Why do we celebrate and pray for saints and the souls of the dead? Where do these practices originate from? How can they inspire us in our faith today?
To be saints is not a privilege for the few, but a vocation for everyone. Pope Francis
By November, summer is a distant memory, the evenings are dark, and for many people, Christmas is just around the corner. But the Liturgical year is picking up pace and the Church is very busy commemorating, remembering, honouring and praying. If our faith means anything, it is the sure and certain hope that life is changed, not ended. And so, we fervently remember those who have gone before us.
Praying for souls
Praying for the dead has its roots in the Old Testament. In the Book of Tobit 12:12 the archangel Raphael tells Tobit and Sarah that whenever they buried the dead, he prayed for them. The Second Book of Maccabees gives an account of a battle in 163 BC. Judas Maccabee ordered that the bodies of the slain Jews be collected for burial. Under their tunics were found golden amulets which had been stolen from a pagan temple. This was forbidden and so Judas and his men prayed for the souls of the dead soldiers and the sins they had committed. A collection was sent to Jerusalem to pay for a temple sacrifice on their behalf. Prayer and sacrifice stood between their souls and eternal life.
In the 2nd century AD, Tertullian refers to Christians praying and offering Eucharist for the dead on the anniversary of their death. In the 4th century, the historian Eusebius gives an account of the death of Constantine and how his body was placed before an altar and people gathered to pray for his soul. In the same century, John Chrysostom wrote:
Let us weep for these; let us assist them according to our power; let us think of some assistance for them, small though it be, yet still assist them. How and in what way? By praying and entreating others to make prayers for them, by continually giving to the poor on their behalf.
In the 6th century, Benedictine Monasteries commemorated their deceased brethren in the days after Pentecost. At this time, it was common practice for the names of the dead to be posted in churches in order that the community might pray for them. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the Church made an official ruling on praying for the dead. In the 10th century, St Odilo, the Abbot of Cluny, decreed that in all Cluniac monasteries, an Office for the Dead would be recited on November 2nd, the day after the feast of All Saints. It was known as the ‘day of all the departed ones.’ This was also adopted by Benedictines and Carthusians and soon by the whole Church. The Council of Lyons (1274) declared that Mass, prayer and almsgiving could be offered for the salvation of souls in Purgatory. The great sequence, a hymn on the Last Judgement, the Dies Irae, was written by a Franciscan (possibly Thomas of Celano) in the 13th century
During the First World War, because of the massive number of dead, Pope Benedict XV granted priests permission to say three Masses, for a particular intention, for all the Faithful Departed and for the Pope’s intentions.
The Catechism tells us that ‘All who die on God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly 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.’
Heaven is a place of perfection and so any faults, flaws, impurities in our souls must vanish before we can have that life in glory with God. We must live good lives ourselves, and help by means of prayer and penance, those who have died are in need.
… the things God does should be told to everyone. Now I will reveal to you the full truth and keep nothing back. Tobit, when you and Sarah prayed to the Lord, I was the one who brought your prayers into his glorious presence. I did the same thing each time you buried the dead. Tobit 12:11-12
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
2 Maccabees 12:46
Celebrating Saints
The cult of the Early Saints has ensured a long tradition of celebrating exemplary Christian lives. The number of martyrs was so great that they were commemorated together. In the 4th century, when Christianity was legalised, events included processions, Eucharist was celebrated at the tombs of martyrs, a reading of their life, and listening to sermons. John Chrysostom delivered an annual sermon, ‘In praise of all the Holy Martyrs of the Entire World.’ A famous orator, his sermons were well known for being vivid and graphic (‘flesh ploughed like soil, ribs pulled apart, intestines ripped out, spines shattered, blood flowing…’). He left no doubt as to the suffering undergone. But he also described martyrdom as a beautiful and holy experience (‘bloodied bodies shine like brilliant saffron rays of the morning sun; martyrs lie on hot coals as if they were reclining on a soft bed of roses’). While he shocked and horrified his listeners, he also inspired them and encouraged them to live good lives. But he didn’t want people to worship the martyrs: For just as the person who looks towards the sun doesn’t make that star more brilliant, but floods their own eyes with light, then, the person who honours a martyr doesn’t make him more radiant, but draws from him the light’s blessing. Homily on St Phocas.
In 615 AD The Feast of All Holy Martyrs was introduced by Pope Boniface IV. The Emperor Phocas gave him the Pantheon (a former pagan temple) which was dedicated to Mary and all the Martyrs. The date of the dedication was 13th May and this became the date for the feast day. By 741 AD, Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St Peter’s to ‘All the apostles, martyrs, confessors, all the just and perfect servants of God whose bodies rest throughout the world.’
In 844 AD Pope Gregory changed the date to 1st November. Some people think that the date change was to substitute a pagan feast with a Christian one. But it seems that the real reason was to feed people well. There was more food available after the harvest in the autumn rather than in the spring.
Celtic Connections
In Ireland in the Middle Ages, All Saints’ Day was still celebrated on 20th May and a 9th century record, the Martyrology of Oengus, has the Feast of All Saints of Europe being celebrated in this day. There was an issue with 1st November because it was a pagan festival called Samhain which marked the beginning of the Celtic winter. Samhain was the Celtic lord of death and his name meant ‘end of summer.’ Since winter brought images of dark, cold and death, this feast was also linked with death. The eve of the feast was a day of sacrifice when Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their homes. Druids offered animals, crops and even human sacrifices. Ghosts and witches came to inflict harm on people who had harmed them in life. In Ireland, the god Muck Olla was honoured with people processing behind a leader dressed in a white robe wearing the head-mask of an animal. Another story is of a man named Jack who was doomed to enter neither heaven nor hell because he was so mean (even the devil didn’t want him). He was destined to walk the earth with his lantern till Judgement Day. This is the origin of Jack O’Lantern.
In the Middle Ages, people believed that the souls in purgatory appeared on All Souls’ Day as ghosts, witches and goblins to people who had wronged them during life. Bonfires, food offerings, placing food on graves, giving offerings to appease the gods, spending time at gravesides; all these customs have developed along with the religious feast of remembering the dead. At this time on the eve of All Souls, the faithful would gather to fast and pray in preparation. Custom and superstition have somewhat hijacked the spiritual vigil, replacing it with fun and frivolity.
Having the two feast days of All Saints and All Souls adjacent is no accident. It reflects the close connection between the Holy Souls and the Communion of Saints; that those in purgatory and heaven should be remembered together. Our challenge is to pick our way through secular practices and focus on the deep spiritual importance of these days.
The path to sainthood
During the first 1,000 years of the Church’s history, saints were declared solely by popular acclaim. The first official canonisation took place in 993 AD when St Ulrich of Augsburg was declared a saint by Pope John XV. In the 13th century, proper investigations and processes were introduced and in 1243, Pope Gregory IX declared that only papal authority could proclaim a saint. It is estimated that there are now over 10,000 saints.
In recent years, the Church has recognised the significant effect of recognising saintly lives. St John Paul II canonised 482 saints (in the previous 600 years there had only been around 300 saints) and Pope Francis’ first canonisations were of 800 martyrs (the 15th century Martyrs of Otranto) who were killed for refusing to convert to Islam.
Acknowledging holy lives well lived, is meaningless unless it is used for the salvation of souls. We have these wonderful role models and intercessors to help us on our own journey to the Eternal Kingdom. There is a saint for everyone; motorcyclists (St Columbanus), playing card manufacturers (St Balthasar), even murderers (St Julian the Hospitaller).
And if we think that our lives will never reach the holy heights of those we venerate, it’s worth remembering the words of the Cure of Ars: ‘The saints did not all begin well, but they ended well.’
This month we pray for souls waiting their entry to the Heavenly Kingdom, and we find inspiration from the amazing lives of those who are already there.
