All Souls Day: Non-Biblical, Merely Inventive, and Lucrative Festival

I was serving the Roman Catholic Church, particularly St. Augustine Parish, Diocese of Surigao del Sur (Philippines) as Sacristan from 1985 to 1991, and as Senior Sacristan from 1991 to 1993. And during those times, the observance of the All All Souls Day was one of the busiest days for me. I was the one who prepared the things that would be used in the celebration of the Mass celebrated in one cemetery to another.

When everything was done, I felt the joy, the joy that strengthens my tired body, because I believed that what I was doing glorified God.

But when I discovered the truth recorded in the Bible, sorrow filled my heart. I felt very sorry for myself for wasting my strength, my time and my life doing those vain things before God.

To let you know, never in the Bible did the Day of the Dead mention and was it observed by the first century Christian. Christ never taught doctrines behind this festival.

The observance of Dia de los Muertos is actually based on the Roman Catholic Church’s invented doctrine of Purgatory.

“All Souls Day, in the Roman Catholic Church, a day for the commemoration of all the faithful departed, those baptized Christians who are believed to be in purgatory because they have died with the guilt of minor sins in their souls, which are celebrated on November 2. or November 3 if November 2 is a Sunday…” (The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropeadia, 15th Ed., sv ‘All Souls’ Day’)

And those said souls in purgatory have nothing to do on their own to shorten their sufferings:

“The poor souls in purgatory can do nothing by themselves to shorten their suffering. But Christ, their Redeemer, is always speaking to the Father for them, and Mary and the other saints also pray for 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 must also help those souls in purgatory:

“We must be generous in helping the poor souls in purgatory, who yearn for God. The best thing we can do for them is to have Masses offered for them. The church does not limit the time during which we can pray or offer Masses for suffering souls in purgatory. If we cannot say a Mass, we should at least hear Masses for our departed dead. If God so willed, a single Mass could liberate all souls in purgatory. We should offer Masses especially in All las Almas’ day and on the anniversary of the death of our relatives and friends”. (My Catholic Faith by Louis LaRavoire Morrow, DD, p. 258)

That is why Catholics observe the Day of the Dead to help the souls that are suffering in purgatory.

But what is purgatory? According to the book “A Manual of the Catholic Faith”, purgatory was derived from the word ‘purgatoin’:

“The word Purgatory is derived from purgation, which means both purification and penance. Consequently, it is a state that purifies and cleanses souls as with fire.” (p. 460)

The Catholic authorities are teaching this doctrine to the Catholic Church even though they know that purgatory is not written in the Bible.

“Scripture and Christian tradition certainly affirm that heaven and hell exist, but what about that mysterious ‘third estate’ that Catholics and some other Christians call ‘purgatory.’ The term itself is not found in the Bible…” (Catholic and Christian, by Allan Sckreck, page 195)

The doctrine of purgatory is based solely on the tradition of men:

“THE IDEA OF PURGATORY has its roots in Buddhism and other ancient religious systems, long before the existence of the Roman Catholic Church. Evidence of its introduction into Christian thought is found in some of the writings of the Church Fathers. primitive, from the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, but did not have an officially recognized place until the time of Gregory I”. (Roman Catholicism in the Light of the Scriptures, p. 107)

As this doctrine does not come from Christ nor from the Apostles but from the tradition of men, we must condemn it because the Bible says so:

7 And in vain do they honor me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'[a]

8 For leaving the commandment of God, you cling to the tradition of men[b]- washing pitchers and cups, and many other similar things that you do.

9 He said to them, “Very well you reject the commandment of God, so that you can keep your tradition. (Mark 7:7-9, NKJV)

The Roman Catholic Church could not condemn the doctrine of purgatory that they invented because through it they will gain a lot. The Bible, of course, knows about this “Merchandise of Souls” from the Roman Catholic Church:

11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over it, because no one buys their wares anymore: 12 wares of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of citron wood, all kinds of objects of ivory, all kinds of objects of precious wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, aromatic oil and incense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cows and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men (Revelation 18:11-13, ibid)

This “Marketing of Souls” is done through the marriage of the doctrines of Purgatory and the Mass:

“Purgatory had been invented by Rome in AD 593, but it remained a very unpopular doctrine for many centuries. However, when the Mass arose, these two innovations of the Roman Church became inseparably connected with each other. The question arose in Roman circles: ‘Can the Mass of supposed infinite spiritual value deliver the Souls in Purgatory?’ The Pope soon accepted this new idea and the imposture of the Mass in relation to Purgatory was born. Today our readers know what a financial success the union of the Mass and Purgatory has been. There is not a single product in the world today that been more successful financially than these two religious doctrines, the Mass and Purgatory.” (I was a Priest, by Lucien Vinet, p. 43-44)

These lucrative doctrines succeeded because all Catholics are told to help the poor souls in Purgatory by offering them Masses, especially on the Day of the Dead:

“We must be generous in helping the poor souls in purgatory, who yearn for God. The best thing we can do for them is to have Masses offered for them. The church does not limit the time during which we can pray or offer Masses for suffering souls in purgatory. If we cannot say a Mass, we should at least hear Masses for our departed dead. If God so willed, a single Mass could liberate all souls in purgatory. We should offer Masses especially in All las Almas’ day and on the anniversary of the death of our relatives and friends”. (My Catholic Faith by Louis LaRavoire Morrow, DD, p. 258)

So, on November 2 or 3, the Roman Catholic Church will once again make a lot of money as Soul Merchants, trading lost souls.