All Souls
(Under the Cypresses)
Nov. 2, 2008, All Souls Day
Wisdom 3:1-3; 5-6 I Thessalonians 4:13-14 John 6:37-39
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a temple not built by human hands[2]
First reading from Wisdom 3:1-6
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the unwise they seemed to be dead. Their passing away was considered a terrible disaster. Their leaving us was thought to be total annihilation. But they are in peace. As they suffered they were filled with hope of life eternal. God put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with Him. He tested them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a sacrificial offering.
Second reading from I Thessalonians 4:13-14
Brothers and sisters, act the way a Christian should act concerning those who sleep in death. Do not grieve like those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Him; God will bring them to life with Jesus.
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 6:37-39
Glory to you, Lord.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 6:37-39
Glory to you, Lord.
Jesus said to the crowds, “Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me; and I will never turn anyone away who comes to me. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should not lose even one of those He has given me, but that I should raise them all up to eternal life on the Last Day.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction
A triduum
A triduum
This time of the rolling year we have a kind of triduum on our hands and in our hearts: Halloween on Oct. 31, All Saints on Nov. 1 and All Souls on Nov. 2.
Halloween & All Saints
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated the new year on November 1. That day marked the end of summer and the harvest. It marked also the beginning of a season of cold and darkness -- a time of year often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before their new year (October 31) the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On that night, Celts celebrated the feast of Samhain (a Celtic Lord of death) whose name literally means “summer’s end.” Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes that evening. They came in the form of ghosts, witches, goblins, and elves to harm especially those who had inflicted harm on them in this life.
On November 1, in the originalBasilica of St. Peter, Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel to All Saints. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended November 1 as the feast of All Saints to the entire Church. So the night of October 31 (the Celtics’ feast of Samhain) came to be called All Hallows’ (All Saints’) Eve. That’s how we got Hallow-e’en. That purely calendar-connection with the Celtic feast of Samhain explains why Halloween, the Eve of All Saints, came to be filled with ghosts, witches, goblins and elves to scare people,
The pumpkin (Halloween's most famous icon) originated in Europe. A scary face was carved out of a turnip and a candle was placed within to scare away ghostly creatures. The name Jack-o'-lantern is traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack who tricked the devil, and who in turn was condemned to wander the earth at night with only a candle burning inside a hollowed turnip. In North America, Jack-o’-lanterns were more conveniently carved out of pumpkins. That’s how we got the scary pumpkin of Halloween
On November 1, in the originalBasilica of St. Peter, Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel to All Saints. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended November 1 as the feast of All Saints to the entire Church. So the night of October 31 (the Celtics’ feast of Samhain) came to be called All Hallows’ (All Saints’) Eve. That’s how we got Hallow-e’en. That purely calendar-connection with the Celtic feast of Samhain explains why Halloween, the Eve of All Saints, came to be filled with ghosts, witches, goblins and elves to scare people,
The pumpkin (Halloween's most famous icon) originated in Europe. A scary face was carved out of a turnip and a candle was placed within to scare away ghostly creatures. The name Jack-o'-lantern is traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack who tricked the devil, and who in turn was condemned to wander the earth at night with only a candle burning inside a hollowed turnip. In North America, Jack-o’-lanterns were more conveniently carved out of pumpkins. That’s how we got the scary pumpkin of Halloween
All Souls Day
Today, All Souls Day, the Church remembers it's dead. In the 11th century, St Odilo (d.1049), the fifth abbot of the famous abbey of Cluny (a city in France) ordered a commemoration of all the faithful departed to be celebrated in his monasteries on November 2. The commemoration then spread throughout the Benedictine abbeys of Europe. All Souls Day emerged in the church as a companion day to the Feast of All Saints on November 1. If all the saints were celebrated one day, it seemed only fitting to celebrate all our beloved dead the next day.
During World War I, Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), recognizing the number of war dead and the numerous Masses that could not be fulfilled because of destroyed Churches, granted all priests the privilege of offering three Masses on All Souls Day: one for a particular intention, one for all of the faithful departed, and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. That’s how we got All Souls Day with its three Masses.
Since All Souls, November 2, lands on a Sunday this year (2008), it replaces the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time.
During World War I, Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), recognizing the number of war dead and the numerous Masses that could not be fulfilled because of destroyed Churches, granted all priests the privilege of offering three Masses on All Souls Day: one for a particular intention, one for all of the faithful departed, and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. That’s how we got All Souls Day with its three Masses.
Since All Souls, November 2, lands on a Sunday this year (2008), it replaces the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time.
On rethinking All Souls
On Memorial Day, the last Monday of May, the Nation remembers its dead. In day’s past, parades marched through little towns and hamlets and ended up in cemeteries where the dead of World War I lay. Their graves were decorated with flowers and flags for the occasion, and that’s why we used to call it Decoration Day. There in cemeteries, politicians and officials gave speeches about how glorious it was to die in war for your country. Then to enhance the occasion, living soldiers shot over the graves of dead soldiers.
Since then the Nation has reread its Memorial Day feast. There are very few military parades anymore marching down main street to the city’s cemetery. If there are any parades these days, it is to the city park where people play games, and where they barbecue hamburgers and wieners to celebrate summer’s beginning. And there are certainly no more speeches today about how glorious it is to die in war.
The Church, too, rereads its feasts. Many of us remember All Souls Day of the past. We were told that if we visited a church on that day and clicked off six Hail Mary-s, six Our Father-s and six Glory be-s, we could snatch a soul out of purgatory. That was the place where our beloved dead were “doing time” because they weren’t as yet perfect enough to enter into the Beatific Vision. Some of us have always felt a bit uncomfortable with that kind of click-off transaction with a non-transactional God.
Since then the Nation has reread its Memorial Day feast. There are very few military parades anymore marching down main street to the city’s cemetery. If there are any parades these days, it is to the city park where people play games, and where they barbecue hamburgers and wieners to celebrate summer’s beginning. And there are certainly no more speeches today about how glorious it is to die in war.
The Church, too, rereads its feasts. Many of us remember All Souls Day of the past. We were told that if we visited a church on that day and clicked off six Hail Mary-s, six Our Father-s and six Glory be-s, we could snatch a soul out of purgatory. That was the place where our beloved dead were “doing time” because they weren’t as yet perfect enough to enter into the Beatific Vision. Some of us have always felt a bit uncomfortable with that kind of click-off transaction with a non-transactional God.
Purgatory here on earth
Perhaps purgatory isn't so much a place as a process. Years ago we buried old Sister Leonard. She was a remarkable woman, an excellent teacher, a level-headed superior in that whole period of change and renewal after Vatican II. When she died, she was but a shell and a shadow of her former self. What pain, what purgation, what process, she had gone through! When she died, we all believed she took leave not only of us and earth but also of her purgatory, and she went straight to heaven. The process was over for her.
That, I believe, is true of a whole host of God’s people who find purgatory galore here on earth. They find it in the big mistakes they make, the wrong directions they take, the physical and emotional pains they feel, the misunderstandings laid upon them and the material privations they suffer. When they die, they take leave not only of earth but also of purgatory, and they go straight to heaven. When they die, the process is over.
An ancient Latin hymn[3] possibly of the 12th century sings,
That, I believe, is true of a whole host of God’s people who find purgatory galore here on earth. They find it in the big mistakes they make, the wrong directions they take, the physical and emotional pains they feel, the misunderstandings laid upon them and the material privations they suffer. When they die, they take leave not only of earth but also of purgatory, and they go straight to heaven. When they die, the process is over.
An ancient Latin hymn[3] possibly of the 12th century sings,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The strife is o'er, the battle done,
the victory of life is won;
the song of triumph has begun.
Alleluia!
On September 26, 2008, a beloved friend of ours died after a very long battle with cancer -- a battle he and his wife had fought with undaunted courage. Because his presence among us was as big as life, his absence now relentlessly impinges itself upon us; we can’t believe he is not here! But we take refuge in the thought that for him now the strife is over and the battle is done, and he has gone straight to heaven.
“It’s all right.”
All Souls Day is not for the dead who no longer weep; it is for us the living who weep because of our loss. In an essay We Will Never Die, Russian dissident, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, writes,
Nowadays, if a cemetery is not kept up, they post a sign telling the owners to
keep their graves tidy on penalty of a fine. More often, though, they just
flatten the graves with bulldozers to build sport stadiums and parks. In the old
days people would visit our cemeteries on All Souls Day and walk between the
graves bedecked with flowers, and they would sing beautiful hymns and spread
sweet-smelling incense. It set your heart at rest; it allayed the painful fear
of inevitable death. It was almost as though the dead were smiling from under
their grey mounds and consoling us, saying, “It's all right. Don't be afraid.”
From their graves our beloved dead also say to us, “It’s all right. The strife is over and the battle is won.” Again from their graves they say to us, “It’s all right. Do not grieve like those who have no hope.” (I Thess 4:13) They do not tell us not to grieve; they simply tell us not to grieve without hope. They, in fact, encourage us to grieve as much as we need to grieve, but then they encourage us also to know when it is time to put grief on a backburner and get on with the rest of our lives.
Conclusion
Under the cypresses
Under the cypresses
For the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls Italians always head back to their paese -- to their little village. (It’s like us Americans heading home for Thanksgiving.) There in their paese they were conceived, born and baptized. There they grew up great with self-esteem -- thanks to the countless kisses and hugs from Italian mamas and grandmas.
On the skirt of their village is located the village cemetery where all their beloved sleep. You can spot an Italian cemetery from miles away. It is surrounded by tall slender ever-green cypresses. The Italians have an expression: “Sotto i cipressi” – “Under the cypresses.” It refers to all their beloved dead asleep in the cemetery. For the living folk of the village the expression is filled with resignation, acceptance and even peace.
Pointing upward toward heaven like huge fingers the cypresses seem to say, “It’s all right. They’re way up there out of this vale of tears. It’s all right. For them the strife is over and the battle is done.” On All Souls Day the paesani walk between the graves with the scary thought of death on their mind. But their beloved dead smile up at them and console them saying, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.”
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
On the skirt of their village is located the village cemetery where all their beloved sleep. You can spot an Italian cemetery from miles away. It is surrounded by tall slender ever-green cypresses. The Italians have an expression: “Sotto i cipressi” – “Under the cypresses.” It refers to all their beloved dead asleep in the cemetery. For the living folk of the village the expression is filled with resignation, acceptance and even peace.
Pointing upward toward heaven like huge fingers the cypresses seem to say, “It’s all right. They’re way up there out of this vale of tears. It’s all right. For them the strife is over and the battle is done.” On All Souls Day the paesani walk between the graves with the scary thought of death on their mind. But their beloved dead smile up at them and console them saying, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.”
[1]] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[3]Finita iam sunt praelia.
