Parishioners of the Diocese of Bacolod are encouraged to respond to the universal call to holiness in celebrating All Saints Day and All Souls Day, Msgr. Felix Pasquin, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City, said yesterday.

Two simultaneous masses will be held at the Catholic Cemetery and Public Cemetery at Burgos Street at 3 p.m. tomorrow while the blessing of the tombs and graves will follow after the mass, Pasquin said.

On Thursday, all masses will be held at the parish churches but the intentions are for the departed souls. At the Cathedral, the regular mass schedule will be followed, he also said.

Pasquin said the celebration of the All Saints Day is a call to holiness and life sanctity and it is celebrated, not only as the feast of canonized saints but for everybody who is baptized.

It is also a celebration of those who have passed away and were saved, and are believed to be in heaven enjoying eternal happiness, peace, and the beatific vision of God, he said.

All Souls Day also reminds everyone to commemorate the dead by praying for them especially for the souls in purgatory, who can be helped through the holy sacrifice of the mass, prayers, and good works, he also said.

Good works have two values, he said, meritorious and the satisfactory values.

Meritorious values mean that every time people do good work, there is an increase of sanctifying grace in the person who does it, while the satisfactory values lessen the temporal sin and are intended for departed relatives who are believed to be in the purgatory, Pasquin added. *LTG

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