Dear Parish Family,
As Halloween approaches, I invite you to look beyond the costumes and candy to the celebration that gives it its name: All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before All Saints. For our parish, it begins three important days: we celebrate the saints in heaven, pray for the faithful departed, and give thanks for the dedication of our church.
Sunday, November 1: All Saints
This coming weekend the Church invites us to take off from our normal movement through the liturgical calendar to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. On this Solemnity we celebrate the Church Triumphant – that great multitude of men and women, boys, and girls, old and young, who are united in glory in the Mystical Body of Christ because they remained in the love of Christ. On this day, we celebrate All Saints; but in a special way we honor the “lesser known” or “unknown” saints – the ones whose names will not be known on Earth until that great and glorious day when the Lord comes again. The readings reveal the unveiling of what God has for each of those who remain in his love. I encourage you to pray and ask for the intercession of these men and women whose names you may not know now, but God willing you will know in heaven. Let their inspiration and example draw you up to heaven!
Monday, November 2: All Souls
The next day, November 2nd, we honor and pray for our beloved dead who are still being purified in purgatory – the Church Suffering – with whom we are also in communion. It is a work of mercy to pray for our beloved dead – who though gone from our sight, are not forgotten in the prayer of the Church – so I invite you to make it a priority to come to Mass. We will have Masses at 7 AM, 12 Noon, and 5:30 PM (Solemn) to allow us to pray for them. I will offer the 5:30 PM Mass especially for the people who have died from our parish in the last year. In anticipation of All Souls’ Day, we will also bless graves at Bellwood Cemetery on Sunday, November 1, from noon to 1:00 PM.
Tuesday, November 3: Our Church’s Dedication Anniversary
Finally, the next day is a day of particular importance for our community. November 3rd marks the 97th anniversary of the Dedication of our Parish Church. A church dedication is when the bishop sets a building apart for God’s worship, in a way which points to how baptism sets a Christian apart for the service of God. We celebrate the anniversary not just as history, but to remember that we ourselves are being built into Christ’s body and set apart for His glory. You can read the original article about our dedication in the image below. We will celebrate Solemn Mass with our school at 8:15 AM to mark the occasion and invite you to join us.
Over these three days, you will see the movement of our prayer reflected in the vestments: This Sunday you will see gold vestments and plenty of solemnity to celebrate the Church triumphant. Then on Monday we will be veiled in the darkness of black vestments as we remember those who have died but with whom we are united in Christ. And then we will be back to gold again as we thank God for the gift of our parish community and our Church.
This beautiful movement in our liturgy mirrors the reality of our own lives. We long for heaven, we mourn and pray for those who have died, and we gather in this church to receive the grace we need for the journey.
