All Souls' Mass share hope, fellowship

Catholics from around the Archdiocese of Toronto will gather in mausoleums and reception centres to pray as part of this year’s All Souls’ Day Masses on Nov. 7, a long-standing tradition for the faithful departed. 

Functioning much like the summertime Mass for the Faithful Departed, Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Toronto offers the All Soul’s Day services to give families a chance for prayer, intercessions, alms and to visit to cemeteries to commemorate loved ones who have passed.

Taking place concurrently at 2 p.m., Masses will be held indoors at:

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•  Assumption Cemetery, Mississauga – Our Lady of Fatima Mausoleum
•  Christ the King Cemetery, Markham – Reception Centre
•  Holy Cross Cemetery, Thornhill – Holy Family Mausoleum
•  Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Woodbridge – St. Anthony’s Mausoleum 
•  Resurrection Cemetery, Whitby – Our Lady of the Assumption Mausoleum

Elizabeth Powers, a parishioner of St. Mary of the People Parish in Oshawa, spoke to The Catholic Register about her personal history of attending Masses for the Faithfully Departed over the years. 

“ I do try to attend the summer Masses that we have at the cemetery and definitely the All Souls’ Mass as well, and I have since I was a child. My family and my grandmother were some of the first to be in Resurrection Cemetery, and so I grew up going to those services with my mother,” she said. 

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While Powers shared that she regularly continues to visit family who have passed and hold them in daily prayer, she believes these cemetery Masses provide a special sense of universal hope for those who attend. 

“I love what the cemetery has brought me in terms of friendships, seeing people every year, some of them parents of people I went to school with, and we have gotten to know one another and bonded on similar losses and a similar faith,” she said.

It is in that shared faith and shared fellowship that allows the Masses on the day to seldom be grief-filled. 

“I think the thankfulness that any loss is a difficult loss, but knowing that the loss brings you new people in your life or better connections with others who have been in your life for a long time should be an opportunity to have those new memories. While you are sharing some memories along the way, you can enjoy the new memories and recognize that we do still have a purpose — even though our immediate loved one is not someone we have the opportunity to care for here on Earth any more,” Powers said. 

The experience of the Mass itself has also stuck with Powers, sharing that while the All Souls’ Mass is not conducive to the outdoor delivery as in the summer, the unique experience of celebrating Mass in the mausoleum feels comforting, like being “enveloped” by family members and friends she remembers from over the years. 

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Perhaps most of all, the All Souls’ Mass is a chance to thank cemetery staff, who are often among the first faces families meet when arrangements are made, and over time become quiet companions in ongoing care and even friendship. For Powers, it has always been a natural moment to come together with gratitude for the support given at the hardest times, and for the faithful work that continues long afterward.

“(This is a chance) to thank Catholic Cemeteries for all they do in looking after the place where we come to remember, the place where our families deserve the same respect that we have been able to offer them in life. They can offer them in their eternity as well,” she said.