CHRISTIAN DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SOULS

MONTH OF NOVEMBER

How did the Early Christians honor and respect the Holy Souls and the Dead?

One of the elders then spoke and asked me, 'Who are these people, dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?' I answered him, 'You can tell me, sir.' Then he said, 'These are the people who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are standing in front of God's throne and serving him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. (Revelation 7: 13-15)

HONOR AND RESPECT FOR THE DEAD

Traced back to the times of the Early Christians, the Catholic Church has always venerated the dead. This along with the prayers and funeral services celeberated in their memory point to a certain "cult": cult, not in a strict theological sense, but understood as a sense of respect and honor towards those who had passed away and who have faith in the resurrection of the body and in the afterlife.

In the first few centuries, Christianity did not wholly abolish the practices of cult rendered by ancient civilizations towards their dead, but rather redefined and gave it its Christian meaning - i.e., in the light of the immortality of the soul and of the dogma of the Resurrection; given that the body, which during one's life is the “temple of the Holy Spirit” and “member of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15-9), and whose finality is the spiritual transformation in the Resurrection. It has always been, in the eyes of Christians, worthy of respect and veneration as one of the most holy things.
    
This sense of respect has been manifested firstly in the Christian rites of burial

Taking the example of how St. Joseph of Arimathea and the pious women were buried, the corpses were often washed, anointed, wrapped in bandages, soaked in perfume, and carefully placed in a tomb.

The Act of Martyrdom of Saint Pancras tells of how the young martyr was buried “after being anointed with perfumes and wrapped in a richly ornate canvas”.  The body of St. Cecilia, discovered in 1599, was found in a cypress-wood coffin and dressed in very rich clothes.

This Christian sense of piety and veneration towards the dead is not only manifested in the careful preparation of the body but also in the care of the materials used in the burial. The Early Christians, as the Christians of today, likewise prayed at the graves and decorated the tombs of their loved ones with flowers and perfume.

THE CATACOMBS

In the first half of the second century, the Christians started burying their dead underground… thus the start of the Catacombs.  Many of them began and developed near the graves of prominent families, whose owners were also Christians. They did not reserve these lands only for their own family, but also opened them to their brothers and sisters in the faith. 

In time, these burial places expanded, sometimes even at the initiative of the Church.  This was the case with the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus for which the Church assumed direct administration and organization.

With the Edict of Milan, decreed by Emperors Constantine and Licinius in February of 313 AD, Christians were no longer persecuted. This resulted in a huge change in the life of the Christians. The edict allowed for the Christians to profess their faith freely, construct churches and acquire lands inside and outside the walls of the city, without the fear of confiscation by authorities.

Despite these new developments, the catacombs continued to operate as regular cemeteries until the beginning of the fifth century, when the Church decided to promote burials exclusively above the ground and in major Basilicas dedicated to martyrs. 

This act of veneration centered on the graves of the martyrs later led to the widespread veneration of saints in the Church. It also further enriched the general devotion of the faithful towards their dead loved ones.

In effect, the Early Christians considered the Martyr - victim of his unshakable fidelity to Christ - to be closely united with God, whose beatific vision began at the moment of their death: What greater protectors than these friends of God - the martyrs?

The Early Christians have always valued martyrdom and have taken great honor in being able to be buried close to the martyrs, which later was called burial ad sanctos (next to the saints). For their part, the living were also convinced that there is no greater way of showing their veneration towards their dead loved ones than to put them under the protection of the martyrs at the moment of their burial. They also believed that this ensured not only the inviolability of the grave of their dead and the peaceful repose of their soul, but also stronger intercession of the saint.

For these reasons were Basilicas and churches bult in general. In a way, they essentially constituted cemeteries, that later obliged the ecclesiastical authorities to put a limit on the number of graves therein.

FUNERALS AND BURIAL

But this in no way affected the sense of profound respect and veneration which the Church professed and continues to profess towards the deceased brethren of the Church.

Hence, despite the prohibitions of the amount of space for graves in some churches, which were created to avoid abuses, they remained steadfast in their desire to honor the dead.

Therefore, it was established that, before the burial, the body of the faithful was to be taken to the Church and placed before the altar, and a Holy Mass be celebrated in repose of his soul.

This custom, widely practiced towards the end of the fourth century in the whole Church, and of which Saint Augustine gave testimony in relation to the funeral services offered for his mother Saint Monica (as written in Confessions), continues today.

St. Augustine also explained to the Christians during his time that external, non-spiritual merits would not be acknowledged nor benefit the dead if not accompanied by the spiritual merits that come from prayer: “Without these prayers, inspired by our faith and piety towards the dead, I think it would be of no use to their souls that their bodies were rested in a holy place. Only through the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, through prayer and almsgiving, can we, the living, render them favor." (De cura pro mortuis gerenda, 3 and 4).

The Church has always sought the need to give proper burial to her children, offering them the best spiritual gifts she can give.  Bearer of the redemptive merits of Christ, the Church has taken into practice the act of offering at their graves on certain days what Saint Augustine called the sacrificium pretii nostri, the sacrifice of our redemption.

This tradition was widely established in the Church as early as in the times of Saint Ignatius of Antioch and of Saint Polycarp. However, there came a time when the practice was met with abuse, and thus the ecclesiastical authority had to intervene. In effect, it was declared that the Mass be said only at the sepulchres of the martyrs.

THE HOLY SOULS IN THE LITURGY

The practice of remembering the dead in the liturgies dates back to the third century.

This means that, in addition to the special Masses that are offered for the dead on the site of their grave, the act of remembering the dead also formed part of all other Eucharistic liturgies, as it still does today.

The Church nowadays remembers in particular her deceased children during the month of November.  It is called “Commemoration of All Souls’ Day.”  Especially, the second day of November is dedicated to their memory and the peaceful rest of their souls. On the other hand, the “Feast of All Saints” is the first of November.  This celebrates the arrival in heaven of those saints who, without having acquired a reputation of holiness in this life, have attained the eternal reward, which the immense majority of the Early Christians belongs to.

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