While praying is not limited to a month or any time frame within the Liturgical calendar of the Church, there is something special about November in the Church—with the first day of the month celebrating All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation, and, the second day as All Souls Day, a day to remember coming of Christ into the world. Let us now focus on the reason for this special time of prayer.

All Saints Day. We seek the intercessory prayers of the “known” saints in the Church, all those who have been canonized by the Church and have a day on the Church’s calendar. Saints like Catherine of Siena, St. Ignatius Loyola, Patrick and Michael, Monica and Ambrose and Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and the authors of the Gospels and so many more. We look to them as a cloud of witnesses who provide us with strength and whom we look to for guidance in our own personal lives of discipleship. To benefit our lives today, let us consider the saints, read a book about a “saint of the day” and call on them—and imitate them today, in their kindness, compassion and truth-telling—so that we can change the world for the better, and build up the common good.

All Souls Day. November 2nd, when we pray for the faithfully departed and we commemorate their noble souls, their lives lived in faith—and we pray for them. This is an ancient tradition of the Church. From Apostolic times, people went to the tombs of the martyrs and prayed for them. Today, we continue that tradition and pray for the souls of the faithfully departed in our world, our parish community—and in our families. So why do we pray for the dead?

• Praying for the dead is an act of mercy—a corporal Work of Mercy: We pray for those who might have died with the stain of sin on their soul. We pray for those who may have died in a broken relationship, where forgiveness might not have been given. And we pray for the noble souls of those we love and seek only the good for them.
• We pray for the dead seeking indulgences for them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) calls us to give alms, indulgences, and for penance to be undertaken on their behalf. And from the CCC (1471), we can see all that we are commanded to do for the dead.
• We pray for the dead in light of the Communion of Saints. The Communion of Saints keeps us all connected to God, for we are all members of the Communion of Saints; we pray for family members, ancestors, the dead who have no one to pray for them, for the entire human family of God. The point of this is to keep us all connected, so that one day we will be together again with God. Pope Francis has said, “Our destination is heaven. The best of life is yet to come.”

So what can and should we do? Remember the dead at Mass and in your personal prayers. Pray aloud (respond) in the prayers of the faithful, especially as we pray for the Beloved Dead. Request that a Mass intention be said for deceased family and friends. Light a candle by the statue of Mary. And during the month of November, place the All Souls envelope with the names of your deceased loved ones in the bowl before the altar—they will be remembered in my daily morning and evening prayers as well as at each Mass during the month. “Life that is yet to come.” Amen!