All Saints and All Souls

This is how All Souls is celebrated in America, we British are a little more reserved.

All Souls day is traditionally marked on 2nd November directly after All Saints day. We had a really lovely service in our Church on Monday night, conducted partly by candlelight. This celebration is mainly an opportunity for the Church to commemorate the faithfully departed, and many people have the names of their loved ones read out during this service. The reasoning behind this stems from the notion that when a soul leaves the body it is not entirely cleansed from minor sins. However, the power of prayer from the faithful left on earth maybe able to help these souls gain the beatific vision they seek, bringing the soul eternal peace. Well, that's what Anglicans believe, and who am I to say different. I only write here what I hear in Church.



Whatever, the tradition, it's a lovely service and well attended. There were no seats left in our Church on Monday night and we can seat over 200 people. That indicates how popular this celebration is. I was thinking on Monday how sad it is that we won't see the majority of these people again until this time next year. I am not sure if the problem lies within the Anglican Church or within the people themselves, but something is wrong when people only turn up for high days and holidays! I suspect both sides need to adjust their thinking. The people should be telling us what is wrong with Church worship and we definately should be taking it on board.