This week we celebrated the two important days of All Saints and All Souls.
On All Saints Day, we celebrate all those who are in heaven and we call upon their intercession. On the High Altar we put out all of our relics of the Saints as a way to honour them, and to call upon their aid. To name a few we have Saints Philip Neri, John Henry Newman, the Apostles, Robert Bellarmine, Thomas Aquinas, Charbel, and Jacinta and Francisco. Orate pro nobis!
On All Souls Day, we remember those who have died, and still toil for their good in Purgatory. We pray for these Holy Souls, in order that we may help them merit the grace to come quickly into the joy of heaven, where they in their turn will pray for us. Representing their faithful departed, a catafolque is constructed, over which Father recites prayers for them. The skull is what we call a memento mori, it is a reminder for us, that should be prepared for our own death by ensuring we conform ourselves to Christ and grow deeper in the practice of our faith.
