alloween (”All Hallows’ Eve”) marks the day before the All Saints’ Day, on November 1. The Feast of All Saints is a holy day of obligation and is when we honor all the saints of the Church — especially those who are unknown and who do not have feast days of their own. November 2 is the Commemoration of All Souls, when we honor the dead and pray for the souls in Purgatory. (According to the usus antiquior, if November 2 falls on a Sunday, then the Commemoration of All Souls is transferred to the following Monday; in the novus ordo, it is celebrated on the Sunday.) This ‘triduum’ of sorts (October 31 to November 2) is collectively celebrated in Mexican and many Latin-American cultures as the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

These days serve as a good reminder to honor our obligation as faithful Catholics to pray for the dead. In New York City, many Catholics have a wonderful tradition for honoring these days: On the Feast of All Saints (a holy day of obligation), Latin Mass is held at the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel (230 East 90th St., between 2nd & 3rd Ave.; 212-289-1742); the Commemoration of All Souls is celebrated by a Latin Mass at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul (123 West 23rd St., between Ave. of the Americas & 7th Ave.; 212-243-4727); and to cap it all off, the Annual Solemn Requiem of the New York Purgatorial Society is celebrated at Church of St. Agnes (143 East 43rd Street, between 3rd Avenue and Lexington; 212-682-5722).

O

Lord God omnipotent, I ask you by the Precious Blood, which your divine Son Jesus shed –

• In the Garden;
• In His cruel scourging;
• In His bitter crowning with thorns;
• In the streets of Jerusalem whilst He carried on His sacred shoulders the heavy burden of the Cross;
• Upon the tree of the Cross, especially from His sacred hands and feet;
• Which gushed forth from His sacred side, in the presence and to the great sorrow of His most holy Mother;
• and which He himself, on the night before His Passion, gave as meat and drink to His beloved Apostles and bequeathed to His holy Church to the perpetual Sacrifice and life-giving nourishment of his faithful people

deliver the souls in Purgatory, and especially that one which is the most forsaken of all, and bring it into your glory, where it may praise and bless you forever.

O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful: Grant unto the souls of your servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins, that through our devout supplications, they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who lives and reigns, world without end; Amen.