All Souls - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Wed, 02 Nov 2016 23:17:34 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg All Souls - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 The Origin of All Souls Day https://cathnews.co.nz/2016/11/04/origin-all-souls-day/ Thu, 03 Nov 2016 16:13:05 +0000 https://cathnews.co.nz/?p=88867 all souls'day

All Souls falls during a time of year when many religions are thinking about death. It is a period when ancient agricultural societies were preparing for the change of the seasons from summer to winter. Pagans believe this is a time when there's a thinning of the veil between the land of the living and Read more

The Origin of All Souls Day... Read more]]>

All Souls falls during a time of year when many religions are thinking about death.

It is a period when ancient agricultural societies were preparing for the change of the seasons from summer to winter.

Pagans believe this is a time when there's a thinning of the veil between the land of the living and the dead. Witches, Wiccans and other pagans observe Samhain during this time to celebrate the autumn harvest and the coming of winter.

All Souls Day also falls during the Islamic holy month of Muharram, when Shia Muslims prayerfully mourn the death of Hussain ibn Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.

Although All Souls Day is primarily a Catholic holy day, it is also observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican church and a few other Protestant denominations.

In Latin American countries and communities, All Souls Day celebrations are often tied to Día de Muertos (also Día de los Muertos), or "the Day of the Dead," which falls on Nov. 1 and 2.

Celebrations are elaborate and joyful, with observers participating in costume parades and visits to cemeteries. Some families create altars inside their homes to remember their departed relatives. Continue reading

Source

The Origin of All Souls Day]]> 88867 Millions of Filipino Catholics flock to cemeteries https://cathnews.co.nz/2012/11/02/millions-of-filipino-catholics-flock-to-cemeteries/ Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:18:53 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=35990

Millions of Filipino Catholics started flocking to cemeteries on Thursday to pay respects to their dead as the country observed All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. The annual tradition that combines Catholic religious rites with the country's penchant for festivity is popularly called "Undas" or Day of the Dead, a major family affair in Read more

Millions of Filipino Catholics flock to cemeteries... Read more]]> Millions of Filipino Catholics started flocking to cemeteries on Thursday to pay respects to their dead as the country observed All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

The annual tradition that combines Catholic religious rites with the country's penchant for festivity is popularly called "Undas" or Day of the Dead, a major family affair in the Philippines.

In honor of All Saints' and All Souls' Day on November 1 and 2, tombs are cleaned and repainted, candles are lit and flowers are offered.

Families camped overnight, pitched up tents and brought in food for a day-long All Saint's Day picnic by the graves and tombs of their dead.

In crowded public cemeteries in Metro Manila, police confiscated alcoholic beverages and banned gambling to maintain peace and order.

Hundreds of medics and volunteers also set up field clinics to provide medical assistance. Radio reports said many had fainted due to the extreme heat in densely packed cemeteries.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, meanwhile warned the public against fake priests roaming the cemeteries and reciting prayers for unsuspecting families in exchange for monetary donations.

And for millions of Catholic Filipinos overseas who could not come home to visit their dead, the bishops put up a special portal where they could log on and request special prayers and masses.

UCA News quoted Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III, media office director of the bishops' conference, as saying that the service is for Filipinos who work abroad for them to feel that they are also in the cemetery on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

"That's the purpose of the photos of the cemetery, so that our overseas workers can pray for their departed loved ones by just looking at the photos," he said.

The service received 20,000 requests and garnered "positive feedback" last year from Filipinos around the world.

Sources

Millions of Filipino Catholics flock to cemeteries]]> 35990 Filipinos click a mouse to pray for their dead https://cathnews.co.nz/2011/11/04/filipinos-click-a-mouse-to-pray-for-their-dead/ Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:31:09 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=14990

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has launched a website for homebound and overseas Filipinos who cannot make it to cemeteries to visit their dead. Filipinos who are away from home and physically unable to go to church or visit their dead in cemeteries on All Saints and All Souls Day, can still visit Read more

Filipinos click a mouse to pray for their dead... Read more]]> The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has launched a website for homebound and overseas Filipinos who cannot make it to cemeteries to visit their dead.

Filipinos who are away from home and physically unable to go to church or visit their dead in cemeteries on All Saints and All Souls Day, can still visit undasonline.com to request prayers and masses for the dead.

The website also offers some catechesis on the significance and liturgical meaning of the celebration of All Souls Day or what we Filipinos call "undas."

CBCP Media Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said that Catholics are "encouraged to visit the tombs of their loved ones or also visit oratories, chapels and churches where they can pray for their dead."

Filipinos away from home who wish that prayers and Masses be offered for their dead can send the list of names of their beloved dead online by visiting undasonline.com

Sources

Filipinos click a mouse to pray for their dead]]> 14990