Praying for the faithful departed at Mass

 

Today, across the Roman Catholic Church, the memorial of ‘All Souls’ – or Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed - is commemorated.  

Early roots
Although some have suggested that Christians built on earlier, pagan, rites of prayer for the dead, the practice of prayers and special masses for the dead developed independently of those practices and should not be confused with them.

Although the theology and liturgical shape of the day have developed over the centuries, there is evidence of prayer for the dead and of offering the Eucharistic sacrifice for them, from the fourth century, if not earlier. Their inclusion within the Eucharistic liturgy itself probably dates to the fourth century. In a work attributed to St Cyril of Jerusalem (Mystagogical Catechesis 5.9), we read:

The saints and the Eucharist

Something that strikes me again and again is the witness of the Saints from the earliest times. Their lives were what might be termed ‘eucharistic’; they lived the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.  They managed, by grace, to turn their lives around and remain anchored in Christ.  In recent centuries, there are hundreds of officially canonised saints and unknown numbers of others who found their daily or weekly sustenance in the Eucharist.  Their approach and thinking was informed by scripture and tradition.  They accepted in trust what was given and received about the Eucharist.  For some, the Eucharist was a particularly emphasised practice or focus of devotion as we see with the many ‘Apostles of the Eucharist’ such as St Peter Julian Eymard, founder the Blessed Sacrament congregation.

Reverencing the body

The Executive Office of the President of the United States
 (Wikimedia Commons) 

I was at a funeral in my local parish church earlier in the week.  Funerals are very special moments in the life of any Irish community. This seems to transcend the rural/urban as well as social class divides.  People from all walks of life turn up – family, extended family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and more besides.  ‘Paying our respects’ are deeply imbedded in Irish culture so much so that if is sometimes said ‘here in Ireland we do death well’. It is true.  The sense of solidarity, companionship and support at times of bereavement are strong. 

Eucharist: believing in order to understand

Living during the period immediately preceding the great scholastic works of Aquinas, Bonaventure and others, St Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033-1109), helped defend and deepen the Church's understanding of the Eucharist at a crucial moment in history. Yet, he lived after the controversy surrounding a certain Berengar of Tours (c. 999-1088) whose teachings raised serious questions about how Christ is present in the Eucharist and prompted the Church to articulate its doctrine with greater precision. 

For Anselm, faith receives what reason can never fully understand.  His distinctive contribution was not a detailed Eucharistic treatise but the theological method encapsulated in his famous phrase fides quaerens intellectum ‘faith seeking understanding’.  Though he did not in a specific reference to the Eucharist, his famous phrase from the Proslogium is worth repeating:

A disciple's charter

Sunday 1 November 2026

Lectio Divina:*

Revelation 7:2-4 Psalm 24 (23) 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12

(See also Luke 6:20-23)

Meditatio:

‘Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ (Matthew 5:12)

Commentary:

Religion often gets a bad name. It is accused of spreading gloom, fear or a spirit of killjoy, and many today contrast religion with spirituality as if they were opposites—religion = bad, spirituality = good. The phrase ‘I’m not religious but I am spiritual’ is now commonplace, sometimes spoken with a hint of self‑protection, as if being ‘religious’ were old‑fashioned, reactionary or faintly embarrassing.

What would a scientist find?

The mechanics of the transformation that occurs at every Mass have been the subject of controversy since at least the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Although Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic Christians use different terms and theological language to explain the change that takes place, it seems clear to me from what I have read, seen and heard that they share the same essential conviction: the bread and wine taken, blessed and offered in the Eucharist become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. What was once ordinary food is no longer ordinary food. The belief that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and that a real transformation takes place is consistent with what Christians believed, taught and practised from apostolic times onwards.

At the time of the Reformation, this ancient consensus was fractured, even though the original disputes arose largely in other areas of doctrine, particularly the nature of salvation, the role of Scripture and the authority of the Pope.

A sacrament of divine love

Two great saints of the thirteenth century, St Thomas Aquinas the Dominican and St Bonaventure the Franciscan theologian and bishop, provided different but complementary insights into the Eucharist. St Thomas Aquinas is especially known for his explanation of how Christ is truly present in the sacrament, while St Bonaventure is particularly remembered for helping believers to understand why Christ remains present among us: because, in his great love, he desires to unite himself ever more closely to those whom he loves.

The Eucharist is, above all, the sacrament of Christ's presence with us, transforming us and drawing us toward the heavenly communion for which we were created. St Bonaventure teaches that at the Last Supper Christ gave his Body and Blood as food and drink (Lignum Vitae 30), leaving the Church a lasting memorial of his saving love.