All Souls' Day

Another completely brilliant Feast in the Calendar.

Purgatory is God's love writ large, so even a duffer like me can see it!! You have to be completely perfect to get to heaven... but don't worry if you're not completely perfect, because you get an extension on the original "deadline" (sorry, I couldn't resist that pun!!)

Fr. Tim has put up a useful reminder about indulgences and how to get them. Go on, clock up a handful, and spring some souls! Meanwhile, Fr. Ray has described how he celebrated All Souls.

I was really lucky - we had Mass in the Extraordinary Form at 7am so I was able to start the day in the best possible way, and there was an extra Mass in the evening (in addition to the normal parish Mass) so I really did get to "celebrate" the Feast. I particularly like to remember my father who died twenty-five years ago. I hope he's "out" by now, but there's no guarantee, so the prayers continue! I've also developed an attachment to the forgotten souls, those who have no-one left to pray for them, or whose relatives don't believe in "that sort of thing" and don't see the necessity of prayer for the dead. I suspect that my relatives might fall into this category, and therefore have a vested interest in encouraging others to pray for the forgotten souls...

I once read that St. Bernadette of Lourdes was very concerned that people would acclaim her as a saint once she was dead, and would therefore forget to pray for the repose of her soul, leaving her to "cook" in Purgatory. If, after Our Lady had promised her happiness in the next world, Bernadette was concerned that she would spend time in Purgatory, I suspect that I have a pretty lengthy stint ahead of me...