Memento Mori 2026 - Reading #1 - All Saints
Reading
On the Feast of All Saints, Cyprian of Carthage, writing to a Church in the grip of the plague, tells his people where their dead have gone.
"Our brethren who are freed from this world by the Lord's summons are not to be lamented, since we know that they are not lost, but sent before; that, departing from us, they precede us as travellers, as navigators are accustomed to do; that they should be desired, but not bewailed; that the black garments should not be taken upon us here, when they have already taken upon them white raiment there ..."
They are not lost, but sent before. Then he lifts the whole Church's eyes toward Her real home.
"We should consider, dearly beloved brethren — we should now and always reflect that we have renounced the world, and are in the meantime living here as guests and strangers. Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world, and restores us to paradise and the kingdom. ... There a great number of our dear ones is awaiting us, and a dense crowd of parents, brothers, children, is longing for us, already assured of their own safety, and still solicitous for our salvation."
And who keeps them company there?
"There the glorious company of the apostles — there the host of the rejoicing prophets— there the innumerable multitude of martyrs, crowned for the victory of their struggle and passion ... To these, beloved brethren, let us hasten with an eager desire; let us crave quickly to be with them, and quickly to come to Christ."
Guests and strangers here; expected there.
Reflection
The season begins not with a skull, but with a crowd. Before the Church asks you to remember that you will die, She shows you who is waiting: apostles, prophets, martyrs, virgins, the merciful who fed the poor. And among them, Cyprian insists, are
"a great number of our dear ones."
Memento mori is an old Christian discipline. Cyprian wrote these lines while the plague was emptying the houses of Carthage. He did not deny the grief. He gave it a direction: not lost, but sent before. The dead in Christ are travellers who have gone ahead on the same road, and they are still
"solicitous for our salvation."
For the next four weeks, from All Saints to the threshold of Advent, we will sit with the Fathers on death, grief, judgment, and watchfulness. Begin today by remembering the dear ones who have gone before you. Say their names aloud at the table tonight. Then remember that you, too, are a guest and stranger here, and that your real home is expecting you someday.
Lord Jesus, King of all the saints, gather into Your kingdom all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. Let their company draw us on, and do not let us lose the road home. Amen.