+ ALL SOULS’ DAY (Dia De Los Muertos) NOVEMBER 2, 2020 +

All Souls Day Prayer

Merciful Father,

On this day, we are called to remember those who have died,

Particularly those who have died in the past year,

And pray for their joyful reunion with you, their loving creator.

As your son taught us to call the stranger 

neighbor, our fallen are many—

Names we will never know,

Voices we have never heard,

In lands we may never visit,

Yet brothers and sisters all.

And so we pray.

For victims of war, caught in the crossfires of

conflicts we could not quell,

for soldiersand civilians,

adults and children, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For those migrants who have died seeking a

haven where they hoped to find safety

and opportunity for themselves and for their families, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of hunger, denied their share in the

bounty you have placed before us, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of Covid-19, AIDS, Malaria, Ebola, and other infectious diseases,

who died before adequate care could reach them, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For those refugees seeking asylum from war,

who died in a land that was not their home, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

For victims of emergencies and calamities everywhere,

who died amid chaos and confusion, we pray …

Grant eternal rest, O Lord.

Lord, as you command, we reach out to the fallen.

We call on you on behalf of those we could not reach this year.

You raised your son from the dead

that all may share in his joyful resurrection.

In Jesus' name, we pray …

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Requiescant in pace.

Amen

HISTORY NARRATIVE

+ All Souls’ Day (Dia De Los Muertos) November 2, 2020 +

The authentic celebration of Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is recognized by the Catholic Church as the universal feast of All Souls’ Day on November 2. And unlike the now-secular holiday Halloween — a dark night of tricks and treats — the Day of the Dead is a colorful and joyous (if bittersweet) celebration, dedicated to remembering the lives of the departed and offering prayers for those in Purgatory. (Of course, secular Halloween is also deeply rooted in Catholicism, as it is actually the Eve of All Hallow’s Day, or All Saints’ Day on November 1.)

The Day of the Dead calls upon the Catholic understanding of death as having been vanquished by Christ, and through his conquest, the door to eternal life. Thus, it is a reminder that all of life on earth is really a preparation for death, and that in death, we will be reunited with all those who have gone on before us to eternal life.

All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead are a multi-day holiday event in Mexico and a time for family and friends to gather and celebrate the lives of the deceased. Private home altars (ofrendas) are constructed to display photos of departed loved ones, sugar skulls (calaveras), and vibrant flowers. Families will also visit cemeteries and bring food and drink offerings that the deceased would have enjoyed while they were alive. Everyone will enjoy pan de muerto (bread of the dead). And for the finale, tens of thousands participate in lively street processions (desfiles) featuring music and dancing, magnificent costumes, and, of course, the iconic Calaveras Catrinas (elegantly dressed skeleton ladies, based on a 1910 engraving by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada).

Katherine Ruddy

MEMENTO MORI: How a skull on your desk will change your life.

Someday you will die.

How might your life be different if every day you reminded yourself of this fact?

There’s no avoiding the reality of your impending death. Unless Jesus comes again during your lifetime, you will die. Whether suddenly and tragically or peacefully at the end of a long life, you will eventually close your eyes, never to reopen them.

Focusing on your death may seem morbid, unhealthy, disturbing, and perhaps even diabolical. And in some cases it can become so. Death in itself is an evil. Saint Augustine wrote that death is “the very violence with which body and soul are wrenched asunder.” But Jesus has changed the nature of death for those who believe. Before becoming pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once wrote: “The sting of death is extinguished in Christ.”

A long-standing Christian tradition recognizes the powerful spiritual value in remembering one’s death in order to live well. The Rule of Saint Benedict, written in the 6th century, includes the imperative to “keep death daily before one’s eyes.” As the Catechism points out, both Scripture and the teachings of the Church remind us of “the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny” (1036, emphasis mine).

The practice of remembering that you will die helps you to keep in mind that your life will end, and that it has a goal: Heaven.

Visual reminders — often called memento mori, the Latin phrase for “Remember that you will die” — are one way we can keep our impending death in mind. Saints Jerome, Aloysius, and Mary Magdalene, among others, are often depicted in classic paintings with skulls. Saint Francis of Assisi once signed a blessing to Brother Leo with the tau cross and a small drawing of a skull. Pope Alexander VII commissioned Italian artist Bernini to make a coffin that he kept in his bedroom along with a marble skull for his desk to remind him of the brevity of life. Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Daughters of Saint Paul, also kept a skull on his desk.

Inspired by this Christian tradition of memento mori, I recently acquired a ceramic skull for my desk. I have been chronicling my spiritual journey for over a month on Twitter. And it has changed my life.

From humorous anecdotes to more serious meditations, keeping my death before me has put other things in my life in perspective. It has helped me to remember that one day I will die, yes. But more than that, this practice has kept Christ before me.

The skull on my desk reminds me every day that I will die and that my Savior has transformed death into a doorway to new life.

So, get a skull for your desk!

Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble