Meaning

     All Souls' Day is a Roman Catholic day commemorating departed Christian devotees or baptized Christians, who are believed to be in the purgatory (bhuvalok). It is celebrated on November 2, unless this date falls on a Sunday. When that happens, All Souls' Day is celebrated on November 3.

    The basis for the feast is for souls, who on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from their sins, that is, their accumulated give and take account (sanchit) is not nullified. This results in a soul with its subtle body remaining in the purgatory and not being able to move to higher planes of existence. Christians offer them prayers to aid their onward journey to higher planes of existence, that is, to higher regions of the purgatory (bhuvalok) and to heaven (Swargalok).

Historical perspective

    The traditions of the Feast (festival) of All Souls began independently of the Feast of All Saints. The Feast of All Souls owes its beginning to seventh century monks, who decided to offer the mass (worship) on the day after Pentecost* for their deceased community members.

    In the late tenth century, the Benedictine monastery in Cluny (in France) chose to move their mass for their dead to November 2, the day after the Feast of all Saints. This custom spread and in the thirteenth century, the festival was included on the Roman Church's calendar.

Celebration

    Family members of departed Christian ancestors observe All Souls' Day by paying a visit to the cemeteries, to light candles and place flowers on the graves of their departed ancestors. Catholics attend church too, on this day to say a prayer for their departed loved ones.

    While the Feast of All Saints is a day to remember the spiritually evolved, All Souls' Day also reminds us of the purpose of our birth - to grow spiritually. Only with spiritual evolution can we progress to higher and higher planes of existence until we are one with the God principle (attain the Final Liberation).

* Refer to the Weekly Online Issue 122, Upcoming Religious Festivals section for details on Pentecost.