Today, in order that the white garment received in Baptism may be purified of every speck and every stain, the community of believers offers the Eucharistic Sacrifice and other prayers of suffrage for those whose death has called to pass from time to eternity. Praying for the dead is a noble practice that implies belief in the resurrection of the dead in accordance with what has been revealed to us by Sacred Scripture.

The month of November draws its special spiritual tone from the two days with which it opens: yesterday, the Solemnity of All Saints, and today, the Commemoration of all the faithful departed. The mystery of the Communion of Saints illuminates this month and the whole of the last part of the liturgical year in particular directing our meditation to the earthly destiny of man in the light of Christ’s Passover.

—The great family of the Church finds in these days a time of grace, which we live by gathering closely around the Lord and offering His redeeming Sacrifice for the repose of the deceased faithful.