Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

On this solemn Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, the Gospel presents the raising of the widow’s son at Nain. In this weeping widow, bereft of her only son, we see a poignant image of Holy Mother Church, who grieves for her children who have died and are now in the state of purification. She is the sorrowful mother, interceding for her departed children.

Our Lord, seeing the widow, was “moved with pity.” This same divine compassion of the Sacred Heart is moved today by our prayers, our penances, and especially by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We, the Church Militant, join our pleas to those of the Church Suffering, pleading for mercy.

Christ’s command, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” is the very word of life, a powerful prefigurement of His own Resurrection. On this day, our prayers beg Him to speak this same life-giving word to those undergoing their final purification. We pray that, moved by pity for His sorrowing Church and by virtue of His own victory over death, He will say “Arise!” to the faithful departed, release them from their bonds, and “give them to their mother”—the Church Triumphant in heaven.

Requiescant in pace.