After the solemnity of All Saints, the Church commemorates the memorial of All Souls on November 2. At the Franciscan Monastery, this feast day is particularly heartfelt by the community of friars, who celebrate morning mass each year in the Purgatory Chapel located below the church. In this evocative setting, Fr. David Grenier, Commissary of the Holy Land, presided over the Eucharistic celebration in the presence of the faithful who gathered very early for the memorial. In his homily, Fr. David recalled how history is divided between before and after Christ, as with His coming, the Savior marked history with the epochal defeat of death through His Passion and Resurrection. The Empty Tomb present in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a witness for us of this victory. It is, however, not completely empty, despite its name: it remains full of hope and is filled with the prayers of millions of pilgrims who have been visiting that Holy Place for centuries.
Later, the friars gathered in the Monastery cemetery to pray midday prayer. Father David then blessed the graves with holy water while the friars sang O Sanctissima.
