Saturday, November 1st, is the feast of All Saints. Sunday, November 2nd is the Feast of All Souls. These are two of the most important feast days for us “mortals” and one of the most important feasts of the Church year, but also one of the most overlooked.
What do they celebrate? They celebrate ALL Saints and ALL Souls. In the case of All Saints, not just those who are officially recognized by the Church, but also those who are not as well as ourselves. We are all members of the Communion of Saints. That is one reason why we try to remember (as this web site says) “those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith”.
We can certainly remember all those who have been officially recognized, but there are over 10,000 canonized saints and no head count is available. As I already said, there are also holy men and women who have not been canonized for some reason or another and we remember them as well. Again, not just those who were models for the whole church or the local church, but also those who were models for us individually, such as parents, grandparents, etc.
Then, we celebrate All Souls, which this year falls on a Sunday. This is the day we remember and pray for those who have died, those who are being purged and those who have been through their purgatory and are now enjoying the full Beatific Vision.
On this site I try to highlight those men and women who have connections closer to home, namely Indiana. So, this weekend we honor all of those holy people who contributed to the the Church in Indiana. Those canonized, Mother Theodore Guerin, and those “in process”, Servant of God Simon Brute.
We also honor those who are not yet “in process” but probably should be, and those who will probably never be officially canonized by the Church, yet remain models for each of us. We also pray for all those who have served the Church. Those who are not named here and those who have been forgotten. Priests, Sisters, “Lay” persons.
The first reading on Sunday is taken from the Book of Wisdom: (3:1-9)
The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
Here is a list of those who are especially remembered this day for their part in the building up of the Church in Indiana:
Simon Lalumiere
Anthony Deydier
Ernest Audran
Stephen Bazin
Vincent Bacquelin
Julian Benoit
Mother Theresa Hackelmeier
August Bessonies
Joseph Chatrand
John Corbe
John Chasse
Francis Chatard
Hippolyte Dupontavice
Martin Marty
Joseph Ferneding
Celestin de la Hailandiere
Joseph Kundek
Fintan Mundweiler
Benjamin Petit
Nicholas Petit
Maurise de St. Palais
Michael Edgar Shawe
Roman Weinzapfel
