Anyone in a diocesan or parish office will tell you that if you want some event or celebration to be successful, you have to prepare well in advance. How often Christmas or Easter leave us with the feeling that next year, if we get a better head start, we’ll be better able to celebrate when the big day comes.

That being the case, I thought it might be good to write an article that anticipates events to come, in the hope that together we can give some thought ahead of time to what we are going to celebrate and prepare ourselves accordingly. So for this October edition of the Chronicle I would like to focus on the fact that next month — November — is the month traditionally devoted to the prayerful remembrance of the dead.

We can take as a starting point the “Communion of Saints” that we proclaim every time we recite the creed. This doctrine tells us that the church is not only here on earth in those who are still “fighting the good fight.” Nor is the church made complete just by adding those already triumphant in heaven whom we commemorate on All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1). The full “communion of saints” also includes those still being purified in purgatory, for whom we pray on All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2).

It is this last category, the souls in purgatory, who are the special focus of the month of November. Except for those dead whose presence in heaven is confirmed by miracles and the church’s canonization, we simply cannot know the state of a deceased person’s soul. God alone is capable of comprehending with exquisite justice and mercy the truth of each and every person. Since we cannot know even ourselves, much less others, as God knows us, it is an ancient instinct of Catholic piety, firmly rooted in doctrine, that we commend to the mercy of God all those who have passed from this world.

Heaven is no doubt home to countless saints — including relatives and friends — whose names will never appear on the church calendar. But we do the dead no eternal kindness by denying the possibility that on the other side of the grave they may still have to face some purification from the effects of sin. When I die, I certainly want the benefit of Masses and prayers offered for me. This makes no sense if we are all ready to be canonized at our death.

St. Catherine of Genoa, a mystic at the end of the 15th century, writes this: “As for paradise, God has placed no doors there. Whoever wishes to enter does so. The all-merciful God stands there with His arms open waiting to receive us into His glory. I also see, however, that the Divine Essence is so pure and light-filled that the soul that has but the slightest imperfection would rather throw itself into hell than appear thus before the Divine Presence.”

Purgatory means that even after a person dies (provided he or she has not died in unrepented mortal sin), the mercy of God — and the love and prayers of the communion of saints — can embrace that person and help purify whatever might still need to be purified in order to see God “face to face.”

Today there are spiritual and cultural changes at work pulling us away from Catholic doctrine and piety concerning the dead. The reality of purgatory, the resurrection of the body, and the importance of praying for the dead and offering Masses for them, are not always given the attention they deserve.

We are also witnessing a shift in funeral practices. Traditionally, Catholic funeral rites have consisted of two distinct moments. First there is the wake at which people gather socially to visit, to reminisce, and yes — even joke and laugh about the past. And second, there is the Funeral Mass with its prayers and rites focused on the mysteries of faith in the light of eternity.

The two are not mutually exclusive. The wake includes prayer, and the Funeral Mass has to have a warm and personal touch, with an appropriate reference to the deceased person’s life. However, sometimes there is temptation to blur the difference between the wake and the Mass, to eliminate one or the other, or to speak of a “Memorial Mass.”

In the language of morticians, a Memorial Service is one in which the deceased is eulogized without the body present. For us, by contrast, a Funeral Mass is one in which we commend the deceased — body and soul — to the mercy of God, we console the sorrowing with God’s Word and the Eucharist, we thank God for the life of the deceased, and we affirm the bond between the living and dead in the communion of saints.

The wake is the primary place for remembering and celebrating the person’s life in this world. For that reason the liturgical books allow some brief word of thanks by a family member at the conclusion of a Funeral Mass, but not extended eulogies that are more appropriate for a wake service or for delivery before the Funeral Mass begins.

Another concern is that sometimes cremation leads to the exclusion of the body of the deceased from the Funeral Mass. For the church, “the body of the deceased brings forcefully to mind the … conviction that the human body is in Christ a temple of the Holy Spirit and is destined for future glory at the resurrection of the dead.”  (cf. Order of Christian Funerals: Appendix 2, Cremation) In keeping with that dignity and hope, the body of the deceased should be present at the Funeral Mass, with cremation afterward if that is what is desired. If this is simply not possible, then at least the cremated remains should be present for the Funeral Mass.

Reverence for the body also requires that “cremated remains should be buried in a grave or entombed in a mausoleum or columbarium [a cemetery vault designed for urns containing ashes of the dead]. The practice of scattering cremated remains on the sea, from the air, or on the ground, or keeping cremated remains in the home of a relative or friend of the deceased are not the reverent disposition that the church requires.”  

I began by saying that if we think about these things now, then next month we can be better prepared to enter into the spirit of the church’s prayer for the dead. Why not plan now to attend Mass on All Souls Day, which falls on Nov. 2? This is a great act of spiritual charity for those dead who need our prayers, including deceased relatives and friends. Or you might make a point of saying a special daily prayer for the faithful departed during November, or perhaps visiting the graves of your loved ones, especially if it’s been a while since you last did so. I would also encourage parents to teach their children about the “communion of saints” that unites us in Christ to our deceased family members so that we pray for them and they pray for us.

The following traditional prayer says it best: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”

+ MOST REVEREND LEONARD P. BLAIR
       BISHOP OF TOLEDO