All Saints was a Holy Day of Obligation. All Souls is one of those days when people tend to flock to church even though it isn’t of precept.
This is also a time when we can gain plenary indulgences.
Let us know about what you did for All Saints and All Souls.
- Was there a good point or two in the sermons?
- What color were the vestments for All Souls?
- Did the priest mention indulgences?
UPDATE:
I include this for the sheer cuteness factor together with the “Just Too Cool” angle.
A reader sent a photo of her daughters in their “All Saints” costumes dressed as Sts. Nunilo and Alodia!
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Indulgences were mentioned in the bulletin. Mass for All Saints in the church, Mass for All Souls in the cemetery — it had snowed several inches but had cleared off by the evening. Missed most of the short homily on All Souls taking my young son to the bathroom. Had an All Saints / All Souls party afterwards with several kids dressed as saints. All Saints homily said that there are various communions (sports teams, politics, fans of TV shows, etc), but our communion only runs as deep as the object of our communion. Our communion with Christ is the deepest possible communion we can have with Christ, each other, and the Saints.
Here in Croatia, as in many European countries, All Saints is a public holiday. Graveyards were crowded. My parish church was fairly full. After Mass our young assistant pastor mentioned indulgences, announced extra confession times, and led the people in the required prayers. On All Souls I could not attend Mass, but prayed the office for a recently deceased friend.
I wasn’t feeling great, so I don’t remember much of the homily. But I do remember that he has been encouraging parishioners to make use of the indulgence for the last 2 weeks during every Sunday homily, then explaining what indulgences actually are (his new parish is in need of catechesis). Not only that, but he used his black vestments (including veil and burse) and explained why very eloquently during the homily. Then he “slipped up” at the consecration and said for many. That’s one slip up I don’t mind…
He’s an awesome pastor. :D
I have felt more of a draw to help the Poor Souls in Purgatory this year, and so, per Rorate Caeli’s post, I found out about and am doing this indulgence:
1. A plenary indulgence, applied exclusively to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the Christian faithful who:
1° on each single day, from the first to the eighth day in November, devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed; [Note: one plenary indulgence for each day, if the usual conditions are met]
I also found out more about the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society:
Please remember your deceased family and friends and enroll them in the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society. This is a free service and we have 16 holy priests saying weekly or monthly TLMs for the enrolled souls.
How to enroll souls: please email me at athanasiuscatholic@yahoo.com and submit as follows: “Name, State, Country.” If you want to enroll entire families, simply write in the email: “The Jones family, Ohio, USA”. Individual names are preferred. Be greedy — send in as many as you wish and forward this posting to friends as well. PLEASE follow this format strictly, as any deviation creates a lot of extra work.
Please consider forwarding this Society to your family and friends, announcing from the pulpit during Holy Mass or listing in your church bulletin. We need to spread the word and relieve more suffering souls.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2011/11/please-remember-church-suffering-on-all.html
I was at the Mass for All Saints in the Diocese of Madison
Father has a habit of never reaching a real point in his homily. The homily was better than others but that is all that my mind can recall of it.
Indulgences were not mentioned.
Also All Souls being a day of obligation was not mentioned at Mass on Sunday, though it was in the bulletin. Needless to say there were very very few people at the 8am Mass.
Went to evening Mass on All Saints Day. Homily centered around the Roman Martyrology and the ‘others’ frequently mentioned in it (that is, “St. Name was martyred, along with 2000 others”). Father encouraged us, told us we are all capable of becoming saints, and even if we don’t one day have our own Feast Day named after us, we can still strive to be one of the “2000 others”.
Went to Mass yesterday evening for All Souls Day – sung Requiem, we sang Victoria’s Requiem in 6 parts. Father spoke of indulgences in his homily and the conditions required to gain them for the Poor Souls.
I taught my CCD kids (6th grade) all about All Saints Day and All Souls Day.
We went over the importance of praying for the dead, and looking for opportunities to be “God’s Hands.” We also each took a vow to say St. Gertrude the Great’s “Purgatory Prayer.”
They then took turns “teaching” the prayer to one another so when they got home, they could teach it to their friends and family for All Souls. Then, they were tasked with releasing 7,000 souls from Purgatory through their recitation of this prayer once a day (since Christ revealed to St. Gertrude that each time the prayer is said, 1,000 souls are released from Purgatory).
Again, these kids were SO excited to be so useful… so able to help souls. We must remember to instill this love of charity in our kids! They, too, are part of the Church Militant! :) :) :)
As I mentioned previously, I think our parish did a lot of good promoting the All Saints and All Souls Masses and the indulgences. However, when I look at the Mass/Confession schedule for this weekend, it says “No Confessions”, and Saturdays are the only regularly-scheduled time. Seems to be a disconnect somewhere.
White vestments, no mention of indulgences, but the homily included the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, the Church Trumphant and the Communion of Saints.
At the TLM chapel I attend, indulgences for All Souls’ Day was definitely mentioned!
In fact, the priest who said the three Masses had them printed out, so no one could make an excuse about not knowing them!
He wore black vestments, had a black chalice veil and burse, and the altar had black frontals, black-edged altar cards, and two beeswax candles.
Best of all, the chapel had REAL SILENCE: no crying and fidgety kids, which is usual for Sunday Mass.
Yesterday afternoon, as well as this morning, I stopped by two local Catholic cemeteries to pray at the graves of relatives and friends. I hope to stop at one or two more before the Octave is over with.
I’ve been to two Requiem Masses (2008 and 2011), and I now prefer them to the so-called ‘Celebrations of Life’ that seem to be part-and-parcel of modern Catholic funeral rituals.
I want prayers and Masses said for me when I die-I don’t want a ‘Celebration’ of my drab and miserable life on earth.
Mass said by the Archbishop at the cemetery where the diocean priests are buried on All Souls. White vestments, no mention of indulgences. Homily topic: hope.
All Saints’ Day: 8 AM Solemn High Mass; we sang Kyriale IV and Credo I. Father spoke about how people think becoming a saint is not possible, when it really is just doing the little things well, our daily duty…that a mother can become a saint “changing diapers”, and the father by going and earning the family’s daily bread, for examples.
All Souls’ Day: several Masses said. The school Mass at 11 AM had ALL the children/congregation singing the WHOLE Gregorian Requiem, except that just the older girls sang the more difficult Gradual, Tract, and Offertory verse. Father spoke about the most important moment–that of our death–and the only thing we take with us is our Love for God: that whatever that measure is, at that instant it will be frozen at that measure. Thus we are to be sure to remember our morning and evening prayers, and frequently throughout the day make acts of love of God, and perform works of charity big and small, so that we are always ready to meet our maker (obviously being free from mortal sin, which kills the love of God in us and takes all charity from the soul).
Went to my dad’s cemetery yesterday, and visited the graves of grandparents and other relatives as well, with my mom, mother in law, and children. Prayed decades of the Rosary at the graves, and the prayers for the Pope.
Am going to go visit other cemeteries in the next few days, closer to my home, where many parishioners are buried too.
The Priest Wore Black. Sounds like a Chuck Norris flick. Like I said on twitter, it was wicked solemn. Wish they used it more. Priest mentioned indulgences, explained a bit about them, what they are for, what they are NOT for, how we can get them during the year. BTW, All Souls Day is the Day of Obligation here in Brazil, and All Saints gets pushed to Sunday.
As always, a spectacular liturgy at Saint John Cantius in Chicago, and a cogent, coverting homily by Fr. Frank Phillips, C.R. I hope to see him made Abbot of his congregation someday so that we can enjoy a regular pontifical Mass with his celebrating it.
I attended two Masses… the 6:30 am at my parish: the usual 30 or so worshipers; the parish-owned chasuble is a grey number, with black embellishments.
Then, at 7 pm, I had the good fortune to attend an EF Solemn High Requiem Mass, celebrated by a terrific young priest (ordained just this past spring!). It was in a modern suburban church, nicely outfitted for the occasion with black candlesticks, portable communion rail, catafalque…and a beautiful antique black roman vestment set! For all I know it may have been the first EF Mass ever offered in this church! It was well attended, probably 150+. Father’s comments before the sermon were most helpful to those unfamiliar with the EF, presented with great joy and enthusiasm, and with credit given the Holy Father for freeing up the older form of Mass. Then his sermon was a terrific explication of All Souls Day and purgatory.
What a thrill to see this young priest in action, assisted by seminarians in the deacon and sub-deacon role, with a bunch of seminarians and altar boys in choir, and the propers beautifully sung by a scola from the nearby Pontifical College Josephinum. (BTW, here is a seminary where the EF is warmly embraced!)
Quite an edifying All Souls Day!
I was at St. John Cantius for both feast days. Both were TLM high masses, All Saints was an evening Missa Cantata, beautifully done. All Souls Day was a Solemn High Mass with the entirety of Mozart’s Requiem done by choir and orchestra – absolutely beautiful. Indulgences were mentioned, praying for the dead was mentioned. The vestments were, of course, black – a beautiful Roman set!
Attended both Masses (NO) at the Cathedral in Downtown Dallas during lunch. The celebrating priest wore white. Honestly, I can’t remember what Tuesday’s Homily was about, but yesterday’s was about remembering our deceased family members and friends fondly so that we can be happy rather than sad about their passing. No mention of indulgences. :(
On a positive note: Outside the Cathedral there is a large statue of the Virgin Mary. After both Masses I stopped at the statue, knelt, prayed the Memorare for two specific intentions and lit candles. My prayers were answered favorably by the time I got back to my office.
For All Saints, we had a Missa Cantata according to the Dominican Rite. Vestments were white and gold. The homily was about the meaning and history of All Saints’ Day.
I was teaching Sacrament prep to the little kids so I didn’t get to attend all of Mass. I did not hear the homily but Fr. did wear black vestments. In my class I taught the kids about All Souls Day. With the exception of the the 2 homeschooled kids, no one in the class knew it was All Souls day or what it was. I taught them a little about St. Gertrude and the prayers associated with her.
Went to a one-off TLM. The former Archbishop of Kuwait gave the sermon, which was on praying for the souls in Purgatory, and all of us remembering the suffering which this means. He said that we must remember that the souls in Purgatory will be saints, and are, therefore, “holy”. I think we used to refer more commonly to the Holy Souls. Nothing was said of indulgences. The priest wore black.
The priest celebrated the EF, which was the first time it had been done post-VII, for All Souls in this parish in East London. The church was nearly full with over 150 there in this poor part of London and the Mass was not advertised in any of the Latin Mass Society publications; so there could be no accusations of a rent-a-crowd in just for the evening. The liturgy was beautiful, the priest wore black. His homily was excellent and although he didn’t mention indulgences, he did focus on praying for the dead and on judgment. He mentioned how in John’s Gospel we see the Son of God and the Son of Man mentioned in close proximity which is unusual and that we can take comfort (although this is no excuse for laxity) that Jesus will judge us as the Son of Man knowing all our human foibles and temptations to sin. He said that sometimes the purer the spirit the more severe the temptation.
Even better I took my office-mate from work along, who has never been to a Mass before in his life. He said it was at once bewildering and transcendent and that the music was very beautiful. We chatted more about the Catholic faith in the pub afterwards where the priest joined us for a quick GnT before returning to his RCIA class (he was, of course, still in his clericals). I think my friend will come to Mass with me again, and I can show him the vernacular reverently celebrated at a local church in the City and he will experience some of the richness of the Catholic liturgical condition.
I was also pleased, and greatly amused, to hear from the priest that the two nuns in bad-disguise (you know the sort, in lay-clothes but instantly recognisable as nuns) congratulated Fr on the excellent brain-washing job he had done on them and admitted that they were initally horrified at the thought of the EF in the Parish, but had found it beautiful.
Deo Gratias – the Lord is indeed good!
One of my priest friends (just ordained in June), celebrated a Solemn High Requiem. The deacon (and maybe subdeacon) were seminarians, and seminarians also provided all of the chants (including those of the absolution at the catafalque), mc and other servers. The local “indult parish” priest and EF mentor sat in choir (with another, perhaps Eastern Rite priest). The parish, I presume, provided the several other servers, who were young boys (most probably 8 yrs or younger, all very serious about what they were doing).
The homily discussed features of the EF (I presume this was Fr.’s first or perhaps first Solemn High EF at the parish), because there were many first timers present, and later got into the importance of praying for the “church suffering”.
Overall they did a fantastic job, the liturgy was a real testament to the hard work of the seminarians.
It looks like Frank H. and I were at the same place.
UK
ALL SAINTS
OF Mass (Black done, Red said !)
No Sermon
ALL SOULS
Black Vestments. (Black done, Red said !)
Mortal sin, Purgatory, Four last things all mentioned.
Deo Gratias
I wish I knew where Frank and pberginjr were cuz that is in my neighborhood.
Missed All Saints. At All Souls the parochial vicar wore black and made a point of saying he much prefers to wear white at funerals. Talked about praying for the dead. No mention of indulgences. I guess he was told to wear black, I dunno.
No mention of indulgences. I can’t remember what color vestments the priest wore. I was there with my 4 kids, including the “crying and fidgety” type referred to above. Sorry.
Father did make a point that I had not considered before. He mentioned praying for the souls of dead priests, saying that since priests do not have families of their own to pray for them, and if their own parents are deceased, they are often forgotten. Hopefully nieces and nephews will remember them, but they have no direct descendants to pray for them after they are gone. He urged us to pray for the souls of dead priests, because people tend to think they must go straight to heaven since they were priests, but their souls need our prayers too. I honestly had never thought of that.
For All Saints, I attended a sung mass. Father said we were all called to be saints, are saints, and yet, will one day in the future be saints. A true Saint, he explained, is one where there is no tension between sinning and holiness, they are in perfect union with God contemplating the beatific vision, and on this great feast, we remember that they are praying for us intensely. Celebrating priest wore white vestments, con-celebrating priest wore a green stole (???).
All Souls, purple vestments. Homily included clarifying the misconceptions about purgatory. Father reiterated that this was the day to pray for our dead and commend them to the mercy of the Almighty. Reminded us that yesterday, all the Saints of heaven were praying for us and now, today, it’s our turn to pray for those departed who have yet to come to that perfection. Simple and very effective. Afterwards, I wrote some names of some departed loved ones in the mass book. Im comforted to know that in the month of November, their souls will be prayed for. I will pray for them until I see them again.
All Saints: mass sparsely attended ( no mention in the previous bulletin or at the mass I attended on the weekend that All Saints is a holy day of OBLIGATION). No mention of indulgences.
All Souls: black vestments. Indulgences and purgatory not mentioned once. A sermon point: The reason we pray for the dead is philosophical. Since God and the dead are outside of time and space, when we pray for the dead our prayers, along with all prayers of all time, go at one instant to God, so He applies these prayers to the living. (No, I’m not making this up.) No mention of the need of the departed for our prayers.
Now I definitely need to get myself to Confession.
I attended a local OF Parish.
All Saints: 4 Mass thru out day. I attended the 7PM. Pretty well attended. White vestments.
Nothing remarkable in the Homily. No mention of indugences anywhere…
All Souls: 1 Mass at 7PM only. Pretty sparse compared to the All Saints and a typical morning Sunday.
White vestments. The entire focuse on liturgy was on deceased family members and grief. No mention of the Holy Souls in purgatory or purgatory for that matter. No mention of indulgences…
For myself, I have been active in my prayer to obtain plenary indulgences when I can. I am grateful for the earlier information on “Act of Will” to overcome attachments to sin when gaining an indulgence. Also appreciate the person who posted the link to the Enchidron. I have been wanting to get a copy of that and really drill down in to it…
All Souls, All Saints, indulgences are part of WHO WE ARE… I so often pray and hope for greater emphasis and teaching by the priests.
None that I remember, but I think that there might have been one or two.
White.
No.
On All Saints Day we were told that it was the day to celebrate all the saints, rather than just our favorite saints, and once again, that we are all called to be no less than saints.
All Souls Day? Black vestments, reminders that the dead need our prayers and will then pray for us, and indulgences for the poor souls in purgatory may be obtained.
Black vestments were in order down here in the South Texas hinterland at the parish I went to for Mass on All Souls Day. The pastor talked about hope and about praying for the dead. Prior to Mass, I spent some time at the cemetery visiting my mother. At the Catholic cemetery, deacons were blessing graves so I managed to “kidnap” one and take him to the city cemetery where my mom is buried (the cemeteries are across the street from each other). The deacon also blessed my maternal grandparents’ graves and those of three others.
OF parish.
All Saints: celebrated on 31st in the evening so Father could say Mass in the local school on the day itself, sparsely attended despite being advertised in the bulletin as a Holy Day of Obligation, homily on comfort that can be taken from the multitude of saints who had the same problems as us.
All Souls: purple vestments (the parish has neither black nor rose vestments), homily on the choice between the yoke of Christ or the yoke of the world.
No mention of indulgences throughout, but I did lead the altar servers in reciting the prayers after our practice session before Mass on All Souls (none of them were staying for Mass) before telling them to get to confession.
We have a relatively new and orthodox priest who follows the rubrics thanks be to God. He wore white vestments on All Saints and black vestments on All Souls. He mentioned on those days and the days preceding the stipulations for meriting indulgences for those in purgatory.
Personally, I went to Mass (as I do daily) and confession on All Souls; our priest hears confessions daily before Mass. I also performed the actions you prescribed for meriting indulgences for those in purgatory and plan to do so through November 8. It should be made clear that the indulgences are for those in purgatory not ourselves. Please correct me if I a wrong on this.
Father preached on the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering.
All Saints – Low Mass at 7pm. Normal attendance for a weekday TLM at our parish (ie, only the locals attended, none of the usual folks from further afield.) White vestments. Good homily from a priest who is known to wander a bit off track. Father spoke movingly about the vastness of the cosmos, the innumerable stars & galaxies – and then said the least human soul is more precious than all that grandeur.
All Souls – appears to not be a priority in my city/diocese, as there were no extra Masses scheduled at any of the parishes close to my work. I was unable to attend Mass so I can’t report on vestments.
I don’t remember indulgences being mentioned either on Sunday or All Saints. Luckily I read WDTPRS.
Addendum to my above: Father also celebrated three Masses on All Souls day as he is allowed to do per Canon Law.
All Saints – evening Mass, somewhat sparsely attended, but the parish had 3 Masses and I don’t know about the others. Many people go to the early morning Mass on the way to work, and the retired and moms with kids usually go at noon. White vestments.
All Souls’ – a special evening Mass, prominently advertised in the parish bulletin and on the website — Fauré Requiem sung in its entirety. Chant where the Fauré wasn’t used. Father bravely chanted throughout (he has doubts about his singing voice, although it is fine, and we ALL are fighting a heavy cold that is making the rounds here). Father’s vestments were a dull cream color with black crosses embroidered down the center line. Sermon very poetic (literary references abounded) with strong discussion of Purgatory and the plenary indulgence.
On All Saints Day the priest spoke of visiting a church in California that displayed tapestries of saints. Among those depicted were Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi, whom he praised as holy men. I think the point was that you can find saints in any faith tradition. (And maybe ones more relevant than St. Perpetua and St. Felicity?) We did have a long litany of saints, though, which was nice and edifying.
Beautiful costumes and beautiful little saints-in-progress. I’m sure the martyr sisters are pleased to get such charming honors from their devotees. :)
I was sick, alas. I thought maybe I was coming down with it on All Saints’, and sure enough, it started getting bad yesterday afternoon. A miserable fever-y cold. So I visited neither cemetery nor choir practice, and here I am home today. But I did pray.
We’ve had an outbreak of chicken pox starting around here so we’ve done what we could and offered up what we couldn’t for the Poor Souls. (Yesterday we couldn’t make it to mass, and today the only thing that got me up for mass was the Poor Souls!)
Cute girls! Okay, I’m biased. Actually, I am grateful to learn about these young saints. I can’t help but think we will need their intercession more and more in the coming days…
Thanks, Father.
I attended All Saints at a typical suburban parish in Reno, with the usual “hymn sandwich” and contemporary musical setting, and an un-memorable homily that included very little about death or the holiness and sacrifices of the saints. There were eight EMHCs serving only about 120 parishoners attending the mass. I think the priest’s vestments were white.
I was then blessed to visit my son on Wednesday, at the University of Dallas. We went to the evening All Souls mass at the adjacent Cistercian Abbey, where my son was singing with the (excellent) University choir/schola of 50 or 60 students. They sang Missa Pro Defunctis by Anerio, and all of the Latin propers. The chapel was filled with devout Catholics (including many students) kneeling in prayer both before and after mass. The abbot gave an excellent homily, and wore black vestments, with the Cistercian brothers in their black and white habits (with albs and black stoles for the priests) at the altar. The abbey chapel, made of limestone blocks, is unadorned but serene and conducive to holiness and reflection, with excellent acoustics. No microphones were used. I was transported in spirit, and felt that I was in the presence of God. Incense would have been a good addition, but otherwise it was wonderful.
Indulgences were no mentioned. Vestments were white on All Saints and Green on All Souls.
Sermon from All Saints – strive to participate in the communion of saints by striving for perfection, kindness, humility. One day the church will celebrate you on this day.
Sermon from All Souls: the honorable hour for our death is whatever hour the Father chooses. We think death at age two or ten or 45 is tragic and that death at 90 is about time. In truth, the honorable hour is whenever God says.
On Sunday evening at St. Mary’s in Norwalk, Ct. Fr. Markey gave a talk on indulgences after a holy hour
1. The Priest Mentioned a Story about A Guy who had three friends(first best friend etc…).when this guy was summoned to Court on charges of wrongdoing,He asked for help from all three.the first guy was busy,the second was willing to accompany him,but not to defend him. the third one went with Him and even gave an eloquent defense on His Behalf . Lesson: We have three Friends in Life. The first is Our Possessions,we can’t bring it for the defense stand on the Final Judgement . The Second is Our Family,They can only stay with Us to the grave. The third is Our Good Works of Charity,they are the Ones that will give Our Defense to be accepted into Heaven(He did Not Mention “Prayer and Good Works).
2 & 3 Purple Vestments and No Mention of Indulgences
OOOOPPS!!!! I Attended All Souls Mass only! I Forgot to mention the third friend of the would-be convict was the most neglected of His Friends.
Here at Boston College Father Gary Gurtler, S.J. celebrated Mass in Latin, in the Ordinary Form (ad orientem) yesterday. He used black vestments, including the veil and burse.
I have a phenomenal taped homily of Fr. Frank Chacon (Beginning Apologetics) on All Souls, All Saints, Indulgences if I can transfer it to electronic format I will post it. Meanwhile an outstanding 8 minute audio in which Dr Brant Pitre explains that the parable of the “unjust steward” in Luke 16 is about helping the poor souls in Purgatory. Timely on the feast of All Souls.
http://www.catholic-productions.com/bp/documents/ST%20Vol%202%20Sample.mp3
Fortunately, I had work responsibilities both days that put me in the right part of Boston and left enough discretionary time that I was able to go to midday Mass at the beautiful Our Lady of Victories.
Father kept both days to half an hour for the business crowd giving up lunch to come for Mass.
I’ve been blessed to encounter a lot of priests who can preach a homily, make a thoughtful and even profound point, do it in 2 to 3 minutes and not seem rushed. Father compared favorably to any of them.
For All Saints, he used the Boston Marathon as a metaphor. A challenging course, a rewarding race, noted for the supporters lining every mile of the course – cheering on the runners, nourishing them, aiding the injured. Now imagine running that race, and every world-class runner you ever heard of (and a bunch you haven’t) having finished their race and coming out to line the course and cheer you to the finish line… Such are the Saints.
[…my wife loved it – said it made her think of Hebrews 12:1…]
Came back Wednesday, met Father coming out of the confessional to vest for Mass. Nice homily on Purgatory and praying for the departed. Wrapped up with litany for OLV in front of the sanctuary steps after Mass, apparently their Wednesday custom before the daily Rosary.
At Saint Anthony Church Lancaster Pa. Sung Requiem High Mass in Latin. Priest, Deacon and SubDeacon, Cataphalt (sp?). The most beautiful thing this side of heaven. The homily was all inclusive.
Two excellent Low Masses at Blessed Sacrament in Memphis. At the first Padre explained that the white chasuble had been made for him by an elderly friend. Also explained the logic behind putting All Saints and All Souls back to back, the Church Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant. Excellent catechesis, and a good turnout as well. Also indulgences for prayers at the end of Mass. On All Souls, no homily, and black vestments.
I went to an EF High Mass for All Saints’ but was unable to attend Mass for All Souls’ due to bad weather. All Saints’ Mass was good. Vestments were white. Indulgences were mentioned in the bulletin prior to the Homily. The acoustics in the church are kind of bad in spite of the priest being mic’d up, so I have trouble hearing the Homily, usually. I tend to concentrate hard on understanding the priest for a minute or two, then zone in and out. Mea culpa. The main point from the Homily that stood out was that the priest actually mentioned Hell – contrasting the joy of the Saints in Heaven with the anguish of Hell. It stood out mostly because I think it was the first time I have ever heard a priest mention Hell. You know. THE Hell. An actual place that unrepentant sinners go to. Like, something that is a real possibility for all of us. It was jarring in a pleasant kind of way to hear a priest talk about the afterlife as a fact, not a “maybe.” It was a brief portion of the Homily, but enough to make me really wish that my turn wasn’t coming up right before the priest walked out of the confessional to begin Mass. Oh well. There’s always Sunday (I hope).
I went to a vigil Mass for All Saints on Monday (great way to observe Halloween!) which was lovely but rather sparsely attended. Vestments were gold with wide red velvet band (orphrey?). For All Souls they went all out — lots of candles & servers, 2 priests and 2 deacons, black vestments, and a full (I think) rendition of Durufle’s Requiem. Beautiful! My impression was that the cathedral was pretty well full. I don’t remember any mention of indulgences; pity, because it’s a subject I’ve become very interested in (relatively new convert).
All Saints
Attended EF low Mass
Was there a good point or two in the sermons?
Father Spoke about the Church Militant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant. He also mentioned that we do not worship the saints, but we ask them to intercede for us on our behalf, and we know this is okay and pleasing to God because of all the miracles that occur through the saints.
All Souls
Attended my first Requiem Mass, which was a high Mass. I found it quite moving. Dies Irae was a little freaky, as there was a very loud deep rumbling sound coming from overhead because a large commercial jet was trying to land.
Was there a good point or two in the sermons?
I honestly don’t remember the sermon too well because I was far too distracted by a toddler who wandered into the aisle and was quite curious about the candles surrounding the mock casket, and kept pulling on one of the pillars. I know Father mentioned something about final judgement.
What color were the vestments for All Souls?
Black velveteen chasuble, burse, chalice veil, and pall with fine iridescent white embroidered detail, which boldly stood out against the black under the halogen lights.
Did the priest mention indulgences?
Father’s been mentioning indulgences whenever he had the opportunity, even a short, yet thorough and well-written explanation in the bulletin.
We had the Dominican Rite Missa Cantata for All Saints and All Souls. For All Souls, the vestment was black, as was the pall on the catafalque. No mention of indulgences. Nice point from the All Saints’ sermon: Catherine of Siena used to say that every day is the road to heaven.
At Mass on All Saints Day we got a, er, um, special treat. Our cantor (who looks and sounds like an opera singer 20 years past her prime) regaled us with a full-voiced rendition of all 5 verses of … “When the Saints Go Marching In!” Not for the entrance, not the recessional: during Communion!
It seems the jazz club atmosphere was not appreciated by the congregation who (except for one person) refused to sing. That was lost on the priest apparently, as he was rude and argumentative the next day when a concerned parishioner tried to discuss the music with him.
This is our new priest (ordained 3 years ago, just ordered the OCP hymnal). Our old priest was perfect (ordained in 1957, said the TLM monthly, no singing during Communion). I know we are not supposed to compare, or criticize priests, but with this shocking contrast it is rather heartbreaking.
My son and I attended All Saints at a chapel about a half hour from our house that offers only the EF. The Mass was at 7 PM, we left early because I needed to go to confession; however due to damage from the weekend Nor’Easter that hit New England we had to detour and just made it in time for Mass. Chapel was on generator power, the majority of the town was still without power. Mass was beautiful, low mass but with hymns (For all the saints at the offertory, Te Deum (Holy God we Praise thy Name) at the recessional). father gave a good sermon tying in the reading from Revelation, expanding on it to include the part about the saints having washed their robes white in the blood of the lamb, and tied it in to the Beatitudes.
The next day I went to the 4 PM All Souls mass, one of 3 offered that day. Vestments were black, low mass (EF requiem mass) with Dies Irae, no singing at this Mass, father read the Dies Irae.
eading off now for 1st Friday mass then plan to visit cemetery where my father-in-law is buried, and pray for him.
We attended First Vespers at St. Vincent Ferrer, NYC. Hubby served. Wow!
I attended 8:30 AM All Saints at Holy Innocents, NYC, EF. Father Z, celebrant. He preached on how All Saints is inclusive of the saints whose names we don’t know- those regular people who lived holy lives, and those folks who endured the purification of purgatory and are now before the throne. He reminded us that it is our duty to join them, by using the tools Holy Mother Church gives us.
Wow!
I attended 8:30 AM All Souls at HI, NYC, EF. First Mass was Father K, second, Father Than, both Masses EF. All vestments were black (and there were two different sets!)
Wow!
I live one block from both old and new Calvary cemeteries in Queens. (Movie buffs will know the old one from Godfather 2- It’s where they buried Vito). I am taking a couple of my old students, and my daughter over there to pray for the departed.
It wasn’t exactly an All Souls/All Saints Mass, but it was a Mass for the departed knights of my council of the Knights of Columbus, held last night. Hope that counts.
We had 23 attendees, including the two priests. An odd Mass it was.
To the accompaniment of guitar, we sang Gather Us In, a couple of other praise songs from the 80’s that I’d never heard of, and ended up with Amazing Grace. The Mass itself was deeply troubling. The two priest concelebrated. The both spoke most parts at the same time, but during the consecration, the did a “tag team” where they each spoke bits in turn. Worst of all, parts of it were seemingly ad libbed. We had an EMHC to assist the two priests with the crush of communicants.
The vestments were whitish, but one of them had some sort of light blue embroidery down the front with what looked like abstract symbols and runes. The older priest–I’m not trying to be uncharitable, so please forgive me if it sounds that way–looked for all the world like he was wearing a stained bathrobe. It gaped open in the front and you could see his Roman collar and most of his shirt.
The sermon was on how we should celebrate the life of our departed brother knights and trust that they were in heaven, looking down on us. There was no mention of indulgences.
Hi.
I attended a Novus Ordo Mass in English at a local Jesuit parish on All Souls Day. I was pleasantly surprised that, after saying “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” the Priest mentioned “the pious practice” of visiting a cemetary to obtain an indulgence for a deceased person. He added that there was a cemetery, conveniently, all little ways down and accross the street. There was a light homily on Purgatory. He said that Purgatory is like this: We are all on our way to a beautiful “party,” but we all fall in the mud on the way to the party, and we get our white garments all muddy and messed up because we fall. Then, when we get to the Party and meet the Master of the House (Jesus), we experience profound pain because we have fallen and sullied ourselves.. and the light emanating from the Master is too bright for our sullied condition. He said that the pain is his idea of purgatory. We have to be purified from what we have done to ourselves before we can go into the party. I liked it. He wore purple vestaments.
I was unable to make it to any of the EF masses for All Saints or All Souls. Attended a small daily mass at the chapel of my school for All Saints. For All Souls, we attended an evening mass at our parish. Purple vestments and the priest stressed that we need to pray for the departed. We might have helped care for our relatives before death by helping fill their bodily needs the only way we can help them after death is to pray for the repose of their souls. Faure Requiem by the choir which they had obviously worked hard to sing.
Every year, almost, I attend the evening Funeral Mass at St. Agnes, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Need I say more? This year was no exception. Gorgeous Austrian Baroque church, Black vestments, Mozart’s Requiem w/ 90 voice choir + 30 piece orchestra, Solemn Mass (Ordinary Form in Latin) in that large sanctuary, filled with priests, deacons, and altar servers. Mozart’s Dies Irae rocked me to my foundations, as always. Tears were shed.