30 October 2014

'Blessed are those who mourn . . .' Sunday Reflections, Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.

St Columban’s Cemetery, Dalgan Park, Ireland [Photo: Fr Rolly Aniscal]

There are no fixed readings for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day). Below are links to selections of readings.

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) 

In England and Wales this year the Solemnity of All Saints will be celebrated on Sunday 2 November and All Souls’ Day will be observed on Monday 3 November.

Readings for All Saints’ Day (England and Wales, Jerusalem Bible)

Fr Edward McNamara LC of Zenit responds here to a reader's query about the celebration this year of The Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. One can truthfully say that there are reasons for confusion!

Synaxis of All Saints, Unknown Icon Painter, early 17th century
Musei Vaticani, Vatican [Web Gallery of Art]

The following gospel is that for All Saints’ Day and may be used on All Souls’ Day and in any Mass for the Dead.


When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The video above is a production of Jesuit Communications, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines. The speaker is Luis Antionio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila.
The video above was produced by the L'Arche Community, Bognor Regis, England.


Antiphona ad communionem  Communion Antiphon  Cf. 4 Esdras [Ezra] 2:34-35 
Lux ætérna lúceat eis, Dómine,
Let perpetual light shine upon them
cum Sanctis tuis in ætérnum, quia pius es.
with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful. 
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis, 
and let perpetual light shine upon them,
cum Sanctis tuis in ætérnum, quia pius es. 
with your Siants for ever for you are merciful.
The first part above is the Communion Antiphon in the second Mass formulary for All Souls's Day. The whole is used as the Communion Antiphon in the first formularu for funeral Masses outside Easter time.

3 comments:

Sheila Carroll said...

Hello Father,
I follow your blog and enjoy it. I am wondering about your order. I am studying the life of St. Columba of Iona and travelled to Iona this last June. Your order--is that the same Columba or St. Columbanus? Also the quote you use under your head indicates it is from the "8th Sermon". Is it a quote from St. Columba of Iona. Thanks so much for your help. Would appreciate if you didn't publish my email address. Thank you so much.
Sheila Carroll

Fr Seán Coyle said...

Thank you for your comment, Sheila. The patron saint of the Missionary Society of St Columban to which I belong is St Columbanus or Columban. Many confuse Columba and Columban(us), who were contemporaries. St Columba of Iona is usually called 'Columcille' in Ireland. 'Colm' is the Gaelic for 'dove' and is part of the name of a number Irish saints, all monks, from the early centuries of Christianity in my country.

Last year I spent two months in the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles in Scotland. St Columba of Iona is the patron of the diocese and of the cathedral. The diocese includes Iona, which I visited twice during that period.

The quotation at the top of my blog is from St Columbanus. The English version of the Roman Missal uses 'Columban' but 'Columbanus' is widely used and causes less confusion.

We Columbans are a Society of Apostolic Life, which means that we're not religious. We don't usually live in community nor do we take a vow of poverty. We were founded by two young Irish diocesan priests and we are basically seculars.

Again, Sheila, many thanks for your comment. God bless you.

Fr Seán Coyle said...

Sheila, you may not be aware that there is a Korean St Columba whose Korean name was Kim Hyo-im. She and
her sister St Agnes were martyred in the persecution of 1839 [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5894]. They were among those canonised by St John Paul II in Korea in 1984.

Today I visited the shrine of the Martyrs here in Seoul and discovered that one of the 124 Korean martyrs beatified recently by Pope Francis is another Columba, also a woman, Blessed Columban Gang Wan-suk, martyred in the persecution of 1801 at the age of 40. [http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-columba-gang-wan-suk/]

I presume that the parents of both of these martyrs took the name from the Martyrology, the Church's list of martyrs and other saints and their feast days, even though there were no priests in Korea for a long time after the Faith was introduced in 1784 by a Korean who was part of a delegation to Beijing and who was baptised there.