Every day is All Souls' Day

Photo by Thomas Bormans on Unsplash

Last night I went to St Paul's Cathedral. I was there for Choral Evensong - going to Evensong is something I love to do, especially in a place like St Paul's where the music and the building are both so beautiful. And I think Evensong is maybe best at this time of year, when you step away from the darkness outside and into a pool of light and prayer and music in the vast space of the cathedral.

It was particularly lovely last night - the music was haunting and the atmosphere otherworldly. Partly because of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of candles around the cathedral, great clusters of them down the sides of the aisles, and at the front, a wall of flickering light separating the congregation from the almost invisible choir. I thought perhaps they were there in preparation for All Souls, the commemoration of the dead, which takes place on Sunday and in which we light candles to remember the people we have loved who have died and, we trust, gone to God's glory.

All Souls is a special time, a time to remember and honour our dead. Our faith teaches us that life is not over when we die, that we have the hope of everlasting life with God, but that doesn't mean we don't miss the people we have lost. We miss them. We think about them and grieve their passing - but we do so in the sure and certain hope of everlasting life through the cross of Jesus.

At our service on Sunday morning we will do what Christians will do the world over, what we have done for many centuries. We will remember our dead. We will name our dead. We will light candles and as we do so, we will pray for those who have departed this life - not because they need our prayers any more, but because praying for them helps us, reminds us, encourages us and strengthens us in our faith.

Below is a poem by the great English writer D. H. Lawrence. It is called All Souls and it begins with the writer watching people putting candles on the graves of their loved ones on All Souls' Day. He thinks about the beloved he has lost to death and says that for him, every day is All Souls' Day and that he burns like a candle in remembrance. " It is my offering to you", he says; "every day is All Souls' Day".

Perhaps you have sent in the names of your departed to be read out, perhaps not. Perhaps you will come up to light a candle to remember them, perhaps not. Perhaps, like the poet, you have no need of a special day to remember because every day is All Souls' Day. Either way, hold them in your heart on this special day of the commemoration of the faithful departed, All Souls' Day.

All Souls by D. H. Lawrence

They are chanting now the service of All the Dead

    And the village folk outside in the burying ground

    Listen - except those who strive with their dead,

    Reaching out in anguish, yet unable quite to touch them:

    Those villagers isolated at the grave

    Where the candles burn in the daylight, and the painted wreaths

    Are propped on end, there, where the mystery starts.

    The naked candles burn on every grave.

    On your grave, in England, the weeds grow.

    But I am your naked candle burning,

    And that is not your grave, in England,

    The world is your grave.

    And my naked body standing on your grave

    Upright towards heaven is burning off to you

    Its flame of life, now and always, till the end.

    It is my offering to you; every day is All Souls' Day.

    I forget you, have forgotten you.

    I am busy only at my burning,

    I am busy only at my life.

    But my feet are on your grave, planted.

    And when I lift my face, it is a flame that goes up

    To the other world, where you are now.

    But I am not concerned with you.

        I have forgotten you.

    I am a naked candle burning on your grave.

Anyway, it turns out the candles at St Paul's were not there for All Souls at all - they were there for a concert by former Spice Girl Mel C!

NOTICES

Fr Gideon On Monday Fr Gideon was formally licensed into St Aldhelm’s to serve with Mthr Anna. We are delighted to have him here with us and we pray for him, his family and his ministry.

Remembrance Sunday Next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday when we remember the service and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. Service starts at 10am.

Safeguarding Sunday At St Aldhelm’s we are striving to make sure our church is a safe place for everyone. On 16 November we will be marking Safeguarding Sunday as a way of increasing our understanding and commitment to safeguarding.

Christmas Bazaar and Spire Celebration This fabulous event is coming up soon – Saturday 6 December, 11am to 4pm. Please be sure to invite all your family, friends and neighbours.

Dates for the diary

Sunday 2 Nov           10am Mass for All Souls (with incense)

Sunday 9 Nov           Remembrance Sunday

Sunday 16 Nov         Safeguarding Sunday

Sunday 23 Nov         Christ the King (with incense)

Saturday 6 Dec         11am-4pm, Christmas Bazaar and spire celebration, followed by

5pm Vigil Mass

Sunday 21 Dec          10am service followed by lunch,

3pm Carol Service

Christmas Eve          11pm Midnight Mass (with incense)

Christmas Day          10 am All-age Eucharist

For your prayers

From the electoral roll this week, we ask you to pray for Dr Eunice OKOYE; Adaobi ONOKWAI; Benson OSEJINDU; Canute PARKER; Zavia PARKER; Dennis POTTINGER; and all their families and loved ones.

For our parish, please pray for all who live or work on Plowman Close; Rylston Road; Sheldon Road; Shortlands Close; Silver Street; Statham Grove. This week we ask for your prayers for: the souls of the faithful departed; those who will come to the end of their earthly lives this week; all who mourn and grieve; ourselves, as we remember those we have lost.