In November, it is natural to think of our faithful departed, given their liturgical feast on November 2. We fix our minds on the great mystery of death which awaits and dismays us.
We cannot feign indifference in the face of the most significant transition in our existence, the one on which we have in keeping with Pascal bet for a future life. Blaise Pascal said in his Thoughts: "Men, not having been able to remedy death, misery and ignorance, have resolved, in order to live happily, not to think about it". (98). He added: "We run without a thought towards the precipice, after having put something in front of our eyes that prevents us from seeing it" (108).
The Church celebrated these sombre liturgies with the melodies of the Gregorian Requiem Mass. The introit had something sad but at the same time serene, as if it wanted to admonish and at the same time console.
It would be terrible to assume an imbalance between the two dimensions, a Church that admonishes or consoles too excessively …More