All Souls Day Pontifical Requiem Mass

Throughout the year, Cardinal Burke, the founder of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Shrine. On November 2, 2024, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), Cardinal Burke will offer a Pontifical Requiem Mass at 1:00 p.m. An orchestra will accompany the Mass using Requiem compositions by Gabriel Faure. There will be a reflection beforehand at 12:15pm and the rosary at 12:30pm. Please join us in praying together for the purification of all the faithful departed on the afternoon of November 2nd.

A Requiem Mass may be offered for a specific deceased person or group, or it may be, as in this case, generally for the souls in Purgatory. It becomes a Pontifical Requiem Mass when offered by a bishop, which adds a level of dignity and ceremony. Those who have attended previous Solemn Pontifical Masses that Cardinal Burke has offered at the Shrine, as he does regularly, know the grandeur that marks them. This beautiful Mass is an especially fitting way to honor the day dedicated to praying for the Church Suffering, the souls in Purgatory, with whom the faithful on earth in the Church Militant share a special bond through the Communion of Saints.

These souls in Purgatory are saved, but undergoing purification before entering Heaven; Purgatory is thus a place of God’s mercy. “In one sense,” says Cardinal Burke, “one should be very happy to be there because one is on the way to heaven. But on the other hand, it’s a place of suffering. So we have great compassion for our brothers and sisters who have died, who haven’t been able to make satisfaction for their sins, and so we pray for them.” This suffering, as the Catechism emphasizes, is “entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC §1031); these souls are in the state of grace, in God’s friendship, and their pain is not punishment in the ordinary sense but rather healing. Please join us in prayer for our deceased loved ones and those who also have no one to pray for them!

Category: Community | Religion & Spirituality