Feast Days · Feast: November 2, 2026 · Published October 16, 2026
All Souls Day: How Catholics Pray for the Dead
November 2 is All Souls' Day, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. The day after the Church honors all the saints in heaven, she turns to everyone who has died in God's friendship but is still being made ready for heaven: the holy souls in purgatory.
The custom of a single day for all the dead goes back more than a thousand years. St. Odilo, the abbot of Cluny in France, set November 2 aside for it in his monasteries around the year 1000, and the practice spread through the whole Church. On this day a priest may even offer three Masses for the dead.
Praying for the dead is one of the spiritual works of mercy, and it's one of the most hopeful things we do. It says that death isn't the end of our love, and that our prayers can still help the people we miss.
A few simple ways to keep the day: go to Mass, visit a cemetery and pray at a grave, write the names of your family's dead in your parish's book of the dead, or ask a priest to offer a Mass for someone. Many Catholics also pray for the dead each day from November 1 to 8, when the Church grants special indulgences for the holy souls.
A prayer for today: "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen."
Designs for this feast: Pray for the Holy Souls Tee · Memento Mori Shirt
Related designs: Catholic Halloween and All Saints Day Shirts · Catholic Saint Shirts
