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Views from the Choir Loft

All Saints celebrations

Veronica Brandt · November 1, 2014

All saints day costumes St Michael, St Francis of Assisi, St Thomas More and St Bernard of Clairvaux DEALLY, CELEBRATING ALL SAINTS day would be a case of an awesome Mass in the morning, a festive lunch then cap it off with Solemn Vespers. Funnily enough our local parish wasn’t offering this, but a local homeschool group was reviving an All Saints Day Parade which had been a regular feature of Western Sydney’s Catholic Homeschool year back when my boys were tiny.

The idea is fairly simple. Children choose a saint to dress up as. They prepare a little speech to introduce their saint. We try find impartial judges to award prizes. Then add in our usual end-of-year concert items plus food and games and there you have an afternoon to remember.

That still leaves the question of how to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. There are objections to the custom of Trick or Treating on all sorts of levels – nutritional, psychological and here in Australia there is a feeling that it is a foreign custom, another attempt by crass commercialism to make more money.

But the general idea of meeting your neighbours and having sweet food sounds okay.

Talking about ghosts and death is an awesome part of being Catholic. There is this common misconception that conservative people don’t believe in ghosts – which probably relates back the the Protestant rejection of Purgatory – but we can blow this out of the water with true ghost stories such as those featured in the movie Purgatory: the forgotten Church.

There’s a Museum in Rome preserving evidence of the Poor Souls and if you can’t travel all the way there, you could read Hungry Souls.

People are fascinated by death and the afterlife. Catholics have the answers.

November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. There are indulgences attached to visiting cemeteries. Many parishes will have extra requiem Masses for the Holy Souls. You can use the Office of the Dead for your own private prayers.

You can sing Dies Irae and Requiem Aeternam. And that reminds me of Lux Aeterna, the Communion verse too. Hopefully I’ll get to a sung requiem soon!

After all the joy of All Saints Day I still get more excited about praying for the souls in Purgatory – maybe it’s closer to us here on earth, working out our salvation in fear and trembling.

Happy All Souls Day!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For the Season of Pentecost”
    During the season of Pentecost, you might consider using this 2-page Piece “for the season of Pentecost.” Rehearsal videos are available at #40691, but the lyrics are different. Therefore, make sure your choir members understand that one can rehearse songs that have different lyrics (“CONTRAFACT”).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

When you consider that the greatest hymns ever written—the plainchant hymns—are pushing the age of eight hundred and that the noble chorale hymn tunes of Bach date from the early eighteenth century, then what is the significance of the word “old” applied to “Mother at Thy Feet Is Kneeling”? Most of the old St. Basil hymns date from the Victorian era, particularly the 1870s and 1880s.

— Paul Hume (1956)

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