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A reflection on the All Souls Day
Opinion | Articles | Benjamin Chang | 02-Nov-2025
There are three major reasons that helped me grow in Faith after coming to Shillong. All Souls Day is one of them. In the past, I always found it odd to see people love having their photos taken on the tombs and in the graveyard. Stories and talks related to graveyard would normally send shivers down my spine and to visit a graveyard in the evening was something unimaginable.
I knew “All Souls Day” as a day to remember and pray for the faithful departed souls. But here, I found that the previous day, the relatives of the faithful departed clear up all the wild plants and grass from the graves. All the cemeteries were well kept and decorated for the Holy Mass for the departed Souls. All the cemeteries were well lit and decorated but, Laitumkhrah Cemetery is definitely the most popular.
In 2011, along with others, I set out for Laitumkhah Cemetery. I saw lots of people on the streets walking towards the cemetery. The roads were guarded by the police, volunteers and local authorities in order to avoid any unwanted commotion. There were some makeshift shops that sold eatable items, candles and flowers on the roadside. The murmur grew as we went near the cemetery. There were thousands of people in the cemetery. The pine trees and flowers surrounded the graveyard, and it glowed with the illumination of thousands of candle. It made the winter air warmer.
The Solemn Holy Mass, led by the Archbishop, started as the last rays of the setting sun were perched upon the graveyard. I felt as if the magical glow had driven away the gloominess of the tombs. Flowers and wreathes were placed on the nameplates and many candles were lit around each grave as if to warm the departed souls. One could make out the state of the family by the decors and candles on the grave. Some graves are so well lit and decorated, some uncared. There were some graves with nothing remaining, except for a heap of soil, wooden cross or rusted iron cross with names that could not be recognized. The relatives of the neighbouring tombs usually help in covering the uncared heap of soils with some white sands. Some even lit a candle and placed a flower on tombs that has no one to care for. The Priests and Religious went to all the tombs, sprinkling the Holy water and praying for the departed soul. Personally I felt that, these small gestures make more difference to the living than they do to the departed soul.
A Catholic youth, who is very regular for this annual event remarked, “Every 2nd November of the year I feel like in heaven as I pass by the Cemetery. So many candles, lovely bouquets, garlands and flowers brighten every grave. People praying by the side of their dear departed loved ones make me feel like an angel so soothing and calm. Yet tears would build up my eyes as I remember my one and only Daddy.” Many come from far and near, along with their family members to pray and visit the graveyard of their loved ones. Our loved ones may be gone but the loving memories still linger on in our hearts. It made me to look beyond; my life after death. Will there be someone to remember and care to pray for me? All happy things must come to an end. The thought of it made me emotional and yet it was a heavenly experience.
The Catholic Church commemorates the Solemnity of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2 respectively. All Saints Day on November 1 is set aside to celebrate all the saints- canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those who are in heaven enjoying the beatific vision that are only known to God. The feast of All Saints is meant to inspire us with tremendous hope. Among the saints of heaven are some whom we have known. All lived on earth lives like our own. They were baptized, marked with the sign of faith, they were faithful to Christ's teaching and they have gone before us to the heavenly home whence they call on us to follow them. Meanwhile, All Souls Day is observed on November 2 in commemoration of the faithful departed.
All Souls’ Day was first instituted at the monastery in Cluny in 993 AD and quickly spread throughout the Christian world. People held festivals for the dead long before Christianity. It was Saint Odilo, the Abbot of Cluny in France, who in the 10th century, proposed that the day after All Saints’ Day be set aside to honour the departed, particularly those whose souls were still in purgatory. On this day, the souls of the faithful departed are commemorated. Although some Protestants observe All Souls’ Day informally, it is primarily a Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Holy Day. All Souls Day is believed to have originated from the belief that departed souls do not attain sanctification when they died. They go through purgatory after death to enter heaven. The living can therefore intercede for the souls of the departed to attain forgiveness and sanctification. There are other similar practices throughout the world. Most of these are believed to have their origin in folklore.
The Chinese have the Ghost Festival, the Japanese have Bon Festival and the Mexican have their Day of the Dead. All of them have different interpretations but they are in some way or the other connected through rituals like lighting candles and adorning graves. In Bolivia, many people believe that the dead eat the food that is left out for them. Some Naga tribal practices go as far as keeping food for months and years on the grave for the departed.
Civilized man still pins much faith on the hope that outward manifestations of piety will in some manner appease even an omniscient Deity. There are two plenary indulgences attached to All Souls Day, one for visiting a church and another for visiting a cemetery. While the living performs the actions, the merits of the indulgences are applicable only to the souls in Purgatory. Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt the Church's teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. 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 the month.
Purgatory is not a city of torment; rather, it represents a process by which God reaches out to those who have died in imperfection and calls them to himself. Purgatory is a dynamic process of transformation and sanctification, a completion of what God began in us at baptism. At the time of death, the human person enters into a state of ongoing pilgrimage toward the kingdom of God. Prayer for the dead is an act of solidarity. We accompany them on their pilgrim way. Unless the person has achieved the status of the saints, he or she enters into a state of ongoing growth and purification, into a state which grows into the perfection of Christ. The pain in Purgatory is the breaking out of the old self into the new. We become holy, whether in life or in death, by many transformations which inevitably involve pain because they involve growth, self-scrutiny and self-sacrificing love.
The Church on earth prays for the dead, and accompanies and supports those who have gone before us, as they grow in Christ. Believe in Purgatory is more of a Theological and practical responds than a Biblical proof. Without remembrance of our loved ones, we lose part of ourselves. The fact that the Church prays for the dead is profoundly significant. Such prayer arises out of a very particular understanding of life after death that is a crucial part of our tradition. The prayers are meant to purify the souls of the departed before they enter paradise. Sometimes there was no chance to be reconciled before death; sometimes forgiveness was not exchanged; those who are dead may have hurt, injured or betrayed those still living, or vice versa. All Souls’ Day can be a day of offering forgiveness to the dead or asking forgiveness from them. Above all, All Souls’ Day is a time of keeping the dead visible in the human
(The Author is a Priest in the Diocese of Kohima, and can be reached on Benjamin.chang24@gmail.com. The content is personal)
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