Feast of the Holy Souls

The Feast of the Holy Souls......this day brings back many memories, some good - some not. Most have to do with my Roman Catholic upbringing and may not be of particular interest to everyone who reads this blog. But this upbringing is what made me who I am. Today you may not find me in church as often as you should but my faith never fails me. It has sustained me this far and I am sure it will continue to do so as I continue on this journey.

One powerful memory I have is my mother and aunts taking me to St. Mary's Cemetery in Flushing on this day each year to attend three masses for the holy souls in Purgatory. It is such a vivid memory to me even though I was such a very young child - taken every year before I began school. I remember standing surrounded by my mother and her sisters not being able to see very much except the buttons on their coats and straining to be very quiet as I was a very good child (or afraid of getting into trouble!)

The cemetery was not a scary place to me as we visited the graves all the time, planting flowers and cleaning around the areas where our loved ones rested. I can't say that I have followed through on this particular tradition and don't visit the graves of loved ones. They always seem to be close to me. My intentions are always good and the other Crones and I always plan to take a day to visit all those who impacted our lives come spring....or summer...or autumn.....or the next time someone passes.

Another memory I have is being taught by the nuns to offer all forms of "suffering", big and small, up for the souls in Purgatory. These acts included picking up a piece of paper from the floor; going to the dentist; having stitches; iodine put on a roller skate knee; childbirth; kidney stones.....stuff like that - I'm sure you get the drift. I bet I've gotten a whole lot of souls out of Purgatory during my lifetime - especially at the dentist. I still offer all forms of discomfort (like having blood drawn and the phlebotonist having to jab several times since my veins are very well hidden) to help a few more souls. Believe it or not, it does seem to lessen the pain of just about anything to offer it up to help the poor souls waiting to get into heaven. I suspect when my generation goes, we'll take this tradition along with us as I don't think we did a good job of passing it down to our children.

- Twenty-eight years ago today, Jack's mother, Evelyn Joyce Sweeney passed away.

- Two years ago today, my lung cancer surgery took place and here I am to write about it.

- Today, I pray for the souls in Purgatory and hope some of the souls I helped along the way, will pray for me. After all, they should now have a direct connection to our Main Man.

As always, love from me to you.