Pope Francis asked faithful this at today’s Angelus prayer on the Feast of All Souls. “It is lovely to think that it will be Jesus who will awaken us”
Pope Francis asked faithful this at today’s Angelus prayer on the Feast of All Souls. “It is lovely to think that it will be Jesus who will awaken us”
“We must commemorate the loved ones who are no longer with us, of course. But we must not forget those who no one remembers any more. “Remembering the dead, caring for their graves and prayers of suffrage, are witness of confident hope, rooted in the certainty that death is not the last word on human fate” and the “supreme destiny” of humans, the final destination, is life in Heaven. On the day the Church commemorates the dead, the Pope observed that visiting the graves of our loved ones, we remember “those who have loved us and have done good deeds for us”.“But today we are called to remember everyone, to remember everyone, even those who no one remembers. We remember the victims of war and violence; the many “little ones” of the world crushed by hunger and poverty. We remember the anonymous who rest in common graves. We remember our brothers and sisters killed because they are Christians; and those who sacrificed their lives to serve others. We especially entrust to the Lord, those who have left over the last year.”
“Jesus himself revealed that the death of the body is like a sleep from which he awakens us,” Francis went on to say. And “the cemetery, which, as the word itself implies, is the ‘place of rest’, as we wait for the final awakening.” Speaking off the cuff, the Pope added, “It is lovely to think that it will be Jesus who will awaken us.”
The Pope recited a long prayer in which he entrusted “all those who have left this world for eternity” to the mercy of God. In the name of “Christ Your Son, who died to save us from our sins”, Francis prayed, “look not Lord, at our poverty, misery and human weaknesses when we present ourselves before You to be judged in happiness or condemned.”
In his prayer, Francis asked God to “gaze upon us with pity, born of Your tender heart and help us to walk the path of purification. May none of your children be lost to the eternal fires of hell, where repentance is no more.” “We entrust to You Lord, the souls of our beloved departed, of those who died without the comfort of the Sacraments or who did not have the opportunity to repent, not even at the end of their life. May sister death find us in prayerful vigilance, and full of all the good we have done during our existence, be it long or short.”
“Remembering the dead, caring for their graves and prayers of suffrage, are witness of confident hope, rooted in the certainty that death is not the last word on human fate, death is not the last word, because man is destined to a life without limits, which has its roots and its fulfilment in God. Let us raise this prayer to God. With this faith in man’s supreme destiny, we now turn to the Virgin Mary, who suffered the drama of Christ’s death under the Cross and participated in the joy of His resurrection. May she, Gate of Heaven, help us to understand more and more the value of prayers for the dead. They are close to us. May she support us in our daily pilgrimage on earth and help us not to lose sight of the ultimate goal of life which is Heaven. And we with this hope that never disappoints we move forward!” Francis concluded his prayer by saying.
He also explained the meaning of prayers of suffrage for the dead and of the masses celebrated in their memory. “Church tradition has always urged prayer for the dead, in particular by offering the celebration of the Eucharist for them: it is the best spiritual help that we can give to their souls, particularly to the most abandoned ones. The foundation of prayers in suffrage of souls is in the communion of the Mystical Body. As the Second Vatican Council reiterates, “fully conscious of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead,” the Pope observed.
After the Angelus, pronounced in the presence of the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope sent a special greeting out to “volunteers of Oppeano and Granzette who offer clown therapy in hospitals”. Both municipalities are in the Veneto region, the first in the province of Verona and the secondi s a suburb of Rovigo. “I see them,” Francis said, gesticulating toward the Square “and I am glad they do so much good for the sick, our greetings go to them.”
The prayer ended with the Pope’s usual wishes for a good Sunday and an enjoyable lunch. A moment or two before this, he asked faithful a favour: “Please, don’t forget to pray for me.
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