All Saints Day celebrated

News & Pics: Mr John Menezes, Moodbidri

Nov. 1: All Saints Day Feast was celebrated on Monday the 1st November 2011 at the Corpus Christi Church – Moodbidri with the Mass 7.00 a.m. by Parish priest V.Rev. Fr. Austin Peres.  A large gathering attended the mass.  Fr. Austin thanked the parishioners for attending in such large numbers.      

Today the Church celebrates the feast of all the saints: canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision that is only known to God.  We all have this "universal call to holiness." What must we to do in order to join the company of the saints in heaven? We "must follow in His footsteps and conform ourselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things.

During the year the Church celebrates one by one the feasts of the saints. Today she joins them all in one festival. In addition to those whose names she knows, she recalls in a magnificent vision all the others "of all nations and tribes standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, proclaiming Him who redeemed them in His Blood."

The feast of All Saints should inspire us with tremendous hope. Among the saints in heaven are some whom we have known. All lived on earth lives like our own. They were baptized, marked with the sign of faith, they were faithful to Christ's teaching and they have gone before us to the heavenly home and they call on us to follow them. The Gospel of the Beatitudes, read today shows their happiness and the road they followed.

Indulgences for All Souls Week

An indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray for the departed. The indulgence is plenary each day from the first to the eighth of November. To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary also to fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer for the intention of the Holy Father. The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the visit; it is, however, fitting that communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day as the visit.  The condition of praying for the intention of the Holy Father is fully satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary. A plenary indulgence can be acquired only once in the course of the day.

In the evening mass for the departed soul was celebrated in the cemetery chapel followed by the blessing of the graves and praying for the dead of our parish taking eternal rest.

Let us all pray for the souls of the faithful departed especially tomorrow on the “All souls Day”. May they rest in peace Amen.