All Souls' Day: Unbiblical, Mere Invention, and Money-Making Festival
I was serving the Roman Catholic Church, particularly the St. Augustine Parish, Diocese of Surigao del Sur (Philippines) as a Sacristan from 1985 to 1991, and as Sacristan Mayor from 1991 - 1993. And during those times, the observance of the All Souls' Day was one of the busiest days for me. I was the one who prepared things which would be used in the celebration of Mass held in one cemetry to another.
When everything was done, I felt the happiness, the joy which strengthen my tired body, for I believed that what I did glorified God.
But when I discovered the truth recorded on the Bible, regret filled my heart. I was really sorry for my self for wasting my strength, my time and my life doing those vain things in front of God.
To let you know, never in the bible that All Souls Day mentioned and was observed by the first century Christian. Christ never taught doctrines behind this festival.
The observance of All Souls' Day is actually based on the invented doctrine of the roman Catholic church on Purgatory.
"All souls' Day, in the Roman Catholic Church, a day for commemoration of all the faithful departed, those baptized Christian who are believed to be in purgatory because they have died with the guilt of lesser sins on their souls, celebrated on Novermber 2 or November 3 if November 2 is Sunday..." (The New Encyclopeadia Britannica, Micropeadia, 15th Ed., s.v. 'All Souls' Day')
And those said souls in purgatory have nothing to do for themselves to shorten their sufferings:
"The poor souls in purgatory cannot do anything for themselves to shorten their suffering. But Christ, their Redeemer, is always speaking to the Father for them, and Mary and the other Saints are also praying through Christ and with Christ." (A Catholic Catechism, p. 337)
So Christ, Mary and the other Catholic Saints, according to the Catholic Catechism, are praying for the souls in purgatory. And not only that, the living should help those souls in purgatory too:
"We should be generous in helping the poor souls in purgatory, who long for God. The best thing we can do for them is to have Masses offered for them. The church puts no limit to the time during which we may pray or offer Masses for the suffering souls in purgatory. If we cannot have a Mass said, we should at least hear Masses for our dead departed. If God so wiulled, a single Mass could release all the souls in purgatory. We should offer Masses especially on All Souls' day and on the anniversary of the death of our relatives and friends." (My Catholic Faith by Louis LaRavoire Morrow, D.D., p. 258)
That's why Catholics observe the All Souls' Day to help the souls that are suffering in purgatory.
But what is purgatory? According to the book "A Handbook of the Catholic Faith", purgatory was derived from the word 'purgatoin':
"The word Purgatory is derived from purgation, which means purification as well as penance. It is consequently a state which purifies and cleanses the souls as with fire." (p. 460)
Catholic authorities are teaching this doctrine to the Catholic Church eventhough they do know that purgatory is not written in the Bible.
"Scriptures and Christian tradition undoubtedly affirm that heaven and hell exist, but what about that mysterious 'third state' that Catholics and some other Christias call 'purgatory'. The term itself is not found in the Bible..." (Catholic and Christian, by Allan Sckreck, p. 195)
The purgatory doctrine is based only on men's tradition:
"THE IDEA OF PURGATORY finds its roots in buddhism and other ancient religious system, long before the existence of the Roman Catholic Church. Evidences of its introduction in Christian thought are found in some of the writings of the early church Fathers, as far back as the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, but it had no officially recognized place until the time of Gregory I." (Roman Catholism in the Light of Scriptures, p. 107)
Since this doctrine is not coming from Christ nor from the Apostles but from the tradition of men, we should condemn it because the Bible said so:
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.