Mangaluru: Like every other religion in India, Roman Catholics also observe All Souls’ Day in memory of the departed souls. Every year on November 2, the All Souls’ Day – which follows All Saints’ Day and is known as the Feast of All Souls or the Day of the Dead – is a day of remembrance of friends and loved ones who have passed away. It is a beautiful way of remembering those who have died ahead of us.
Braving the pouring rain, the Rosario parishioners observed All Souls’ Day at the parish cemetery at Jeppu here on November 1. Msgr Denis Moras Prabhu celebrated the mass at the cemetery. Assistant parish priest of Rosario Cathedral, Fr Paul D’Souza in his homily recalled the story of a man who visited the graveyard and decorated the grave of his departed loved one with flowers. When he was praying, he found a man of another faith keeping food and ash gourd on a grave. He went near the person and asked why he kept food and ash gourd on the grave; whether the dead man would eat the food? The other man replied and said that as he had decorated his loved one’s grave with flowers, likewise it was his belief and so, he kept the ash gourd and food on the grave of his loved one.
Fr Paul further said, “Some people fear a dead person. They think that dead persons will trouble us. Why would a person who was dear to us when he/she was alive trouble us when they are dead? Instead of troubling us they will pray for us from heaven. When someone we love dies, we never get to see them again but we will always feel them, because they live on in our hearts and our memories. Our life is a journey and we are all travelers. Less luggage makes travel more comfortable. Hope is important in everyone’s life and it is a gift from God. Those who pray with hope and believe in heavenly life will live forever. Jesus forgives our sins, likewise we should keep our ego aside and forgive others.
The graves in the Jeppu Cemetery were decorated with flowers and candles lit on them by the family members. Some elderly women were found decorating their husbands’ grave and expressing their lifelong bond. Small children were found lighting candles around the graves along with their parents.
Fr J B Crasta, Msgr Denis Moras Prabhu and other priests blessed all the graves and prayed for the departed souls of Rosario parish.
