Today is the Eve of All Hallows -- let's bring back the true meaning:
Hallowe'en - Eve of All Saints - Suggestions for Reclaiming this Christian Feast
Posted on 10/31/2005 8:30:43 AM PST by Salvation
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Today is the Eve of All Hallows -- let's bring back the true meaning:
Hallowe'en - Eve of All Saints - Suggestions for Reclaiming this Christian Feast
| Monday, October 31, 2005 Feria |
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October 31, 2005    Monday of the Thirty-First Week of Ordinary Time
All Hallows' Eve  Halloween or All Hallows' Eve is not a liturgical feast on the Catholic calendar, but the celebration has deep ties to the Liturgical Year. These three consecutive days: Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, illustrate the Communion of Saints. The Church Militant (those of us on earth, striving to get to heaven) pray for the Church Suffering (those souls in Purgatory) especially on All Souls Day and the month of November. We also rejoice and honor the Church Triumphant (the saints, canonized and uncanonized) in heaven. We also ask the Saints to intercede for us, and for the souls in Purgatory. Since Vatican II, some liturgical observances have been altered, one example being "fast before the feast" is no longer required. Originally, the days preceding great solemnities, like Christmas and All Saints Day, had a penitential nature, requiring abstinence from meat and fasting and prayer. Although not required by the Church, it is a good practice to prepare spiritually before great feast days. In England, saints or holy people are called "hallowed", hence the name "All Hallow's Day". The evening, or "e'en" before the feast became popularly known as "All Hallows' Eve" or even shorter, "Hallowe'en". Since the night before All Saints Day, "All Hallows Eve" (now known as Hallowe'en), was the vigil and required fasting, many recipes and traditions have come down for this evening, such as pancakes, boxty bread and boxty pancakes, barmbrack (Irish fruit bread with hidden charms), colcannon (combination of cabbage and boiled potatoes). This was also known as "Nutcrack Night" in England, where the family gathered around the hearth to enjoy cider and nuts and apples. Halloween is the preparation and combination of the two upcoming feasts. Although the demonic and witchcraft have no place for a Catholic celebration, some macabre can be incorporated into Halloween. It is good to dwell on our impending death (yes, everyone dies at one point), the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and the sacrament of the Sick. And tied in with this theme is the saints, canonized and non-canonized. What did they do in their lives that they were able to reach heaven? How can we imitate them? How can we, like these saints, prepare our souls for death at any moment? For more information see Catholic Culture's Halloween page. Also read from Catholic Culture's library:
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Rom 11:29-36 / Lk 14:12-14 One of the perennial mistakes we make is trying to figure out what God is thinking and why God did this or didn't do that. It gets us in all kinds of trouble, sometimes even causing us to doubt that God really cares for us or even bothers to give us a second glance after creating us. That's the bad idea that the deists of the enlightenment wandered into, and there are plenty of equally bad ideas about God still making the rounds. The crunch can come when we face a tragedy like the cancer death of a little child or the freeway death of a devoted mother of eight. And we can really go over the top when we think about the Holocaust or the thousands of bodies in mass graves in dozens of countries around the world. "I want answers, and I want them now!" we may in effect be saying. If so, we're wasting our breath, for our time is not God's time, nor is our schedule God's. Paul says it in today's first reading: "How inscrutable his judgments, how unsearchable his ways." So what are we left with? Both our faith in the goodness of God and our personal experience, part of it directly intuitive, that God abides with us and never leaves, and that his love for us is undying. In the words of the poet, "That's all you know, and all you need to know." |
Faith-sharing bump.
In other words, what goes around, comes around.
| Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. God, the father of heaven, God the son, redeemer of the world, God the Holy Ghost, Holy Trinity, one God, Holy Mary, Holy Mother of God, Holy virgin of virgins, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, All ye Holy Angels and Archangels, All ye Holy Orders of Blessed spirits, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph, All ye Holy Patriarchs and Prophets, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. James, St. John, St. Thomas, St. James, St. Philip, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, . St. Simon, pray for us. St. Thaddeus, pray for us. St. Barnabas, pray for us. St. Luke, pray for us. St. Mark, pray for us. All ye Holy Apostles and Evangelist, All ye Holy Disciples of Our Lord, All ye Holy Innocents, . St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, . St. Vincent, Ss. Fabian and Sebastian, Ss. John and Paul, Ss. Cosmos and Damian, Ss. Gervase and Protase, All ye Holy Martyrs, St. Sylvester, St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Martin, St. Nicholas, All ye Holy Bishops and Confessors, All ye Holy Doctors, St. Anthony, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis, All ye Holy Priest and Levites, All ye Holy Monks and Hermits, . St. Mary Magdalen, St. Agatha, St. Lucy, St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, St. Catherine, St. Anastasia, All ye Holy Virgins and Widows, All ye Men and Women, Saints of God, |
Christ, have mercy on us.
Christ, graciously hear us. Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us pray for us.
pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. pray for us. intercede for us. Spare us, O Lord! Graciously hear us, O Lord! O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us. O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us O Lord, deliver us We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. We beseech thee, hear us. Spare us, O Lord. Graciously hear us, O Lord. Have mercy on us. Christ, graciously hear us.... Christ, have mercy on us....... |
| Our Father (ect.) ..... V- And Lead Us Not Into Temptation. R- But Deliver Us From Evil. Psalm LXIX Incline unto my aid, O God. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul. Let them be turned backward and blush for shame that desire evils to me. Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me, "Tis well, 'tis well." Let all that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; and let such as love Thy salvation say always, The Lord be magnified. But I am needy and poor: O God, help me. Thou art my helper and my deliverer; O Lord, make no delay. Glory Be To The Father, (etc)........ V- Save Thy servants. R- Trusting in Thee, O my God. V- Be unto us, O Lord, a tower a strength. R- From the face of the enemy. V- Let not the enemy prevail against us. R- Nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt us. V- O Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins. R- Neither reward us according to our iniquities. V- Let us pray for our chief bishop: (name) R- The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. V- Let us pray for our benefactors. R- Vouchsafe, O Lord, for Thy name's sake, to reward with eternal life all those who do us good. V- Let us pray for the faithful departed. R- Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. V- May they rest in peace. R- Amen. V- For our absent brethren. R- Save Thy servants who hope in Thee, O my God. V- Send them help, O Lord, from Thy holy place. R- And from Sion protect them. V- O Lord, hear my prayer. R- And let my cry come unto Thee. |
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| Let us pray- O God, Whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our petition, that we and all Thy servants who are bound by the chain of sin, may, by the compassion of Thy goodness, mercifully be absolved. Hear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy supplicants, and pardon the sins of those who confess to Thee, that, in Thy bounty, Thou mayest grant us both pardon and peace. In Thy clemency, O Lord, show Thy unspeakable mercy to us, that so Thou mayest both loose us from all our sins and deliver us from the punishments which we deserve for them. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people, who make supplication to Thee, and turn away the scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins. O almighty and eternal God, have mercy on Thy servant (Name), our chief bishop, and direct him according to Thy clemency, in the way of everlasting salvation, that, by Thy grace, he may desire the things that are pleasing to Thee, and perform them with all his strength. O God, from Whom are all holy desires, righteous counsels, and just works, give to Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that, our hearts being disposed to keep Thy commandments, and the fear of enemies taken away, the times, by Thy protection, may be peaceful. Inflame, O Lord, our reins and hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit; that we may serve Thee with a chaste body, and please Thee with a clean heart. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance; that every prayer and work of ours may always begin from Thee, and through Thee be happily ended. O almighty and eternal God, Who hast dominion over the living and the dead, and art merciful to all who Thou foreknowest will be Thine by faith and good works: we humbly beseech Thee that they for whom we have purposed to offer our prayers, whether this present world still detains them in the flesh or the next world hath already received them divested of their bodies, may, by the intercession of Thy saints and the clemency of Thy goodness, obtain pardon and full remission of all their sins. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R- Amen. |
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Noticing that the responsnes in the Litany of the Saints did not line up with the invocations.
Formatting -- my mistake.
From: Romans 11:29-36
The Conversion of the Jews (Continuation)
From: Luke 14:12-14
Attitude to the Poor
Salvation,Mass bump.
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Monday, October 31, 2005 Meditation Luke 14:12-14 “Jesus must have no idea of social standards,” his host fumed. “Imagine him telling me not to invite friends, neighbors, or relatives to my banquet—and to invite those who cannot reciprocate instead! Doesn’t he understand? I expect to be repaid! I have no idea how his mind works!” Sometimes, the mercy of God just doesn’t make any sense to us. A scorecard, we understand. A balance sheet makes sense to us. Even a rule book with hundreds of footnoted exceptions we could grasp. But mercy? Unending love that doesn’t look for repayment? It is so foreign to the way the world works that it can appear to be the height of illogic. Why would God have mercy on us at all? After all the sin in the world, all the atrocities against others, all the hatred and godlessness, why not just wipe us out and start over again? Why is God willing to forgive the sins we’ve committed and all the sins we will commit today, tomorrow, and throughout our lives? Our amazement is multiplied a hundredfold when we learn that it’s not just a general principle: Each of us receives that mercy ourselves! Yes, we try to do what’s right, and usually end up with more tally marks on the “good” side than on the “bad.” But in one sense that’s irrelevant to God. He wants us to put our tally sheet at the foot of his cross and join his banquet. After all the times we’ve fallen, all the times we’ve felt superior to someone else, all the times we’ve denied or ignored him, Jesus still calls us back and offers us mercy again! “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” (Romans 11:33) How can we begin to grasp this mercy? It is deep and broad and wide and can encompass the depth of human suffering and sin, but also saves us from our slightest slip! God is so unlike us in his capacity to forgive and show mercy and love. How wonderful that truth is! Thank God that he isn’t bound by our narrow vision of mercy or justice! “Jesus, I thank you for your mercy to me! I praise you that you do not operate by the standards of my closed world. I exult in your inexhaustible love!” Psalm 69:30-31,33-34,36; Luke 14:12-14 |
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