Catholic Culture: The All Souls Day Indulgences

"Memento Mori" - "Remember Death"

Often overshadowed by Halloween (October 31) and All Saints Day (November 1), All Souls Day is a solemn feast in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who have died and are in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and atoning before entering into Heaven. The importance of the feast was made clear by Pope Benedict XV when he granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses on All Souls Day: one for the faithful departed; one for the priest's intentions; and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. Only on a handful of other very important feast days are priests allowed to celebrate more than two Masses.

On All Souls Day, we not only remember the dead, but we apply our efforts, through prayer, almsgiving, and the Mass, to their release from Purgatory. There are two indulgences attached to All Souls Day, one for visiting a church and another for visiting a cemetery. While the actions are performed by the living, the merits of the indulgences are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory.

Always refer to the Norms on Indulgences for specific guidelines and requirements for gaining plenary and partial Indulgences.

Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. The Church devotes the month of November to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and participation in the Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin this month.

UPDATE:

Rorate Caeli outlined the indulgence conditions much more eloquently:

§ 1. A plenary indulgence, applied exclusively to the souls in Purgatory, is granted to the Christian faithful who:

1° on every single day, from the first to the eighth day in November, devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed;

2° on the day of Commemoration of All Faithful Departed [November 2] (or, according to the Ordinary, on the preceding or subsequent Sunday, or on the day of the solemnity of All Saints) piously visit a church or oratory and there recite the Pater and the Credo.

My nephew Paul has decided that he likes to pour water over his new little brother, Matthew:

Called to Candidacy!

I received a call from my bishop this morning informing me that I have been called to Candidacy for Holy Orders. I will be admitted along with the rest of my class on November 4th at St. Charles Borromeo seminary in Philadelphia. It is the first official step towards the priesthood, which hopefully will follow in about three years. Please pray for all of us!

"The rite of admission is celebrated when is has been established that the intention of those aspiring to Holy Orders is supported by the necessary qualifications and has achieved sufficient maturity. The intention of receiving Holy Orders is to be expressed publicly by the aspirants. The Bishop or the Major Superior of a clerical religious institute, or his delegate, publicly accepts the aspirants' intention."

These photos are from last year's Mass for Admission to Candidacy at St. Charles seminary in Philadelphia:

Bishop:
My children, the pastors and teachers in charge of your formation, and others who know you, have given a favorable account of you, and we have full confidence in their testimony. In response to the Lord's call, are you resolved to complete your preparation so that in due time you will be ready to be ordained for the ministry of the Church?

R/ I am.

Bishop:
Are you resolved to prepare yourselves in mind, heart, and spirit to give faithful and compassionate service to Christ the Lord and his body, the Church?

R/ I am.

Bishop:
The Church receives your declaration with joy. May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.

All: Amen

"Be attentive, Lord, to our prayers for your sons,

who wish to dedicate themselves to your service

and the service of your people in the sacred ministry;

in your love, graciously bless + them,

that they may persevere in their vocation,

and that, in holding fast with undivided charity to

Christ the Priest,

that they may be worthy to take up the apostolic mission.

Through Christ our Lord."

A Catholic Hermit Is Cold!

There is a Catholic hermit who is praying for us, but he is cold as Winter approaches because he can't afford a stove!

Fr. George Byers, C.P.M. is building Holy Souls Hermitage in the North Carolina Mountains. His mission is to pray for us. Just today, Holy Mass was offered according to the 1962 Missal for the intentions of his benefactors.

In his spare time over the past year, he has been tutoring me in my seminary courses while I undergo cancer treatments, keeping me from falling behind and actually putting me ahead of schedule with my courses.

However, Winter is approaching, and he is getting cold. From his blog:

"People’s idea of being a hermit involves being out in the desert. The usual paintings of hermits involve being half-dressed, baking to death in the hot sun. Mind you, upper Egypt would be horrifically hot… during the day.

But there are some things that you can only learn with experience. In the desert, it’s not so much the daytime that’s a penance, it’s the nighttime freezing temperatures. There are wild ranges of temperatures from hellishly hot to the cold that one would behold when hell freezes over.

Hermits who live in rain forest mountains[!] can know a wild range of temperatures, though perhaps not so intensely severe. Yet, the other day, it went — in the fahrenheit scale — from the mid 80's during the day down to the 30's at night. 50 degrees in about six hours. Yikes! Great football weather. Great lumberjack weather. But hard to live in outdoor temps 24/7. Which is the reason for a cave, or, lacking a cave, a hermitage, with a stove, with stove pipe!

The cost is $1,506.98. I can’t solicit donations under Obama’s administration. So I won’t. I’m just informing you of my personal project!

This morning it was near freezing again. Tomorrow it might just freeze altogether. And then… Winter!

If anyone were to force me to take a donation against all my protestations, such a kind soul would have to send a check made out to George David Byers, and send it to: 102 College Station Drive; Suite 3 — PMB 233; Brevard N.C. 28712 USA !"

Parish Festival

Each year, St. Catherine's has a competition between the different neighborhoods of the parish. The competition includes a 5k run, basketball, and other games. However, the most important event is the "Knowledge of the Faith" tournament. The teams have been preparing and studying the Catechism for weeks.

The preliminary round advanced 4 of the 10 teams to the finals, which will be held on October 22nd when Bishop Burbidge breaks ground for the new parish. Here, the points from the preliminary round are added up:

Wise Words :)

Sunday Football

Sunday football with one of the newest members of St. Catherine parish - baby Declan Hartel!

Pray For a New Dominican Novice!

Please pray for my friend, Jamie Hickman (now Br. Francis Mary) who entered the Dominican Novitiate on August 8, 2011:

Br. Francis and I met in 2003 when we both attended a month-long retreat in Europe for Catholic college students. He had just completed his first year at West Point, while I had just finished my first at Annapolis, so we bonded quickly. Here we are on the trip, outside of St. Mary Major following the Papal Eucharistic Procession for the Feast of Corpus Christi. We are next to each other on the right side of the photo (back when I had hair!):

We also had an audience with then-Cardinal Ratzinger. I am kissing his ring, and Br. Francis is partially blocked by my head. The priest on the right is Fr. Jonathan Morris of Fox News' "Red Eye" fame. He organized this trip and found donors to cover virtually all of our costs. Please pray for him!

Diocese of Charlotte Seminarian Jason Barone was also on the trip as a young undergraduate, and all three of us were able to get together for a small "8 year reunion" after a June 2011 ordination in Raleigh, just before Jamie left for the Novitiate:

His biography from the Dominicans' website:

"All my life I've wanted to serve my country and the Church - the Cross and the Flag are central symbols in my life. Four years at West Point and five years as an Infantry officer granted me the opportunity to serve my nation domestically and in multiple Asian countries. I've traveled the world and experienced God's children in many different lands. I've learned that Truth, Jesus Christ, is present in our lives. Now I am happy that God has granted a new opportunity to devote my life to service, this time as a Dominican friar. I believe that I will be more influential as a Christian soldier identified as a son of St Dominic than I have been as an Army Ranger.

I did not come to the Order of Preachers alone. My formation as a Christian began when my loving parents brought me into this world and pointed me to Christ, His Father, and His mother. My parents are selfless people who have sacrificed for others, knowing that their personal example serves as a witness to God's love. They sent me and my two older sisters to Catholic schools from K-12th grade, allowing the Benedictines to form our hearts and minds. I still have a Benedictine spirit and find peace when I return to the Abbey in Richmond, VA, for liturgical prayer with the monks. Born on the feast of St Francis, I have a Franciscan heart as well, and one of my dearest friends from college is a Capuchin friar in New York. The Army remains dear to me, especially as I consider some of the officers who encouraged my faith as a cadet and young officer. My philosophy professors - this was my major - taught me how the ancients searched for Truth. One of the first Dominicans I met was a friar from Oxford who lectured at a Catholic leaders fellowship in France after my plebe year. And my vocation discernment continued.

I learned more about the Province of St. Joseph when my best friend from college introduced me to a holy man applying to the Order. His example and that of the other friars gave me assurance that I could entrust my soul to the formation and care of this Province. Reading the histories of the early Dominicans and the founding of the Order, I noted great parallels to today's societal issues. My personal interest in political philosophy led me to investigate the Order's Constitutions, which I find remarkable. Most importantly I came to believe that I would find the greatest happiness in life as a friar. Whether I end up serving as a missionary in east Africa, as a pastor on a leading university campus or as a chaplain to the dying, I hope that my witness in my white habit will remind the world that God loves us, just as my family and friends have shown me. I know that I need brotherhood and a clear mission in order to live my vocation, and I hope that God's Dogs will provide all that I need and more."

Happy Feast of the Holy Rosary!

The Story of the Battle of Lepanto

At various times in history, the rosary has been cited as a decisive factor in the outcome of significant battles. The fight for control of the Mediterranean and the conquest of Europe was one of them. The Battle of Lepanto, in 1571, would be the largest naval engagement since the Battle of Actium in 30 B.C. To the mind and eyes of the world, it seemed as if the Turks, or Moslems, would have a decisive victory. Pope Pius V, a former aesthetic and devout Dominican monk, blessed the mission fleet led by Don Juan, the half brother of Philip II of Spain, instructing him to take no evil sailors and requested that the faithful pray the rosary unceasingly.

When Don Juan heard that Cyprus had fallen to the Moslems and that all prisoners were being tortured and executed, he pulled up anchor and headed directly to the Gulf of Lepanto to engage the enemy. Ali Pasha commanded the Turkish fleet of 330 ships, reinforced by Uluch Ali, the notorious leader of the Moslem corsairs (pirates), infamous for terrorizing Catholic ships in the Mediterranean. Don Juan commanded about 300 ships consisting of Venetians, Genoese, Spanish, Knights of Malta and the Papal States.

At dawn, October 7, 1571, the two fleets clashed. Don John commanded his flagship and galleys. Iron rams were removed from the Christian ships, as the plan was for boarding and close quarter fighting. At the same time, Pope Pius V, accompanied by a group of the faithful, entered the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pray the Rosary and ask Our Lady to intercede for a Catholic victory. The prayers continued in Rome as the Catholic and Moslem fleets battled. Later in the day, the Pope is said to have suddenly interrupted his business exclaiming, “A truce to business! Our great task at present is to thank God for the victory which He has just given the Catholic army.”

The Pope declared October 7 the feast day of “Our Lady of Victory.” Years later, the feast was renamed “Our Lady of the Rosary” by Pope Clement XI. Pope Pius V was canonized in 1712.

Pray For This Priest

Pray for this priest, Fr. Rodriguez, who was recently transferred from his parish in El Paso after uproars over his many public remarks upholding the Church's teachings, especially concerning marriage and sexuality. I don't know the circumstances surrounding his transfer, so of course I can't speculate. There are other wonderful videos on Youtube of him explaining the Faith.

In El Paso, Fr. Rodriguez heard confessions 5 times a week and was the only diocesan priest who offered the Latin Mass.

He was moved from El Paso to a small town of 9,000 souls, and I am sure they will be glad to have him. May he inspire many holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life in his new assignment!

A year ago, he defended marriage on the local news:

"I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them." -Saint Bernadette