November 2, 2023
— St. John Vianney
On a chilly overcast All Souls Day several years ago, the faithful gathered under a tent at St. Michael Cemetery in Stratford to pray for their deceased family members and friends — for parents, husbands, wives, children and relatives.
The Mass, celebrated by Fr. Peter Adamski, pastor of St. James Church, was in the shadow of the Priests’ Circle, behind a majestic marble and bronze depiction of Christ’s crucifixion with the Blessed Mother, St. John and St. Mary Magdalen at the foot of the cross.
“We gather here today to remember all of the faithful departed who are buried here and elsewhere,” Fr. Adamski said. “The souls in purgatory need our intercessory prayers as they are purified.”
Father told the congregation he is a widower who entered the priesthood at 65 after his wife Kathy died after almost 41 years of marriage.
Believers should look at death squarely but not be burdened with grief for the poor souls in purgatory because, he said, they are saved. However, we should continue to pray for their purification, recognizing that we should be like them and have our eyes firmly fixed on Christ as our final goal.
He said we should also bring our departed relatives and friends to the altar at Mass.
“Death and life are not separated by an impassable chasm,” he said. “No, they are very much united by a bridge of love and prayers.”
He urged that the commemoration of All Souls “teach us not only that love conquers all, but that every human being needs to give in to love” so that “the God who is love will be able to conquer both us and the holy souls, thus making us all co-conquerors with him.”
After Mass, Father went to visit his wife Kathy’s grave in Hackensack, NJ.
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