Reflection on all Souls Day 2026

On Monday the 2^nd of November, we celebrated All Souls Day, which is a very significant day in the church's year. For all of us, this feast will have different meanings.  I have lived in four different cultures with Ireland and Italy very close. In how this feast is celebrated. Full stop In Ireland and Italy every priest celebrated three Masses, one after the other. In Italy the first Mass began at 4:00am and the remaining two Masses follow one after the other. In Ireland we usually had a day off school, so the first Mass was about 8:00 AM. I also have the memory of each of us being asked by my mother the solemn question…. What are you giving up for the Holy Souls for November?? Another experience I remember vividly is making visits to the Church for the Holy Souls. Being told that with every visit we got a plenary indulgence, which we could attribute to a named holy soul. Full stop At the end of the day, As children, We shared with each other the number of Holy Souls we had got out of purgatory by the number of visits we met. Well, looking back I cannot say for certainty if there was any theological teaching around our thinking. Saying all that left is the very strong impression of me. To this day and all through this month I find myself daily being conscious of the Holy Souls to the extent that even waiting for the bus I am saying eternal rest Give unto them, O Lord, So I guess some of what I learned in Ireland's growing up has its value.

At the very centre of the remembrance of the dead is the connection to loss, grief. memories. belonging, and usually thanksgiving.  Some people find grief very difficult to express, so by sharing a parish Mass on All Souls Day with the name or names of our loved ones called out gives us an opportunity to connect with those we have loved and who have gone before us. Maybe, too, it can help us to shed a silent tear. Here in Most Holy Trinity Church, the music so well prepared for the liturgy, is an added contribution to the solemnity of the occasion. All this encourages us to believe that death is not a hopeless end., put a powerful message that points us to the resurrection.

I am sure that all of us have experienced the death of a relative, maybe a parent, sibling, husband or wife, a child, a dear friend.

Here in Dockhead, many of us still grieve for the loss of Canon Allen. No matter how prepared we are, the death of those we love is a painful experience. Because we love people. We miss them. When they are no longer with us. Are we can feel disabled for a long time. Love always pays a price., a bit like the disciples on the road to Emmaus following the death of Jesus. The disciples tried to put it right by running away so unlike many people I have known who stay with the pain.

I remember several years ago  before COVID, I was in Ireland at the wake of my brother-in-law, whose body was in the open coffin in the sitting room, and many of us were sitting around sharing stories and occasionally saying the rosary while the children in the family sat on the floor. At about midnight, a relative called his children and said they had to go home to go to bed before the funeral the next day. Roisin, a little girl of eight., went over to the coffin and said ‘Uncle Willy, I am going home now. But I will see you tomorrow’ and she kissed him.  Willie RIP was the little girl's gran uncle.; what a gesture of love., faith and lack of fear from a small child who was so comfortable with death. No wonder that Jesus said ‘We must have faith like little children’

 I think I will leave this reflection with little Russian's lack of fear of the dead

 May each one be assured that my prayerful thoughts are with you all as you may be feeling the loss of a loved one.

Eternal rest Grant unto them, oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Sister Assumpta, 6/11/2026. Feast of the Saints of Ireland.