 1888.
In the Greek Rite this commemoration is held on the eve of Sexagesima Sunday, or on the eve of Pentecost. The Armenians celebrate the passover of the dead on the day after Easter.
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FRANCIS MERSHMAN Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas In Memory of Mr. Cherian Poovathumkal
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
All-Souls Day
a festival held by Roman Catholics on the day after All-saints’ Day, for special prayer in behalf of the souls of all the faithful dead. It was first introduced in 998, by Odilon, abbot of Clugni, who enjoined it on his own order. It was soon after adopted by neighboring churches. It is the day on which, in the Romish Church, extraordinary masses are repeated for the relief of souls said to be in purgatory. Formerly, on this day, persons dressed in black perambulated the towns and cities, each provided with a bell of dismal tone, which was rung in public places, by way of, exhortation to the people to remember the souls in purgatory (Farrar, Eccl. Dictionary, s.v.). In some parts of the west of England it is still “the custom for the village children to go round to all their neighbors souling, as they call it collecting small contributions, and singing the following verses, taken down from two of the children themselves:
Soul! soul! for a soul-cake;
Pray, good mistress, for a soul-cake,
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for Them who made us all.
Soul! soul! for an apple or two;
If youve got no apples, pears will do,
Up with your kettle, and down with your pan;
Give me a good big one, and Ill be gone.
The soul-cake referred to in the verses is a sort of bun which, until lately, it was an almost general custom for people to make, and to give to one another on the 2d of November.” Notes and Queries, 1st ser. vol. 4.