Happy All Hallows Eve, Feast of All Saints, and Commemoration of All Souls everyone!
Here’s how we celebrated/are celebrating/will celebrate.
For Halloween, we carved pumpkins and went trick or treating around our neighborhood. It was lovely. The weather couldn’t have been nicer and there were a TON of other families out. We had a great time!
For All Saints Day, we’ll be back in costume first thing in the morning and off to Mass then to our Homeschool group’s All Saints Pageant and Carnival. The kids will each give a few clues about their saint then the other kids guess who they are. Then the teenagers throw a carnival for the little kids, with saint themed games. My kids look forward to it all year!
Then for All Souls, we usually go as a family to a Catholic Cemetery to say a rosary and pray for the dead, but more on that at the bottom.
For now, you need seven of something. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the costumes we were planning for this year. Let’s see how they turned out shall we?
Bobby was St. Maximilian Kolbe for All Saints, and an escaped convict (or guy in his pajamas inexplicably in handcuffs and a ball and chain) for Halloween. Looking at these pictures, I am totally going to shave his head in the morning. So please imagine him to look even more authentic.
Betty was St. Joan of Arc. She used a set of armor Jack and Grandad made for Jack’s St. Nuno costume two years ago, along with a new frilly red skirt (thanks Nana!) and a battle standard that I made according to the description St. Joan of Arc gave of it during her trial. Except she probably didn’t use google image search and inkjet iron on transfer paper for hers.
For trick or treating he was a zombie. That face is a combination of him trying to be a zombie and not liking how the fake blood tastes.
Perhaps you’re saying, “That wasn’t so bad. St. Lazarus did have leprosy after all.” Well, it’s only going to get worse.
This is where we ended up on the St. John the Baptist head on a platter costume. Jack and Grandad designed and built it. And it turned out awesome!
Jack was a huge hit trick or treating. He would kneel and set the table down on each front porch, with the cover lowered over his head. Then when the door opened, he could pull a little lever under the table and open up the cover! One house announced that Jack had won their costume contest and gave him a full sized candy bar. Only him. Not the other kids. It was like his personal dream come true.
I can only imagine the folks at the Saints pageant will like it too. Yes?
Okay, now I’m serious. Do not scroll down any more. Don’t do it. It will only make you mad.
I tried to warn you. But look how cute he is! And how cooperative he was for the photo shoot! Firing squad ready, this one.
Well, if you made it through that you get to see the grownup costumes!
Jim was business casual Abraham Lincoln.
fires of Purgatory, waiting for the day when they will join the company
of the saints in heaven. The celebration of Mass is the highest means
the Church can provide for charity for the dead, but we can also relieve
their sufferings through our prayers, sufferings and penances. We can
also help the Poor Souls by doing acts and prayers that have indulgences
attached to them. There are many indulgences, applicable only to the
Souls in Purgatory, that can be obtained during the month of November. . . .
To be able to gain an indulgence, one must have the intention to gain
them, and perform the works at the time and in the manner prescribed.
The traditional conditions to attain a Plenary Indulgence:
A Plenary Indulgence can be gained only one per day. The faithful must
be in the state of grace and these three conditions must accompany the
prescribed act:
- the faithful must receive the sacrament of confession, either eight days before or after the pious act is performed,
- receive Holy Communion on that day
- and recite prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father (one Our Father and one Hail Mary is the minimum, but any other additional prayers may be added).
All attachment to sin, even venial sin, must be absent. If one’s
disposition is less than perfect or if some of the above conditions are
not fulfilled, the indulgence becomes partial”
If you’d like to keep track of ALL the feasts of the Catholic liturgical year, I’ve created a wall calendar to help you do it!
As the Church year begins with December, so does this calendar. You get December 2024 through December 2025, thirteen months. Available for purchase here. Thanks!
