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The commemoration of all the
faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this
be a Sunday or a solemnity, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be
recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one
of the current feast, where this is of obligation.
The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which,
on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins,
or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the
Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers,
alms, deeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.
In the early days of Christianity the names of the departed brethren were
entered in the diptychs. Later, in the sixth century, it was customary in
Benedictine monasteries to hold a commemoration of the deceased members at
Whitsuntide. In Spain there was such a day on Saturday before Sexagesima
or before Pentecost, at the time of Saint Isidore (d. 636). In Germany
there existed (according to the testimony of Widukind, Abbot of Corvey,
c.980) a time-honored ceremony of praying to the dead on 1 October. This
was accepted and sanctified by the Church. Saint Odilo of Cluny ordered
the commemoration of all the faithful departed to he held annually in the
monasteries of his congregation. Thence it spread among the other
congregations of the Benedictines and among the Carthusians. Of the
dioceses, Liège was the first to adopt it under Bishop Notger (d. 1008).
It is then found in the martyrology of Saint Protadius of Besançon
(1053-66). Bishop Otricus (1120-25) introduced it into Milan for the 15
October. In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, priests on this day say
three Masses. A similar concession for the entire world was asked of Pope
Leo XIII; he would not grant the favor, but ordered a special Requiem on
Sunday 30 September 1888.
In the Greek Rite this commemoration is held on the eve of Sexagesima
Sunday, or on the eve of Pentecost. The Armenians celebrate the passover
of the dead on the day after Easter.
-Francis Merseman, from the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright 1907 |
