all souls' day.

Merciful Father, hear our prayer and console us

as we renew our faith in your Son, whom you raised from the dead.

Strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters

will share in His resurrection

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever. 

Amen. 

~ Collect of the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed

I have never quite "fully grasped" the meaning of this day in the Roman Catholic calendar.  I have the blessing (and privilege, for that matter) of having most of my extended family (and all of my immediate family) still in this life.  I can count the number of funerals I have attended in my life on my hands (around six), and the number of Catholic funerals I have attended on one hand (three) - and half of these total funerals were for friends and not family.  My husband shares with me frequently how wonderful it is to have my grandparents still alive, all four of them - it's our prayer to give them a great-grandchild before they depart this world for the next.  I guess you could say that I've never really "grasped" this day because death is an infrequent occurrence in my little sphere of the world. 

It is the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed today, or colloquially dubbed "All Souls' Day" in the Roman Catholic calendar.  The priest wears purple (or, sometimes, black), and the living faithful of Holy Mother Church are given a stark reminder of our own mortality and the necessity of praying for those who have gone before us, the faithful departed.  We light candles and reminisce and remember those we have loved in this life, who have seen the end of their lives.  And, most importantly, we pray for them - for the rescue of their souls from the clutches of purgatory, for our merciful and just God to grant them eternal rest.  

Tonight, as my husband and I pray our rosary on the way back from the east side of town, I will remember in the intentions of my heart the faithful departed, my brothers and sisters in Christ who have departed this world.  I will pray for the peaceful rest of their eternal souls and for the mercy of God and the intercession of Our Lady to come to their aid.  Most especially, I will keep close to my heart the soul of my father-in-law, who I was never able to meet in this life, but a man for whom I am so grateful.  

My husband lost his father at a particularly formative time in his life, just before going off to college.  We don't speak much of him, I must admit.  Every once in awhile, he'll come up in our conversation - I'll ask my husband what his father might think about the situation about which we're talking, or what his father was like in a certain circumstance, things like that.  His picture now hangs on one of the walls of our apartment - it is really a fantastic picture, his smile is just priceless, and it's as if that one smile, forever immortalized in picture form, gives me so many glimpses into this man's personality.

I never met this man, yet the first time I was with all of my in-laws (just about a year ago - we weren't engaged yet), I thought of him.  I glanced around the room, from person to person, sibling to sibling, grandchild to grandchild - and I kid you not, I was in awe.  This man, this man I never met, gave five beautiful souls to this world in his children, and subsequently, there are two more in this world - his grandchildren (and I pray that there are many more to come!).  I looked around the room and I could just sense that his legacy and his memory remain deeply embedded in the family.  And then there were times, particularly in some more tense and emotional moments, where I nearly wondered aloud why God had to take him so early from this life, why God had to take him, the patriarch, from this incredible family so soon.  Yet I trust that my father-in-law's life has in it some divine meaning for the family - I know already that his life and untimely passing has transformed my husband into the man he is today.  I am hopeful that God might give my husband and I another glimpse into His Divine Plan that surrounds my father-in-law, whether it be through our own family, our own vocation, or something entirely different.  

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them. 

Amen.