My Dear Friends,

November is the month in which we remember the dead. During this time, we pray for those who have gone before us in faith that they might be embraced by God. In the Apostles Creed, we recite, “I believe….in the Communion of Saints”. The Communion of Saints is the three states of the Church: The Church Militant (the Pilgrim Church on earth), The Church Suffering (the Faithful Departed), The Church Triumphant (the Saints in Glory)
We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church

In this month, we (the Church Militant), in union with the prayers of the saints in glory (the Church Triumphant), reach out our prayers, intercessions and love in a very special manner for our suffering brothers and sisters (the Church Suffering). What makes us to pray for the dead…the faithful departed?

It is necessarily because of the co-relationship that all human beings share with each other. We do pray for the people who are in need when they live on this earth. We do seek intercessions on their behalf to God when they are with us. When a person dies, his/her existence ceases only in our sight. But, they still continue to live in God’s sight. This is what Jesus says in Luke 20:38, “…he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all are alive”

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”

Therefore, it is a duty on our part that we pray for the purification of these Faithful Departed.

God Bless,