All Souls Day: Why We Pray for the Dead

Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.~2 Maccabees 12:46

November 2^nd marks the Commemoration of All Souls; the day in which the earthly faithful are called to pray for the faithful departed in Purgatory.Often considered connected to Pagan or other ritualistic ceremonies, All Souls Day is, in fact, a practice with roots in the early Church where the names of the faithful departed would often be posted so that church members could pray for each soul by name.

All Souls Day follows on the heels of All Saints Day, November 1^st; which itself is traced back to origins as early as the fourth century when St. Basil of Caesareainvited neighboring dioceses to share relics of martyrs and to join in celebrating those whose lives had been given for the Church.Eventually Pope Urban IV instituted the practice of using All Saints Day as a way to honor all saints, known and unknown, thus acknowledging our limited knowledge of how each person has responded to God’s call upon his or her life.

While All Saints Day commemorates the lives of saints, known and unknown, All Souls Day commemorates the souls of all the faithful departed.Requiem Masses, or Masses offered for the dead, are celebrated. Following in the Jewish belief that the just, after death, joined their ancestors, it became a common practice to offer prayers and oblations so that their “sleep” with the Father would be one of peace, thus “eternal rest.”St. Paul, himself a Jew who would have understood this belief and practice, referred to this when he spoke of those who are asleep in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:18).Indeed, we read of him praying for the dead when he says of Onesiphorus, who has died, May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day (2 Timothy 18).

Cheryl Dickow
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