All Souls
02/November/2007 Filed in:
JottingsPrayer for the dead is an ancient Christian custom. In the monastery we have many opportunities of remembering those who have died but do not yet enjoy the bliss of heaven. At the end of almost all Offices and after every meal there is a prayer for the souls of the faithful departed. Many people find the idea of Purgatory difficult and prefer to think of death as opening immediately on to paradise. Personally, I find the idea of waiting, of being purified, encouraging rather than the reverse. I'd want my grubby soul to be reclothed in its baptismal purity before I appear before my Maker; and I am humbled to think that the living have this one last work of charity to perform for those who have gone before: to aid them with their prayers.