Keeping the Feast

It is All Souls Day – the Day of the Dead. The main celebration (and it always is a celebration) here is a full choral requiem (Duruflé) at 7.30 pm this evening. Gentle beauty. Strong memories. Powerful reflections. Black vestments.
On this day, we remember by name in prayer those who have died. Never a year goes by without people from other denominations and indeed from outside the church asking for names to be remembered in this way. There is something very important about hallowing these memories.

It will be a service which will be both gentle and profound. The music ministers as much as anything else does.

I wonder how well this works in the Southern Hemisphere. I always associate All Souls with the shortening of the days and the drawing in of the light. It would be very strange to encounter it in springtime. Mind you, springtime might have its own positive influence on the feast.