Holy Souls: November

Our calendars, both civic and Church, give us much to reflect upon and celebrate during the month of November. 

On our civic calendar and in our culture, we celebrate Veterans Day (November 11) and Thanksgiving (November 23 this year) Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day for its link to the end of World War I in 1918 (“the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”), gives us the opportunity to honor and thank all those who have served in any branch of the United States military, especially those who are living. Thanksgiving, whose establishment goes back to George Washington, and which has been celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November since 1941, calls us to give thanks for our country’s foundation and what we have been able to accomplish, and dedicate ourselves to the ongoing refinement of our nation. 

Our Church calendar in November calls us in a special way “to remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest.”  We, the Church, meditate on the very nature of our Communion, which exists among the pilgrim faithful members here on earth, the faithful departed who are being prepared for heaven, and the faithful saints who have already reached heaven 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (962) highlights this when it quotes Pope St. Paul VI: 

We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that in this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always attentive to our prayers. 

If our Church priority during the month of November is “to remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest”, then we have a strong start with the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1) and the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (commonly known as All Souls’ Day, November 2). The Solemnity of All Saints, a Holy Day of Obligation, honors and celebrates all the Saints in heaven, both known and unknown. The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed is dedicated to praying for all the dead. We can pray for all the dead in our personal prayers and our public prayers, especially in the celebration of the Mass. 

While each of us is called to make generous sacrifices in giving witness to the faith, the November Church calendar gives us the opportunity to honor and celebrate several members of a particular group of Saints who made the ultimate sacrifice for the faith, the shedding of their blood. Included among the martyrs we celebrate during November are Saints Cecilia, Clement I, Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions, Catherine of Alexandria, Andrew, and Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro. 
 
Here are some suggested actions for November which I offer for your prayerful consideration: 

• Participate in a Mass for the Solemnity of All Saints (October 31-November 1). 
• Participate in Masses for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (November 2). 
• Visit and pray at the final resting place of a deceased loved one. 
• Schedule a Mass intention for a deceased family member or friend, or the Souls in Purgatory. 

The end of November also marks the end of another Church year or liturgical year. “By means of the yearly cycle the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ, from his Incarnation until the day of Pentecost and the expectation of his coming again.” (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar n. 17, quoting the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 102) As we prepare to bring another liturgical year to a close, we also prepare to begin a new liturgical year, changed, converted, transformed by the whole mystery of Christ which we have celebrated.