Dear Saints,

As you know, it’s not for nothing that I call you saints: You are saints, and you are called to be saints! This coming Tuesday we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, which allows us to reflect a little bit on that reality.

What Saint Paul indicates by the use of the term “saint” are those who are members of a Christian community, making up the Body of Christ, and living totally for God’s plan and purposes.

This Tuesday, we honor the saints as those who have gone before us bringing the love of God to life; we count them as mentors and role models in the faith, who persevered in love of God and neighbor as self all the way through and all the way to the end; and we lean on them as powerful intercessors for us in the cause of God. If you don’t have companion saints, then look around for one. A few of my favorites are Isaac Jogues, Philip Neri, Francis de Sales, Therese of Lisieux, John Henry Newman, and Mother Teresa. You can probably learn a lot about someone by the saints they keep company with!

On Wednesday we observe the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed. It’s especially important, given that we celebrate All Saints the day prior, to keep in mind the souls in purgatory - the people who are not yet saints who have gone before us in faith, and who we support by our prayers as they undergo their final purification.

Along these lines, the Church outlines opportunities to receive plenary indulgences for the faithful departed around these commemorations. A Catholic who wishes to obtain a plenary indulgence must have full detachment from sin and also fulfill the ordinary conditions of an indulgence, which are sacramental confession, reception of the Eucharist, and prayer for the intentions of the pope. Sacramental confession and reception of the Eucharist can occur within a couple of weeks of the indulgenced act.

Now on any day from November 1st through the 8th, visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead (provided the conditions above are met) attains a full indulgence. Likewise, those who piously visit a church or oratory and recite the Our Father and the Creed on November 2nd can receive a plenary indulgence for souls in purgatory.

V. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. R. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

In the Peace of Christ,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ