WINNEBAGO—Bishop David Malloy used the thoughts from 2 Maccabees, that it is good to pray for the dead, during his All Souls Day Mass celebrated inside the mausoleum at Calvary Cemetery, Nov. 2.

 

Bishop Malloy and about 50 others stood among the dead to remember them and pray for them while sunshine, warm temperatures and falling leaves bathed the cemetery grounds in color.

 

Bishop Malloy explained the privilege of priests on this day to celebrate three Masses: one for their personal intention, one for all the souls and one for the Holy Father. The bishop said in his homily that he always “loved the thought of All Souls Day because the souls in purgatory are not perfect. So, what a comfort that is that I don’t have to die as if I just got out of the confessional … but how can I live so that I can stand before judgement and be ready? And here is the Church saying, going back to that passage in Maccabees that says it good to pray for the dead, that God in His mercy allows us to be purified even after the moment of death.”