Remembering departed loved ones on All Souls’ Day

A man visits the grave of a departed loved one at a public cemetery in Pasig. Photo taken Oct. 31, 2015. REUTERS/Cesar Dancel

After enjoying tricks and treats on Halloween, Catholic families all over the world are commemorating the more somber All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). In the Philippines, where the holidays are called "Undas," the living are expected to flock to the cemeteries to pay tribute to their departed loved ones.

Commemorating the dead has been observed in many ways for centuries.

According to Catholic Education Resource Center, in the early days of the Church the names of the faithful departed would be posted in church so that the community would remember them in prayer.

In the sixth century, Benedictine monasteries would hold solemn commemorations of deceased members in the days following Pentecost.

The November 2 tradition started with St. Odilo of Cluny. He was the one who established the day as All Souls' Day, decreeing that all Cluniac monasteries should offer special prayers for all of the souls in Purgatory the day after All Saints'.

The Benedictines and Carthusians adopted that same devotion, and not long after, the whole Church adopted November 2 as the Feast of All Souls.

Although All Souls' Day is not a holy day of obligation, the Catholic Church encourages its members to say a prayer for the faithful departed.

Here is a prayer that they can say to commemorate the dead:

For Fr. Jose Antonio E. Aureada, praying for the dead is more important than laying flowers on their graves, an article on CPCP News said.

"Laying bouquets on the tombs of our departed family members, relatives, friends are fine. It’s one way of honoring the memory of people who were once with us. What’s wrong is when we stop there, to the exclusion of prayers which are really the most important," he said during his monthly theology class in University of Santo Tomas (UST) days before Undas.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) also said that prayers for the departed loved ones are "capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective." — Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News