Editorial

All Saints Day and All Souls Day

Peter Westmore

Contents - Nov 2008 - Buy a copy now Editorial: All Saints Day and All Souls Day - Peter Westmore Victorian abortion law threatens Catholic hospitals - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World Human rights: Religious persecution in China, India, Vietnam - Fr John Flynn LC Dissent: Business as usual at South Brisbane's rebel church - Michael Gilchrist History: Cardinal Stafford on Humanae Vitae: how dissenters tore the Church apart - Cardinal Francis Stafford Anima Women's Network: giving 'heart' to women of faith - Anna Krohn Foundations of Faith: God's gift of sex: building a civilisation of life and love - Catherine Sheehan What happened then: what matters now - Swithun Wells, martyr of England - Rosemary Lucadou-Wells Letters: Rebel church in South Brisbane - Bob Osmak Letters: South Brisbane parish - Catholic or not? - Richard Stokes Letters: Turnaround needed - John Schmid Letters: Tribute to Bob Ward - Br Con Moloney CFC Letters: From India - Fr S. John Joseph Poetry: The Latest Equation - Bruce Dawe Books: THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD: Essays Catholic and Contemporary, by John Haldane - Tim Cannon (reviewer) Books: A STORY AND PAINTINGS by Don Gallagher CFC - Michael Gilchrist Books: Books available from AD Books Reflection: Purgatory: hope, mercy, love - Bishop Peter J. Elliott

A consequence of the decision of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in 2001 to reduce the number of Holy Days of Obligation to Christmas Day and the Assumption (August 15) is that the great feasts of All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) are rapidly disappearing from the consciousness even of practising Catholics.

It is a tragedy that All Saints Day is less recognised than Halloween, now a secular celebration of what was once the day before All Hallows (Saints) Day.

While the Bishops' decision was made because of the difficulties for many Catholics of attending Mass on these working days, its consequences have included a further erosion in the liturgical life of the Church, and diminished awareness of the Communion of Saints, the doctrine which teaches that believers on earth are united in a spiritual fellowship with the saints in Heaven (see article on pages 12-13) and the souls in Purgatory (see Bishop Elliott's article on page 20).

The feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, when we are encouraged to offer Masses and prayers for our deceased family members and relatives, were the living expression of a doctrine which stretched back to the earliest era of Christianity, and which is embodied in the Apostles' Creed.

The origin of All Saints Day is to be found in the prayers made to the martyr saints of the persecuted Church in the early centuries.

All Souls Day reflects the constant teaching of the Church, stretching back into the Old Testament period where it is recorded in the Book of Machabees, 'It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins.'

These beautiful feast days are both a source of inspiration and a consolation that we, in the world of strife and confusion, can aspire to be reunited with our families and friends in the joyful perfection of Heaven. The effort of attending Mass on these days will be rewarded a hundred-fold.

Peter Westmore is publisher of AD2000.

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 21 No 10 (November 2008), p. 2