Education in Faith News 

October - Month of the Holy Rosary

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, the entire month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. Thank you to those families who have engaged with our outdoor Rosary this month.

Also, a special thank you to the Hernandez family for sharing a beautiful initiative from a family member promoting the Holy Rosary. As part of her ministry, Maria Alberto, published a children’s book titled Praying the Rosary: A Guide for Young Children and has kindly donated two Rosary packs to St John’s.

Please refer to her message if you wish to purchase your own copy using the provided QR code.

All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days - November

November in the Catholic tradition is a month of remembrance of the dead. To begin this, All Saints’ Day is celebrated on the 1st, and All Souls’ Day on the 2nd. These are not nationally recognised holidays and are no longer holy days of obligation in Australia, but the Church continues to encourage prayers of the faithful for the departed during this time.

All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day, November 1st, is a day to commemorate all saints in heaven. This dates back to the early Church where the faithful would gather together to acknowledge the anniversary of a martyr’s death. Around the 4th century, there was such a large number of martyrs that they could not assign an individual day to each one, so All Saints’ Day was established as a common feast day for all saints.

This day is also known as All Hallows and the Solemnity of All Saints.

All Souls’ Day

All Souls’ Day is celebrated on 2nd November directly following All Saints’ Day, and is an opportunity to remember those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. There are a number of different rituals that mark this day –  visiting family graves, lighting candles, and praying for deceased family, friends, and all the faithful departed. In particular we remember those who have died in the past year.

This day is also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.