An ancient religious tradition will be maintained in the local Anglican Church next week when a special service for All Souls Day will be conducted.
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The service in St John’s Church on Thursday, November 2, to commence at 7pm, will provide an opportunity for local people to commemorate friends and family members who are deceased.
Christians have been praying for their departed brothers and sisters since the earliest days of the faith, and it is believed that it is a custom which stemmed from Judaism.
Locum priest, the Rev Geoffrey McAuliffe, said this week that this day for the commemoration of the souls of the faithful departed became universal through the influence of Benedictine monk Odilo of Cluny in France in the Tenth Century.
Through his agency the practice became an annual observance in the houses of his congregation and gradually throughout the whole church towards the end of the century.
Fr McAuliffe said the purpose of the commemoration was not to try to change the spiritual status of those who have died, but to remember with thanksgiving those loved and lost.
He said everyone would be welcome to attend the special service, and all would have an opportunity to remember loved ones who had died.
This Sunday (October 29) Anglican parishioners will join with their friends at the Uniting Church for a combined worship service, commencing at 10.30am.