On All Saints day, Pope encourages to be vigilant and not fear death

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2005 / 22:00 pm

During  the prayer of the Angelus today, Solemnity of All Saints, Pope Benedict XVI said this feast and the tradition to visit the graves of our deceased  is an opportunity to “think without fear about the mystery of death and to develop this constant vigilance in order to face it with serenity.”

Before thousands of faithful and pilgrims who gathered at Saint Peters square from all over the world, the Holy Father reminded that “today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, that makes us enjoy the joy of being part of the great family of God’s friends.”

Drawing deeper on the significance of the Solemnity, the Pope said that “to become Saints means to realize fully what we already are, elevated through Jesus Christ, as adoptive sons of God.”

“The new life received in the baptism, is not prone to corruption nor to the power of death,” and reflecting  on death, he reminded that “for those who live in Christ, this is the passage from the pilgrimage on earth to our mother land in Heaven, where the Father welcomes all of his sons, 'regardless of nation, race, people and tongue’, as we read in the Book of the Apocalypse.”

“In the mystical Body of Christ, the souls of the faithful go beyond the barrier of death, they pray for each other, they accomplish an intimate exchange of gifts” the Pope said, taking into account that “in this dimension of the faith, we understand why we pray on this day to the deceased.”

Moreover, Benedict XVI put forth that “uniting myself spiritualy to those who will gather at cemeteries to pray for their deceased,” he too “will pray in the Vatican Groto, close to the tombs of the Popes and will have a special thought for our beloved John Paul II.”