Catholic Activity: All Souls Day Family Devotion Ideas

Suggestions for spiritual practices in the family on All Souls Day, celebrated by the Church on November 2.

DIRECTIONS

Every day of the year gives you a special opportunity to instill a great religious appreciation in your children, to broaden their knowledge of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and the saints, and to strengthen their dedication to the laws of God and the Church. Each day is set aside by the Church to honor a particular event in the life of Our Lord or the Blessed Virgin, or to honor a particular saint. Consulting your religious calendar and one of the many books recounting the lives of the saints you can discuss these events with your children, stressing the qualities in the saints' lives which we might cultivate.

On the feast of All Souls in some countries, family members attend Mass together to pray for their departed ones and perform other acts of devotion in their memory throughout the day. A point sometimes overlooked in teaching young people is that while we can do much by our prayers and good work to ease the suffering of the souls in Purgatory, our loved ones in heaven can also intercede before the throne of God.

Activity Source: Catholic Family Handbook, The by Rev. George A. Kelly, Random House, Inc., New York, 1959