All Souls Day Traditions for Families
One of my family’s favorite times of year is fall, despite how the summer heat lingers for so much of the fall here in Texas! I enjoy pumpkin spice, fall candles, and flannel everything just as much as anyone, but another reason I really enjoy fall is largely due to all my family’s favorite celebrations surrounding Halloween.
After the trick-or-treating and celebration of All Saints Day on Nov. 1, we get serious with All Souls Day on Nov. 2! I’ll share some ways to incorporate beautiful traditions into this rather somber day.
All Souls Day was instituted as a Holy Day by Pope Boniface IV in 609 A.D. and was largely practiced as a private devotion long before that time. The primary purpose of this day is to pray for the souls of those who have passed away — the faithful departed — that they may be granted eternal rest in heaven.
Our first tradition is to make it to Mass on the morning of All Souls Day. We try to come prepared with a list of family members who have passed on, and we remember to pray for them by name while we are at Mass. Most years in my house, we bring out our framed photos of family members who have passed and keep the memorial as a focal point throughout the month of November. This visual reminder to pray for them really helps us, especially as the holiday season starts to get busier.
Next, we always make it to a cemetery! We can do so many different things here.
Sometimes the kids will each pick a few names, write them down, take them home, and pray for them in the month of November. It is traditional to clean the graves and bring flowers, but certainly check with the cemetery before planning to clean anything. If you live near a cemetery with family members, this is a great time to visit their graves with flowers and prayers. We can also ask the souls already granted heaven to pray for us!
One year each one of our kids picked a favorite grave, snapped a photo, and then drew the grave later at home. We hung up all the photos and drawings and prayed for those souls by name.
While we have never made an entire All Saints Day Octave, it is a goal to make it happen one day! It does begin on All Saints Day, but it will fall on All Souls Day as well. The devotion of the octave includes visiting a cemetery each day for eight consecutive days, November 1-8, and praying for the souls of the departed while at the cemetery. The prayers can be mental or said out loud and are not required to be specific prayers. It also includes visiting a church or an oratory on November 2 and reciting one Our Father and the Creed while there.
An easy way to tie liturgical living any time of year into home life is simply by baking! This is especially effective with kids, as mealtimes naturally lend themselves to conversation and conversational instruction. It is especially fun because the kids will ask questions I hadn’t thought of, and we almost always walk away, adults and kids alike, knowing more than when we sat down.
The only edible lesson I have found for All Souls Day is “soul cakes,” a sort of spiced biscuit with dried fruit dating back to the Middle Ages. In England during the Middle Ages, the children would go door-to-door begging for soul cakes in exchange for prayers for the soul of the giver.
The month of November is also a good time to remember we will also one day face death. Death, although sad, is a natural part of life. The Latin memento mori translates to “remember you must die.” As such, it is a natural time to take stock of what we are doing to care for our own souls and prepare for heaven, the ultimate goal. Likewise, it is a good time to take stock of what we are doing to assist our spouse’s soul and prepare our children’s souls for heaven. Lastly, it provides a time to take stock of what we are doing to show God’s love to all the souls we encounter here on Earth.
This is one of my family’s favorite times of the year. There’s candy, there’s parties, there’s hundreds of years of tradition, and there’s prayer. Who could ask for more?
Katie Leonard studied early childhood education at Oklahoma State University. She has found her passion in home educating her children and passing on the faith to them. Find more of her columns for the North Texas Catholic here.