Feast of All Souls

Good afternoon and Happy Feast of All Souls!

My favorite priest said morning Mass today, and gave a great homily about today's feast and the beautiful BLACK vestments he was wearing. Here is his explanation paraphrased:

Black vestments were not done away with contrary to what people say about VII. They are still listed as the first color of use for furneral Masses, and this Feast in particular (check out the GIRM, if you don't believe me). The vestment cannot be solid black, but instead must be trimed in a hopeful color (today he was wearing one that was lined with a beautiful royal purple). Why black and not more commonly seen white? (He said that it is as if we are already signifying sainthood, and then he joked that if any of us are around at the end of his life, that he wants to be dressed in black and that the priest be in black vestments... because he knows there is little chance that he would have a perfected soul at the moment of his death.) The black was actually meant to signify our earthly mourning, and the trim/lined color was for the joy that was to follow.

I should say that I'm really not doing his homely justice because if you know Fr. D, you know he is an amazing homilist and this was just a bare bones paragraph.

He went on to talk about how we are to spend (most especially) the month of November praying for those who have gone before us in the love and friendship of Christ... and that for those souls which are helped by our prayers & sufferings (soul which are still in a state of purgation), in return we have a special Saint in heaven praying for us!

Remember family and friends who have gone before us in the love and friendship of Christ, and the millions of souls who have been forgotten... and spend this month offering up your day for their benefit.