Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
When Pope Gregory III dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s, Rome on 1 November 735 A.D. in honour of All Saints, it started the observance of November as the Month of the Dead. At least that’s one account of how the tradition began. In this country, the Armistice of the First World War on 11 November 1918 has helped to make November a month of remembrance, culminating with Remembrance Sunday. The Service of Remembrance in London tomorrow will take place around the Cenotaph – which takes its name from the Greek “kenos taphos”, meaning empty tomb. The empty tomb symbolises the lives lost in war and earthly remains buried in foreign soil or never recovered. But for Christians it also symbolises the empty tomb found on that first Easter Sunday. As Catholics we not only remember the dead, we pray for them. This is a particular gift of our faith which we are called to put into practice and share with others this month – using the freedoms which so many fought and died for.
May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.