All Saints Day – Wednesday, November 1
It is a holy day of obligation. The Holy Day Mass Schedule is:
Vigil Mass Tues. Oct 31, 7:00 PM and Wed. Nov. 1 at 6:30 am. 9:00 am, 12 Noon, and 7:00 pm
Confession and Evening Prayer are NOT scheduled for this day.
Since there are only 365 days in the year, not every person in heaven can have his own liturgical commemoration, but they all should be recognized for the way they cooperated with God’s grace. Thus All Saints Day was created to commemorate every last individual in heaven, even those whose salvation is known to God alone. Pope Gregory III (731-741) dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to all the saints and fixed its anniversary as November 1. All Saints Day is a very important liturgical day, and it is a holy day of obligation, meaning that Catholics must observe it by going to Mass, as they do on Sundays.
This makes All Saints different than the commemorations of individual saints. None of the saints living after biblical times are commemorated with holy days of obligation. However famous saints like Augustine, Aquinas, and Thérèse of Lisieux may be, they don’t have such an important day on the liturgical calendar. But the whole body of the saints in heaven—sainted grandmothers included—do. The Catholic Church thus not only remembers individual saints; it takes seriously its profession of the entire communion of saints.
(taken from www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/whats-the-point-of-all-saints-day)
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed ( All Souls Day) – Thursday, November 2
Mass Times 6:30 am and 9:00 am, and the special Mass of Remembrance at 7:00 PM ( with reception)
The Novena in Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed begins on November 2nd, All Souls Day, and continues for nine consecutive days until November 10th. Parishioners are encouraged to use the envelopes provided in the Narthex or Parish Office to list the names of loved ones they would like remembered during the Novena. These Mass Intention envelopes will remain on the Altar during all 27 Masses throughout the Novena. Please indicate their names on the special envelope provided for this purpose and deposit it in the offertory basket or drop it off at the parish office. Your offering will serve the Saint Brigid Rite of Christian Initiation programs.
Praying for the dead is a Christian obligation. In the modern world, when many have come to doubt the Church’s teaching on Purgatory, the need for such prayers has only increased. The Church devotes the month of November to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and participation in the Mass of All Souls Day is a good way to begin the month.
For help praying the Novena visit: www.praymorenovenas.com/souls-day-novena
All Souls Indulgences
An indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who devoutly visit a cemetery or columbarium and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed. The indulgence is plenary each day from the first to the eighth of November; on other days of the year, it is partial.
A plenary indulgence, applicable only to the souls in purgatory, is granted to the faithful, who on the day dedicated to the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, November 2 {as well as on a Sunday preceding or following, and on All Saints’ Day) piously visit a church. In visiting the church it is required that one Our Father and the Creed be recited.
To acquire a plenary indulgence, it is necessary also to fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic communion, and prayer for the intention of the Holy Father. The condition of praying for the intention of the Holy Father is fully satisfied by reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary. The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the visit; it is, however, fitting that communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day as the visit.
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/purgatory-souls-are-sending-their-november-sos