NOVENA OF MASSES FOR THE DEAD

"It is a holy and devout thing to pray for the dead and to offer sacrifice, that they may be released from their sins".

(2 Maccabees 12:40)

Our Catholic custom of praying for the dead goes back to the Old Testament tradition found in the Books of Maccabees where we read that, "It is a holy and devout thing to pray for the dead and to offer sacrifice, that they may be released from their sins".  This testifies to a belief in life after death and an acknowledgment that the Kingdom of heaven was not for the sinful. The Church has always prayed on behalf of the dead, who are in no position to pray for themselves. It is an act of charity to the faithful departed from those who still have the gift of life.

We remember our dead and traditionally write their names on a 'dead list' to be prayed for during a Novena of Masses for their eternal rest and peace. It is a beautiful tradition rich in religious and human symbolism. To "re-member" is the opposite of to "dis-member". Death leaves us all in pieces; we are broken and wounded by death - we are dis-membered - and need to be re-membered. The act of calling to mind or remembering is an act of healing.

When we remember someone's name they are still somehow very much alive to us. In fact it is a cultural belief that a person is not really dead until no-one can remember them anymore. It is only when someone is forgotten that they can be really "dead and gone". To remember is to keep someone alive. That is why the names on tombstones have a deep significance - the body may be dust and ashes but the person is never forgotten; their name is still remembered.

In Psalm 31 we read, "Everyone has forgotten me as though I were dead; like something thrown away". As long as we remember a person, they still live on. It is the psalmist's concern that he  will go into the tomb and his name be forgotten.

Note that on Calvary the dying thief turns to Jesus and asks, "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom". The poor man didn't want to be forgotten and his anxiety was taken away: "Today, you will be with me in paradise". Our Novena of Masses to the Holy Souls is a way of remembering and offering their names to God so that in his love and mercy they may be with him in paradise.

To remember our dead is engraved on our human psyche. In some cultures it takes the form of 'ancestor worship'. The Christian Church has always remembered its saints. Though physically dead, our faith teaches that at death life is changed, not ended.

Our Novena of Masses in the month of November is an expression of a faith in the resurrection; it is a loving prayer of intercession on behalf of our deceased relatives and friends that our loving and forgiving God will have welcomed them into his Kingdom. As long as we remember them they are never forgotten and the pains of loss and the emptiness of death are healed. From their place in their heavenly home we pray that they will pray for those who are left behind to continue their own pilgrimage towards the day when they will all meet again in the presence of the Lord.

© 2006. Fr Ian McLean, o.praem.