Saint Odo of Cluny, abbot
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 18, 2023 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Odo of Cluny"The Mass" says St. Odo, Abbot of Cluny, "is the act on which is based the salvation of the World."
The Holy Mass: The Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead, by Rev. Fr Michael Müller 1875 p 288.
When and how was this yearly commemoration of the departed introduced?
The time of the introduction of this commemoration cannot be determined; for as easily as the time of Tertullian he mentions that the Christians of his day held a yearly commemoration of the dead. Towards the end of the tenth century St. Odo, abbot of the Benedictines, at Cluny, directed this feast to be celebrated yearly, on the 2nd of November in all the convents of his Order, which usage was afterwards enjoined upon the whole Christian world by Pope John XVI. The feast of this day was probably established in order that, after having on day before rejoiced over the glory of the saints in heaven, we should this day remember in love those who are sighing in purgatory for deliverance.
Prayer:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that, by our pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which they have always desires. Who livest and reignest,etc.
All Souls' Day. p456 Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holydays Front Cover Leonhard Goffiné Benziger, 1896
