On Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints, honoring all of the Saints (officially recognized by the Church) and saints
(non-canonized people who have led lives glorifying God) who have gone before us; and yesterday we celebrated All Souls’ Day. So what exactly is All Souls’ Day?
To start off, the Feast is actually called the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. As Catholics, we believe that some souls go to Purgatory to become purified to enter into Heaven. These are the souls we are praying for on this day. Following is the Church’s teaching from the Catechism on Purgatory:
1030 All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imper-fectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation;
but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven.
1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purifica-tion of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire [1 Cor 3:15; 1 Peter 1:7]:
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgement, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offences can be forgiven in this age, but others in the age to come. [St. Gregory the Great]
1032 This teaching is based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” [2 Macc 12.46] From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:
Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were puri-fied by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our of-ferings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesi-tate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. [St. John Chrysostom]