OUT OF THE DEPTHS I CRY TO YOU, O LORD!

A day after All Saints Day we celebrate the All Souls Day which falls on November 2^nd, every year. It is a day we observe the commemoration of the faithful departed especially our beloved who have gone before us – clergy, grand-parents, parents, siblings, children, friends and loved ones. On All Souls Day, we remember and pray for all the departed souls, those souls in purgatory as well. All departed souls are not saints. These souls are yet to be “purified” before they are to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven. Thus, in the celebration of Mass we remember all those who have fallen asleep in the Lord, seeking Him to grant them “a place of happiness, light and peace.”

This year, with COVID-19 and Conditional Movement Controlled Order (CMCO) in our country in our midst, we all are restricted from visiting the cemetery during this time of All Souls Day. Let’s spend our time as a family at our home in prayer, since churches and cemeteries are closed during these trying times. We see how time affects our own feelings, our thoughts, words and actions. We light up candles at home. Do pick up a journal and write down our thoughts and emotions of our lost loved ones. We offer all our thoughts and emotions as own prayers for them. Then, we compose our own meaningful prayers and include one or two psalms (Ps 23 or Ps 51), then we offer them in our prayers from our home.

 

The easiest way to honour our loved ones is to remember them in our prayers. The whole month of November, let us we dedicate all our prayers for the departed souls including souls in purgatory and all the forgotten souls as well. We implore to our patron Saints as well their intercession that they may attain eternal peace. We also continue to pray the rosary for these departed souls until we meet them one day in the glory of God.

 

GRANT THEM ETERNAL REST, O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM WITH YOUR SAINTS FOREVER.