November 2nd marks All Souls Day for Catholics. This is a day to remember family and friends specifically who passed during the year and generally all those deceased in our circle of life.
My Alma mater, Dominican University in River Forest, IL always offers a Memoriam Mass on the appropriate Sunday. As an undergraduate at Rosary College (before the name change) I loved attending mass in the beautiful chapel.
The mass for All Souls Day brought back those memories even though the attendees filled the chapel and the reading room adjacent to the chapel. I was honored to carry, in the processional, the picture of Mother Emily Power, for whom a student dorm is named. Over thirty participants carried icons and candles through the chapel placing them at their stations of honor during the mass.
The feelings of union in Christ and His purpose settled over the people as it had before during so many masses I attended.
Our coming together in our faith to remember and celebrate our deceased loved ones bonded us sincerely and totally for those sixty minutes of worship.
After the mass, the school provided a lovely brunch for those in attendance; a great time to catch up with friends and faculty.
Elegance and genuineness don’t often dwell in the same space. Not so in the Rosary Chapel on that morning.
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