All Souls' Day is celebrated on November 2nd. Unfortunately, the final day of All Hallowstide is often overlooked or joined with All Saints' Day. To help distinguish the two in our minds, All Saints’ Day seeks to honor the Saints who have gone before us as examples of the Christian life and pointers to Christ. All Souls’ Day, however, is the day we commemorate the faithful departed and pray for them. They are the ones who are known, perhaps, just to us: our mothers and fathers, spouses and friends. For many of us, praying for the dead is a foreign concept. Some of you may even be asking, “Isn’t that Roman Catholic? Are we even allowed to do that?” The answer to both questions is “yes and no.” Roman Catholics do pray for the dead; and if we intend to pray a soul out of purgatory, then no, we aren’t allowed to do it. However, the Anglican view and medieval Roman view are not the same thing. To help us understand the differences, we need to look at how this practice developed.
In our contemporary Western Evangelical world, we often minimize death. We have celebrations of life. We tell people not to be sad because the person is in heaven. But when the Early Church thought of death and grief, they did not try to minimize it or explain it away. They recognized grief; death was not the way it was supposed to be. Yet, they also saw that the Resurrection had something definitive to say. St. Ambrose, at his brother's funeral, says, "What grief is there which the grace of the Resurrection does not console? What sorrow is not excluded by the belief that nothing perishes in death?" There is indeed grief, a mourning that should be recognized and felt, but it does not have the final say. This can be seen in the middle of the second century, when the Church began to celebrate the Eucharist at funerals. While mourning the loss, they join their sorrow to the Eucharist (”Thanksgiving”) of Christ’s sacrifice. And in doing so, they acknowledge the communion of the Church triumphant and the Church militant joined in Christ. The medieval church’s view of a funeral became more shaped by the doctrine of purgatory. Purgatory, essentially, differed from Hell in that it was temporary for the Christian soul; it became the place where the soul of a loved one remained until it was purified through time, the prayers of the living, acts of mercy, or the purchase of indulgences.
By the time the European Reformations came about, Luther and other reformers responded to the abuse brought about through the medieval view of Purgatory. In the 39 Articles, Article 22 calls it “vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.” Because of the Roman view, services for the dead were linked to Purgatory and the need to pray for souls so that they may be released from their torment. This view was rejected by the Anglican church. Unfortunately, however, because of Purgatory’s connection to All Souls Day, the day was no longer celebrated as a holy day of obligation. Despite this, the Anglican Church did not stop praying for the dead.
In Holy Communion, during the prayers for the whole state of Christ’s Church, we pray, “And we bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to grant them continual growth in thy love and service.” And again in the Burial Office, we pray, “O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered; Accept our prayers on behalf of the soul of thy servant departed, and grant him entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints.” Clearly, praying for the departed is still put forward by the BCP as a good thing. However, the soul of the departed is in the hands of God; their salvation (or at least sanctification) is not contingent upon our prayers. Lastly, the Prayer Book includes the propers for a Requiem Mass with two collects. The first collect is a general prayer for the departed and addresses God “who holdest all the souls…”, while the second collect is said specifically “on behalf of the soul of thy servant departed.” This distinction is important because the first collect provides the logic for a proper Anglican view and celebration of All Souls’ Day.
The Anglican view of All Souls’ Day is not the same as the medieval Roman view. As Anglicans, we reject the medieval doctrine of Purgatory, but like the early Church, we know that the Church militant and triumphant are joined in Christ. We are called to pray for one another and that we may follow “the good examples of those who have served thee here and are now at rest, may at the last enter with them into thine unending joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” All Souls’ Day offers a chance to give thanks for the lives of those close to us, to pray for them in the service by name, and rest in the mercy and work of God. It is here that our grief and hope meet. As Fr. Ian said in his homily at the funeral of George Pennell, “As Anglicans, we take life seriously, and so we also take death seriously.”
God’s Peace,
Fr. Aaron
If you would like the name of a deceased loved one to be mentioned in the service on Monday, please email Fr. Aaron their name.