All Saints and Faithful Departed
Solemnity of All Saints (November 1st) and the faithful departed (November 2)
To understand the meaning of the solemnity of all saints and the commemoration of the dead, it is necessary to know that there are three states in the Church:
1- The pilgrim church on earth. We are in it until the day we die.
2- The purgative church (in purgatory), is made up of the deceased who still need purification before entering Heaven. We pray for them on All Souls Day, November 2, so that they may soon go to heaven. (We do not pray for those in hell because their sentence is irreversible)
3- The triumphant church, already glorified in heaven. They, the saints, we honor on November 1.
MEDITATION ON DEATH
Imagine now as if you were in bed, about to die and leave all the things of this world…
Oh my God, give me a good and holy death, and then the eternal glory of Heaven…
1.- I am young, I have health and strength; and it almost seems that I have deluded myself that I am not going to die. And yet my life passes. How many times have I seen the waters of a river, how they go down, down towards the sea! So my life is walking, walking towards the grave. Every day that passes I am one day closer to death. When traveling by railway, have I not seen how some get off at one station, others at another, until there is no one left on the train? Thus in this life, some finish their journey in childhood, when they are still little; others, in full youth. Haven’t I seen some young people die, who were perhaps friends or acquaintances of mine? Will death one day come for me? Certainly yes. when will it be I don’t know. where to die? I don’t know. how to die? I don’t know, I don’t know. Think about it for a few moments.
two What is dying? It is separating the soul from the body. They have always lived together, and it is necessary to separate. The body, every day we see it, is taken to the cemetery, where it breaks down and rots. But the soul, where does it go? This soul that I have, that makes me know, remember, love, where does it go? She does not go to the cemetery, but at the very moment that she separates from her body, she appears before the court of God, which asks her to account for everything she has thought, said and done throughout her life. life of her If you had to present yourself before God right now, would your conscience be clear? think it well
3.- How terrible it must be to present yourself before God in mortal sin and hear the sentence of eternal damnation. You can no longer go back; The world has passed forever and God’s sentence will be fulfilled, without pleas or excuses of any kind. How sweet and delicious it must be to present the soul in the grace of God, that is to say, without any mortal sin! think it well
4- What do you prefer? What do you wish you had done at the hour of your death? Do it now, because then it might be too late. Form the resolution to behave well, to fulfill the commandments of the Law of God, to flee from sin and to devoutly frequent the holy Sacraments. Do not let yourself be deceived by the vanities of the world, which condemn so many and which will soon end; work to save your soul, that will never die. Look how you have behaved so far; and if you see that you are not on the path to Heaven, try to amend yourself and change your life. think it well
Father Luis Rivera
Solemnity of All Saints (1-11) and the faithful departed (2-11)
The Solemnity of All Saints, like the commemoration of the Dead, are two celebrations that include in themselves, in a special way, faith in eternal life. And although these two days put before our eyes the inescapability of death, they give, at the same time, a testimony of life.
The man, who according to the law of nature is “condemned to death”, who lives with the prospect of the destruction of his body, lives, at the same time, with his eyes fixed on the future life and as a call to glory. .
The Solemnity of All Saints places before the eyes of our faith all those who have reached the fullness of their call to union with God. The day that commemorates the Dead makes our thoughts converge towards those who, having left this world, hope to achieve in atonement the fullness of love that union with God asks for.
These are two great days for the Church that, in some way, “prolongs her life” in her saints and also in all those who, through service to truth and love, are preparing for this life.
This is why the Church, in the first days of November, unites herself in a special way with her Redeemer who, through his death and resurrection, has introduced us to the very reality of this life.
John Paul II
For the ones we love…
Don’t cry if you love me… If you knew the gift of God and what heaven is… If you could hear the song of the angels and see me in their midst… If for an instant you could contemplate the beauty Before which beauties pale… Believe me. When the day comes that God has set and knows, and your soul comes to this heaven in which mine has preceded you… That day you will see me again… You will feel that I still love you, that I loved you and you will find my heart with all its purified tenderness. You will see me again in transfiguration, in ecstasy, happy… No longer waiting for death, but moving forward with you, who will take you by the hand along the new paths of light and life. Wipe away your tears and do not cry if you love me.
Text of Saint Augustine
Prayer of Pope Francis for the deceased
God of infinite mercy,
we entrust to your immense goodness
to those who have left this world for eternity,
where you wait for all mankind,
redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
died a ransom for our sins.
Don’t look, sir
so much poverty, misery and human weaknesses
with which we will appear in court
to be judged for happiness or damnation.
Look at us with pious eyes
that is born from the tenderness of your heart,
and help us to walk on the path of complete purification.
May none of your children be lost in eternal fire,
where there can be no regret.
We entrust to you, Lord, the souls of our loved ones,
and of the people who have died without the sacramental consolation
or have had no way to repent
not even at the end of his life.
Let no one be afraid of finding you
after the earthly pilgrimage,
hoping to be welcomed
in the arms of infinite mercy.
The bodily death sister
find us vigilant in prayer
and full of all good,
collected in our short or long existence.
Lord, let nothing separate us from you on this earth,
but that you sustain us in everything
in the burning desire to rest serenely and eternally.
Amen.
Phrase of Saint Augustine
A flower on her grave withers.
A tear over his memory evaporates.
A prayer for his soul, God receives.
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