Notices for the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King *
Calendar for this week:
Monday 27th October – Feria
Tuesday 28th October – SS Simon & Jude, Apostles
Wednesday 29th October – Mass at 6.00pm
Thursday 30th October -Feria – Mass at 6.00pm
Friday 31st October – Feria – Mass at 6.00pm followed by First Vespers of All Saints
Saturday 1st November – All Saints – Mass at 6.00pm
NEXT WEEK:
Sunday 2nd November – All Souls – The traditional three Requiem Masses will be offered for all the Faithful Departed at 11.00am
Monday 3rd November – Feria within the Octave of All Saints (Votive Mass of All Saints) – Mass at 6.00pm
Tuesday 4th November – St Charles Borromeo, Bishop & Confessor and Commemoration of SS Vitalis & Agricola – Mass at 6.00pm
Wednesday 5th November – Feria within the Octave of All Saints (Votive Mass of All Saints) – Mass at 6.00pm
Thursday 6th November – Feria within the Octave of All Saints (Votive Mass of All Saints) – Mass at 6.00pm
Friday 7th November – Feria within the Octave of All Saints (Votive Mass of All Saints) – Mass at 6.00pm
Saturday 8th November – Octave Day of All Saints; Our Lady’s Saturday, Commemoration of The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs – Mass at 6.00pm
THE WEEK AFTER NEXT:
Sunday 9th November – Dedication of the Archbasilica of our Saviour (Sunday XXI after Pentecost) – Mass at 6.00pm
Throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth this day is kept as Remembrance Sunday.
In addition to the Sunday Mass there will be a Requiem Mass (Missa In Anniversario Defunctorum) offered on this day at 8.00am for all who have died as a result of war. Archbishop Peter will then attend the Remembrance Day Observance organised by the Bedford Branch of the Royal British Legion between 10.30 and 12.00 at the Embankment, Bedford.
Monday 10th November – St Andrew Avellino, Confessor and Commemoration of SS Tryphon, Respicius & Nymphae, Virgins & Martyrs – Mass at 6.00pm
Tuesday 11th November – St Martin of Tours, Bishop & Confessor – Mass at 9.00am; also Armistice Day – Requiem Mass at 6.00pm for all who have died as a result of war.
Wednesday 12th November – St Martin I, Pope & Martyr – Mass at 6.00pm
Thursday 13th November – St Didacus, Bishop & Martyr – Mass at 6.00pm
Friday 14th November – St Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr – Mass at 6.00pm
Saturday 15th November – St Albert the Great, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church – Mass at 6.00pm
All Masses are offered according to the Missale Romanum of 1962.
During the month of November the names of all for whom I have been asked to offer a Requiem Mass or to pray following their death will be placed on the Altar during Holy Mass.
If you have a deceased friend or relative for whom you wish to have prayers said at Mass during this month, please feel free to email me. My email address is archbishop @ nationalcatholic.org.uk (NB – you will need to type the email address into your “To” field omitting the spaces each side of the @ symbol).
* Before you ask, no, I’m not a month ahead of myself with the Feast of OLJC, Universal King. In the General Calendar of 1960 (on which the NCCUKI Calendar and Ordo is based), the Feast is observed on the last Sunday of October; it is only in the post-Conciliar Roman Calendar that the Feast occurs on the last Sunday of “Ordinary Time”.The Month of November
Throughout the Universal Church the month of November is kept as the month of the Holy Souls, when we remember and pray for all who have departed this life, in the words of the Canon of the Mass:
“who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and who rest in the sleep of peace”
After a moment’s silent prayer for, and naming of those for whom we particularly and personally wish to pray, the Canon of the Mass continues:
“Grant to these we beseech Thee, O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, a place of refreshment, light, and of peace. “
At the end of the various parts of the Office each day, the following Prayer is said:
“Fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace”
“May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace”
The Holy Souls rely on us to aid them in their purification by our prayers. That is why it is good that we pray for them during the Mass and the Divine Office and that we particularly offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the Feast of All Souls – it is one of the few days on which all Priests are accorded the privilege of offering three Masses, the other days being Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.
As Christians we believe that after we die, the first thing that happens is that we are judged. St Faustina wrote in her diary that she was shown her judgement in advance:
“Once I was summoned to the judgment of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion. After a moment, His wounds disappeared except for five, those in His hands, His feet and His side. Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the Thrice-Holy God!”
Catholic teaching tells us that after judgement three choices await us: Heaven, hell or Purgatory. Heaven for those who have lived a good and perfect life according to God’s Commandments – those who die as Saints; hell for those who have rejected God and Purgatory for everybody else.
The website “Mystics of the Church” relates some amazing stories of encounters between souls in Purgatory and various Saints and mystics. The link can be found here.
Of course, we all would like to go straight to Heaven – but are we living in such a way that we can expect to die as a Saint and go straight there? Obviously none of us, deep down, believes that we are that perfect; I certainly expect to spend time in Purgatory being purified so that I can attain the at-one-ment with God for which Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross.
Fr Tommy Lane, Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St Mary’s Seminary in Maryland has published a number of his homilies and meditations on his website, and his homily for All Souls Day, on which I have based the 3 or 4 paragraphs above, can be found here.
So during the month of November, let us pray for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory; ask all those who have attained Heaven, especially Our Blessed Lady, to intercede for them before Almighty God and let us also ask Our Blessed Lady and all the Saints and those who have achieved that at-one-ment with God in Heaven to guide us in living better lives.
Sancte Mater, ora pro nobis et pro omnibus fidelibus defunctis
Omnibus Sanctis, orate pro nobis et pro omnibus fidelibus defunctis.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.
‡ Peter
NCC Bedford | St Alban's 