SUMMARY

1. Prayers for the souls of the Faithful Departed have been offered since the earliest days of the Church, and the Eucharist has been celebrated on their behalf since the second century.

2. We should see to it that our own departed relations and friends are remembered on their Year’s Mind and at a Requiem on All Souls’ Day.

References

1. Henderson, A. (1920) The lesson of the catacombs, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

2. Tertullian (201 AD) De Corona, 3, in Kidd, B.J. (editor) Documents illustrative of the history of the Church, Volume 1, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

3. Cyril of Jerusalem (347 AD) On the Sacred Liturgy and Communion.  Catechetical Lecture 23: 9,10.  Available from: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310123.htm  (Accessed 25 August 2010) (Internet).