Yearly ritual
Feasts of All Saints and All Souls
Honoring loved ones
___________________________
Both the Feast of All Saints and the Feast of All Souls evolved in the life of the Catholic Church independently of paganism and Halloween. However, elements of pagan practices were perhaps “baptized” by some cultures or attached themselves to the celebration of All Saints and All Souls.
The designation of Nov. 1 as the Feast of All Saints occurred over time. Along with the Feast of All Saints developed the Feast of All Souls.
The Church has consistently encouraged the offering of prayers and Mass for the souls of the faithful departed in Purgatory. Nov. 2 was adopted as the Feast of All Souls for the entire Church.
I decided NOT to go the route of scary for the prompt, but rather write of the tradition in my childhood area of the Louisiana. This is the tradition with which I grew up. Presently, I live in Central Texas; sadly, I do not see much fanfare and/or tradition in this part of Texas.
______________________________________________
Image Credit
© rgb for “On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea”, 2011 – 2012
Prompt:
All Souls Night
I loved the beauty in this piece !!!
LikeLike
Well done, Becca! We must preserve our old traditions. Same as you, I prefer All Saints Day to Halloween, but I respect all festivities, of course.
Lovely haiku honoring our loved ones.
🙂
LikeLike
Until now, I did not know Halloween was NOT on the 31st in other areas of the world … we must preserve traditions for future generations … 😀
LikeLike