All Souls Day.

 NOVEMBER 2 | 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲

The Church is divided into three states,

The Church Triumphant. 

The term “church triumphant” underlines the truth that in the glory of heaven all human sin will have been transformed, death and suffering will be no more, and the glory of God will have triumphed over all the imperfections of human history. This are the Holy Souls already in Heaven or as we better know them, Saints. They can pray and intercede for the other two states but they need no one to pray for them. Some of the saints have specified dates within the Catholic church liturgical calendar where they are commemorated but all are remember on 1st November since not all in Heaven are know to us here on earth.

Church Militant

The church militant refers to the Church on earth. The term “militant” can suggest an antagonistic relationship between the Church and the world. Nevertheless, it refers to an authentic reality: that the Church on earth works to overcome the imperfect and sinful dimensions of human existence. This church counts on the prayers and intersession of the Church Triumphant to reach heaven. It also has the opportunity to pray for the third state, The Church Suffering.

The Church Suffering.

They are those who die in the state of grace, yet without having being purified of all of their attachment to sin. They are held at a place called Purgatory. Purgatory is rather the threshold, the antechamber of Heaven. In purgatory, all those — whether Christian or not — who have reached the gates of death without reaching the full perfection of life represented in Christ are cleansed in a kind of ongoing baptism and are purified by the enlightening fire of the Holy Spirit. The suffering of purgatory is not one of destruction, but the suffering that comes from leaving the old self behind and taking on the new.

On November 2, All Souls Day, we pray for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Even though this is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is a good idea to attend Mass on All Souls Day. Also, the day should be spent, at least in part, in prayer for the souls of our loved ones, as well as those who have no one who will pray for them.

It is an honored custom, as well, to visit the graves of our deceased on this day, both to pray at the place where their bodies, hallowed in life by the sacraments, await the General Resurrection, and to leave some mark of esteem, such as flowers, to adorn their graves.

         

Chaplet of The Holy Souls.

This Chaplet can be prayed on a set of Rosary

Beads.

Begin with: The Creed, then 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary's,

1 Glory Be for the Pope's intentions.

On the large beads of the Rosary recite:

"O holy Souls draw the fire of God's love into my

soul to reveal Jesus crucified in me here on earth

rather than hereafter in Purgatory. Amen."

On the small beads of the Rosary recite:

"Crucified Lord Jesus, have mercy on the souls in

Purgatory. Amen."

At the end of the entire prayer: (3 times)

"Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the

Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and

ever shall be.

Amen."

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.