Mass for the dead
Once again we remember the dead during All Saints Day and All Souls Day 2015. The first event falls on a Sunday (November 1), the second on a Monday (November 2). In previous years when both days happened on work days, the practice was to declare these as non-working holidays. But this year only November 2 falls on a working day. However, Malacañang has not declared it a holiday. Nevertheless, very few government workers, I'm sure, will report for duty on that day. Many would rather be absent from work than be absent from observing a religious tradition.
That tradition of course includes a ritual called "kalag-kalag" which may no longer be observed in urban areas but is still very much alive in rural places. This event includes a visit to the cemetery where the resting place of relatives has become the site of a prayer session which for those who can afford it includes a "responso" usually officiated by a Catholic priest.
With prayers come flowers and candles because where the loved ones lie something good for the senses should be there. Of course, the dead can no longer see the flowers or smell their fragrance, if any. Nor can they delight on lighted candles no matter how large and expensive these are. Yet how can the living articulate their love and regard but through those garden delights? How can they warm their praying hearts but through the glow of candles?
Most likely those who are resting now failed to hear while alive the sweet words of endearment from their visiting relatives. The latter can now speak out these words, even shout these for the winds to hear. But of course only silence will be the answer.
Prayers--our faith teaches us the sublime value of prayers for our own good while still in this world. When we die the value of prayers seems to be quantified ten or even a hundred times. That's why no matter how die-hard a heretic the dead is, a nine-day novena is a must. And on the day of interment, a Holy Mass is an urgent necessity.
This explains why All Souls Day or not some Catholics sponsor Eucharistic celebrations for their loved ones in another world. It is believed that such celebrations bring relief to the suffering souls wherever they are.
Skeptics, no doubt, take such ritual for granted. They have reasons for their disbelief. No one they say has come back from the dead and proclaimed deliverance as a result of the Masses said for him or her. We respect their skepticism. But listen to this story told by a well-respected priest in one of his homilies in Santo Rosario church years ago.
There was a priest who was newly assigned in a rural parish where a convent he was staying in seemed to be haunted. Every evening towards eight o'clock loud footsteps could be heard starting from the stairway, then across the sala and towards an old cabinet standing nearby. At first, the priest tried to ignore the phenomenon but its nightly occurrence disturbed him as he tried to get some sleep. At one time the priest with the help of another priest tried to exorcise the area by saying some prayers and sprinkling holy water.
Yet the footsteps continued to be heard. Somebody advised the priest to force open the cabinet and see what was inside because the footsteps seemed to stop in the vicinity where the contraption was. When this was done a folder was found containing some yellowing sheets of paper on which some names were written and labeled "for the souls of the dead"
Realizing the intent of the list, the priest included the names therein as part of the intention of the Masses he celebrated every day after that. And from the day he did this, the mysterious footsteps in the convent eventually stopped.
Want to remember the dead? A Holy Mass can be the best.
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