The Feast of All Souls was celebrated this weekend. It is an important day for us all. It is personal, as we gather to pray for our dear loved ones who have passed. We are also doing our duty as Christians, as praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy.
At every Mass there is an explicit moment when the dead are prayed for, and that is during the Eucharistic Prayer. Every Eucharistic Prayer prays for the dead. This is very appropriate because at every Mass the entire Church is present, that is both the visible and invisible Church. The deceased souls in Purgatory are present, even though we cannot see them with our eyes. I’ll use the first Eucharistic Prayer, often referred to as the Roman Canon, as an example to help illustrate this. I tend to use this one often for Sunday masses. Also, the Roman Canon is the oldest Eucharistic Prayer in the Latin Church, and one of the oldest in the entire Catholic Church.
In this prayer there are two distinct pauses when the celebrant stops to remember people by name. The first pause, towards the beginning, is for the living. Any people who are alive can be spoken softly. The second pause, after the words of consecration, are for the dead. Again, deceased people can be spoken softly by name.
During both of these pauses, everyone else can and should be doing the same thing. During the first pause, loved ones here on earth can be briefly prayed for. And during the second pause deceased loved ones are mentioned by name. I invite everyone to do this regardless of the particular Eucharistic Prayer that the celebrant is using. The living and the dead are referenced, so we all would do well to recall our loved ones by name. It seems particularly special to remember our beloved dead during the month of November when we intentionally pray for the dead.
Let us never forget that the whole Church is present at every Mass. We are no closer to our loved ones who have passed then when we are at Mass. May this encourage and motivate us all to attend each Mass with an increased fervor, until we are all reunited with one another when Christ comes again.