Communion of Saints

This weekend, thousands of families are expected to visit cemeteries, memorial parks, and columbaria across Metro Manila to mark All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. But as Catholics, are we really aware why we go to the cemeteries?

So, it would be good for us to look closely at what the Church and our faith teach regarding the customs and traditions we grew up with in celebrating All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

The Catholic Church teaches that the Communion of Saints is the spiritual solidarity and mystical fellowship that unites all members of the Church of Christ (both living and dead) in a single body with Christ as the head. The term has two primary meanings: communion in holy things (sancta, such as the faith, the sacraments and charity) and communion among holy persons (sancti, the people bound by them).

The Communion of Saints is divided into three states or groups: the Church Militant (Pilgrims on Earth), we, the living faithful journeying through life, striving to follow Christ, bear witness to the Gospel and help one another reach heaven; the Church Suffering or Penitent (Souls in Purgatory), those who died in God’s grace and friendship but still need final purification before entering the full presence of God; and the Church Triumphant (Saints in Heaven), those who have attained the beatific vision and live eternally in glory with God.

The living pray for one another and offer prayers and Masses for the souls in Purgatory, while the Saints in heaven pray and intercede for the Church on earth. In this Mystical Body, the holiness and good acts of every member benefit the entire body, just as sin and selfishness inflict spiritual damage on the whole community.

My dear friends, Catholics honor or venerate (dulia) Mary and the saints as heroic examples of faith and ask for their intercession, while true worship and adoration (latria) belong to God.

I hope this is not too late. I appreciate the warning aired by Police Brig. Gen. Christopher N. Abrahano, officer-in-charge of the National Capital Region Police Office, urging the public to be vigilant against individuals posing as “priests” during this period when Catholics, Protestants, and Christians alike observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Yes, there are individuals who take advantage of the observance. I would like to make it clear, though, that the title “priest” is not limited to the Roman Catholic clergy. There are also “priests” belonging to the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), popularly known as Aglipayans; the Episcopalians and Methodists, who are Anglicans by tradition; and we also have the Lutherans and Presbyterians, as well as Orthodox or Eastern Church bishops and priests.

As a theologian, an Anglican priest asked me to remind everyone that such “warnings” first and foremost are being aired by the Roman Catholic hierarchy for certain reasons, even though we know that by its own Canons, all of us (Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants) are equal.