All Souls Day

by Fr. John Granato  |  11/02/2025  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate All Souls' Day, which is only a memorial (not a feast or a solemnity) on the liturgical calendar. Even though it falls on a Sunday this year, because of the importance of praying for our deceased loved ones, Holy Mother Church does not bump All Souls' Day, like she does when other memorials fall on a Sunday. For centuries on this day, priests wore black vestments. Since the reform of the liturgy in 1970, the church rubrics state that the preferred color is purple, but black and white are other options that are allowed. Now this memorial of All Souls' follows immediately upon All Saints' Day. On All Saints', the color is white. I am opposed to wearing white on All Souls' for that very reason.

A saint in heaven is not the same as a soul in purgatory. The difference is obscured when we use the same color for each. This is also why I do not wear white for funerals. In our Church teaching, tradition states that only those who are martyred for the Catholic faith in witness to Jesus Christ bypass purgatory. Every other person, upon his or her death, cannot avoid purgatory, even if it is even for a millisecond of time for purification.

The other reason I do not wear white for All Souls' or for funerals is that many people attend Mass for weddings, funerals, Christmas and Easter. Each of these requires white vestments. Most Catholics are not aware that the Church has other colors for vestments if they only attend during these events. To get back to the liturgical colors for All Souls' Day, since white obscures the difference between the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering, I can choose between purple and black.

I choose black since it is the traditional color of mourning, and we mourn the death of our loved ones as we pray for them on this day in particular. But we also have a tradition in our faith of praying for our deceased loved ones every day of the year, at Mass or in our own devotional prayers. And this is why we also remember our loved ones with an intention that is applied to the Sacrifice of the Mass when it is offered.

The merits of Our Lord's sacrifice are applied to the Mass intention for the repose of the soul of the deceased in a particular way. Of course, if our loved one has been fully purified then the merits would be applied to another soul waiting for purification. Requiem aeternum dona eis, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace.

Amen.