ORIGIN OF ALL SOULS' DAY.*

By LYDIA MAKIA CHILD.

NOVEMBER is sadly suggestive to the old, accustomed as they are to see the withered leaves of human life everywhere falling around them. Perhaps these associations with the dying year were the reason why this month was selected for religious observances in honour of the dead. The customs of the Catholic Church in this respect had their origin in very remote antiquity. In fact, the worship of deceased ancestors was probably the very first worship of the human race. Sacred writings of the Hindoos, dating before the birth of Moses, inculcate the doctrine that there is an intimate relation between the spirits of departed ancestors and the souls of their living descendants; that ancestors are mediums between gods and men, and can thus bring blessings or otherwise on their posterity. On the other hand, departed souls are represented as dependent on the sacrifices and prayers of those who come after them; for if these pious duties are neglected, or there are none to perform them, they are doomed to wander about their graves, unable to obtain entrance into Paradise. Hence the Hindoos have great dread of leaving no family behind them. It is ordained in their most ancient sacred books, that on the anniversaries of the death of ancestors, as far back as the third generation, offerings of water, flowers, &c., shall be carried to their tombs, and priests employed to perform prescribed religious ceremonies. To this day this immemorial custom is devoutly observed in Hindostan.

The tombs of the wealthy in ancient Egypt were built with upper apartments, the walls of which were adorned with paintings and sculpture. On the anniversary of the death of an

* November 2-All Souls' Day, or the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, is a very solemn festival of the Roman Catholic Church, which has masses and ceremonies appropriate to the occasion, designed in favour of all souls departed this life. Brady in his Clavis Calendaria, says :—“ Odillon, Abbot of Cluny, in the ninth century, first enjoined the ceremony of praying for the dead on this day in his own monastery; and the like practice was partially adopted by other religious houses until the year 998, when it was established as a general festival throughout the western churches. To mark the pre-eminent importance of this festival, if it happened on a Sunday, it was not postponed to the Monday, as was the case with other such solemnities, but kept on the Saturday, in order that the Church might the sooner aid the suffering souls: and that the dead might have every benefit from the pious exertions of the living, the remembrance of this ordinance was kept up by persons dressed in black, who went round the different towns, ringing a loud and dismal-toned bell at the corners of each street, every Sunday evening during the month, and calling upon the inhabitants to remember the deceased suffering the expiatory flames of Purgatory, and to join in prayers for the repose of their souls."[ED.]

ancestor, his relatives assembled in the chamber of his tomb, taking with them wine and fruit, grain and flowers, as offerings to his spirit, which was supposed to be present. They also carry musical instruments to the accompaniment of which they sang hymns and songs. Priests were always employed to recite prayers and perform religious ceremonies. At Eilethya are funeral grottoes cut in the rock. One of them-apparently the tomb of a rich agriculturist-has an upper apartment, on the walls of which are still visible pictured representations of the farmer's life. In one place he is seen riding in the fields superintending his labourers, who are plowing and sowing. In another, men are tying up sheaves, and oxen are treading out grain while their driver seems to be singing to the animals a song of encouragement, the words of which are written on the wall at his side. Very likely little Moses used to hear that ancient agricultural song when he wandered as a boy on the banks of the Nile. Then follows a succession of scenes. Bags of money are brought to be weighed; men are treading out grapes for wine; there are pleasure-parties in boats and chariots; banquets where meat, fruits, and wine are served, and where every lady carries a flower; and, last of all, the rich man is represented lying on his bier. Doubtless abundant offerings were brought to this chamber, and many religious ceremonies performed, on the anniversary of his death.

Similar customs have always prevailed in China. Confucius enjoined it upon his followers to "offer oblations to the souls of ancestors, as if they were visibly present; " and the disciples of Fo also consider it a holy duty to commemorate the anniversaries of their forefathers' deaths by placing offerings on their tombs and having prayers recited.

Greeks and Romans, who were inheritors of ancient civilization, erected magnificent tombs, with upper apartments, which on anniversary days were adorned with flowers and other offerings by the relatives assembled there. Religious ceremonies were performed, which consisted in part of the sacrifice of animals, and sometimes of men, as an atonement for the sins of the deceased, and a means of propitiating the gods in his favour. Virgil gives an elaborate description of the ceremonies performed at the tomb of Anchises by his son Eneas. It was also customary to visit tombs and offer sacrifices and prayers in time of affliction or danger, or when about to undertake a voyage or journey or any great enterprise; for it was believed that departed spirits could help to avert evils from the living, and to procure blessings for them from the gods.

These anniversaries, of course, became numerous; and, as families were reluctant to neglect even remote ancestors, a day

was set apart, called the Parentalia, in which the people joined in offering oblations and prayers to the souls of all their ancestors. Similar anniversaries were observed by the whole people in honour of kings, heroes, and great benefactors.

When the Christian Church began to be organized, it found these ancient festivals endeared to the hearts of the people, and it adopted the policy of changing the names without attempting to do them away. On the anniversary of a relative's death, Christian converts kept up the old custom by laying an oblation on the altar, generally in the form of money, that prayers might be said for the benefit of his departed soul; for it was believed in the primitive Christian Church, as it was among the Hindoos, that his term of punishment, or probation, might thereby be abridged, and he might sooner be enabled to enter realms of bliss. Tertullian has recorded of his time that "the widow offers an oblation every year, on the day of her husband's death; and prays, through the priest, that his soul may be refreshed in its intermediate state, and that she may be partner with him in the first resurrection." Instead of the animals formerly sacrificed for atonement on such occasions, the Lord's Supper was administered, which the priests taught them was a renewed sacrifice of the body and blood of the Son of God every time it was partaken of; a sacrifice more efficacious than thousands of oxen and rams. This they deduced from the teaching of Paul, that it was no longer necessary to slay a lamb at the Passover, as an atonement for sin, since Jesus, the Lamb of God, had been slain for the sins of the whole world.

The belief of all the ancient nations that priests were especially ordained and inspired to officiate between gods and men, between the souls of the living and the departed, was inherited by the early Christians; and, as even the poorest would pay something to help the soul of a relative out of the intermediate state, which the Catholic Church have named purgatory, while the wealthy were ready to pour out their money without stint for such an object, it followed that the priesthood of all religions found these observances a very valuable source of revenue.

The old public festivals in memory of kings, heroes, and benefactors of the people, whose spirits were supposed to have great influence with the gods, were adopted by the Christian Church; but the honours were transferred to the martyrs, who were the heroes of the new faith. The anniversaries of their death were beautifully called "The Birthdays of the Martyrs," to signify that they were thus born into everlasting life. On these occasions offerings were brought to their tombs, prayers addressed to them, and the Lord's Supper administered, in lieu of the ancient sacrifices of animals for atonement. As these

anniversaries multiplied greatly, a day was appropriated to public ceremonies in honour of all martyrs; and it is still observed by the Catholic Church, on the 1st of November, under the name of All Saints' Day.

The gathering-place in each locality was usually at the tomb of some martyr, or some chapel erected over his tomb. And, as Greeks and Romans had formerly prayed for blessings at the tombs of their heroes and ancestors, so Christians now thronged to implore the spirits of the martyrs for fruitful seasons, healthy children, and increase of cattle. The concourse was so great that it was necessary to hold fairs in the neighbourhood for the sale of provisions and other commodities; by reason of which these religious festivals became more and more scenes of merriment and traffic. Beastly drunkenness was the result of the great quantities of wine quaffed in memory of the holy martyrs. Some of the heretical Christian sects cried out shame upon the Church, saying: "You worship your martyrs as the Pagans did their idols; and, like them, you seek to propitiate the souls of the dead with wine and meat offerings." The more conscientious of the clergy refused to sanction such disorderly scenes with their presence. Gregory of Nazienzen, Chrysos, and others, preached zealously against them and they were condemned by the Council of Laodices. But the populace were so much attached to these time-honoured observances that it was found almost impossible to suppress them, and their ghost still lingers in all Catholic countries. In all the cathedrals of Europe high mass is celebrated on All Saints' Day, and the Lord's Supper administered. Prayers are recited, and solemn music performed with voice and organ. Processions with lighted tapers pass up the broad aisle, bearing ribbons and scarfs, to be blessed by the priests with a formula of holy words, and thereafter worn as protecting amulets. Processions of boys also carry baskets of cakes to be blessed, which are afterward distributed.

The old Roman festival called Parentalia, in memory of the souls of all their ancestors, was adopted by the Christian Church and is still observed in Catholic countries, on the 2nd of November, under the name of All Souls' Day: called by the French Le Jour des Morts. Peasants try to help the souls of deceased relatives out of purgatory, by causing as many prayers to be recited as they can afford to pay for. They make indentations on the graves in the form of a cross, which they fill with garlands or red berries. Mass for departed souls is performed in all the cities, and numerous offerings are deposited on the altars. Mont Martre, Pere la Chaise, and other cemeteries in Paris, are thronged with people of all conditions, carrying crosses and garlands to deposit on the graves of their dead. These are for

sale at the corners of all the streets; generally made of the pretty little yellow amaranths called immortelles, among which initials, names, and loving mottoes are often interwoven in block letters. Many of the tombs have upper appartments, where families are accustomed to assemble on this anniversary, taking with them flowers, fruit, embroidery, religious books, and musical instruments. They often spend the day there, praying, singing, reading and conversing. Very much in the same way was the memory of that ancient farmer on the Nile honoured by his descendants. Thus does the past infuse itself into the present. The large progressive party of this century understand by All Souls' Day the universal recognition of every human being's right to an equal chance for happiness, wealth and culture. And this will the Present infuse into the Future.

THE SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATIONS OF MARIA KAHLHAMMER AND CRESCENTIA WOLF.

By WILLIAM HOWITT.

AMONGST a number of German and French works bequeathed to me by the late Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard, I observed two volumes of somewhat recent publication still uncut, containing altogether no fewer than 1,502 pages, exclusive of an index of more than 60 pages. These volumes bore the not very encouraging title of Mittheilungen Seliger Geister im Jahre, 1855, durch die Hand der Maria Kahlhammer in Rapport der Mittheilungen des heil: Erzengels Raphael durch den Mund der Crescentia Wolf: Herausgegeben von Joseph Friederich, Haus und Gutsbesitzer in München und in Schweig, Distriktsrath. Joseph Friederich, proprietor of houses and land in Munich and Schweig, District Counsellor, might be a very good man, but as the publisher of communications from the Archangel Raphael, he was a man to look hard at before becoming confidential with. We have had too many communications from wondrous great names, bearing the least possible internal evidence of the assumed authority, to give easy credence to such productions. A few years ago I received from Canada an epistle to the people of England purporting to be from St. Peter, with an injunction from his apostleship forthwith to publish it. As Peter, however, had not sent the Peter's Pence for the printer's bill I declined the commission for that and other reasons. With a similar feeling I put aside these volumes of Joseph Friederich's. On