Letter from the Pastor
-
October 30, 2022There is only one group of truly happy people. They are the Saints! The saints are successful; they have accomplished their goal, they have reached their destiny and their purpose for existence. They are beholding the face of God. They made it! From their place in heaven, they pray for us and guide us on our journey to God. I always find comfort in knowing the saints pray for us, I need all the help I can get. We should read the lives of the saints. Their lives are examples to us; they have experienced life with all its situations, dealing with all sorts of people. And they were successful at it! We can certainly learn from them.
Tuesday we celebrate All Saints Day. It is a holyday of Obligation this year. So special is this day, the Church commands us to attend Mass and give God praise and thanksgiving for the lives of the Saints. The Mass schedule will be 7:00AM, 9:00AM, Noonday Mass; 5:30 Student Mass for all the Public school students and their families and the 7:00PM. Come and celebrate the Saints, and prayerfully, one day we will join them.
And of course, the night before is Halloween. In Britain, All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Day, the night before was All-Hallows-even or Hallowe’en. The Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the source of Hallowe’en. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in Ireland, northern France and England. Their new year began November 1st. A festival that began the previous night honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of the dead. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this one evening. People would gather around bonfires and tell each other fortunes about the new year. They would arrive in costumes to confuse the evil spirits, bobbing for apples, and other games and tricks or treats. A good time was had by all—leave it to the Irish!
Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people converted to the Faith. During the 800’s, the Church established All Saints Day on November 1. It began earlier in the Church as a festival of ‘all the martyrs.’ It was getting very difficult to celebrate each martyr on his or her day, there were so many. So, the Church dedicated just one day to all the saints.
After we pray and thank God for the successful people, the next day we pray for those who are on their way to success, the holy souls in Purgatory, All Souls Day.
Christian commemorations of the dead are mentioned as early as the third century. The early Christians, like the others would gather at the cemeteries and have a meal upon the grave of their loved ones. Some cultures still have this practice. The Christians would first offer the sacred meal, the Mass, and then they would visit their graves and have their “family meal” right there.
We are encouraged to attend Mass that day as well. We have added a Mass for the Deceased at 7:00PM. We will offer the Mass for all our parishioners who have died since last November. Our excellent choir will sing music appropriate for a Requiem Mass.
Nocturnal Adoration
November 4th is the First Friday of November. We will have Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament from 8:00PM until 11:00PM. The Nocturnal Adoration Society prays the three hours. As you may know the bishops have asked us for three years to have a renewal of our love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. I encourage you to stop by the Church and adore our Lord. The benefits received to us personally as well as to our parish are immeasurable.
Cardinals Appeal
We are already at 47.29% of our Cardinal's Appeal goal. Your participation is vital for us to reach it! Donate using the Appeal envelope or at www.cardinalsappeal.org.
Thank you.
