All Souls Day - Fr. William Saunders - HSI

All Souls Day - Fr. William Saunders - HSI

What are the origins of All Saints Day and All Souls Day? Are these linked with paganism and Halloween?


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. At the time of their death, these souls are not perfectly cleansed of venial sin or have not atoned for past transgressions, and thereby are deprived of the beatific vision. The faithful on earth can assist these souls in purgatory in attaining the beatific vision through their prayers, good works and the offering of Mass.  Read more...

Virtues At Work

Virtues At Work - Jeff Montgomery - HSI

A tremendous guide to living the holy life exists in the theological and cardinal (or human) virtues. If you'll remember, the theological virtues are faith, hope, and charity, and the human (or cardinal) virtues are temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude. Living these virtues helps us in all aspects of our life, but I'd like to focus in on how they can help us be holy at work.

I think that work provides us with many challenges in living a holy life. The modern workplace is a constantly changing environment, to the point where there is an entire industry dedicated to helping us learn how to deal with change. (I have several books on my bookshelf about change.) We also must deal with a variety of people during our workday, some of who don't share our beliefs or even our own ideas of what ethical behavior is.  Read on...