All Souls' Day: Meaning, Customs and Indulgence on 2 November

On the day after All Saints, the Church falls quiet. All Souls' Day, 2 November, belongs to the dead: the priest wears the vestments of the Requiem Mass, and the faithful go to the cemetery to pray at the graves of their loved ones. In 2026 All Souls' Day falls on a Monday. This guide explains what the day means, where it comes from, why every priest may offer three Holy Masses on this day and which indulgences the Church applies to the Holy Souls.

What is All Souls' Day?

All Souls' Day is the commemoration on which the Catholic Church prays for all the faithful departed, especially for the souls in purgatory. She keeps it on 2 November with the Requiem Mass and on this day commends prayer, almsgiving, indulgences and above all the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the dead.

The commemoration rests on the doctrine of purgatory. Whoever dies in the grace of God but is not yet wholly purified cannot yet see God. The Council of Trent taught that the souls detained in purgatory are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the altar. Benedict XV quotes this very sentence in the first paragraph of his Constitution on All Souls' Day.

Joseph Deharbe's catechism sums it up for everyday life: we come to the aid of the souls in purgatory by prayer, indulgences, good works and especially by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As scriptural proof he cites a passage from the Second Book of Maccabees, which he expressly links to All Souls' Day.

“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.”

2 Macc 12:46, Douay-Rheims translation of the Vulgate

What is the difference between All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day?

All Saints' Day on 1 November honours all the saints who are already with God in heaven. All Souls' Day on 2 November prays for the departed who are still being purified in purgatory. All Saints is a feast of joy; All Souls is a day of intercession with the Requiem Mass.

Both days belong to the communion of saints professed in the Creed. Deharbe's catechism counts three groups within it: the faithful on earth, the Church Militant; the souls in purgatory, the Church Suffering; the blessed in heaven, the Church Triumphant. On All Saints' Day the faithful on earth ask the blessed for their intercession; on All Souls' Day they help the suffering souls with their prayers.

If you would like to honour your own patron saint on All Saints' Day, you may find him or her among our statues of saints.

Where does All Souls' Day come from?

All Souls' Day goes back to St Odilo, Abbot of Cluny. In the 11th century he ordered the monasteries of Cluny to commemorate all the faithful departed every year on 2 November. Other Benedictines and the Carthusians followed, then the dioceses, until the day was kept throughout the whole Church.

Prayer for the dead itself is far older. In the first centuries the names of departed brethren were entered in the diptychs, the lists of names read at Mass. In the 6th century Benedictine monasteries held a commemoration of their departed brethren around Whitsun, and in Spain, at the time of St Isidore (died 636), there was a day of its own.

The year in which Odilo issued his decree has not come down to us with certainty. In its article on Odilo (1911), the Catholic Encyclopedia considers the year 998 unlikely and suggests the period after 1030. Its article on All Souls' Day (1907), on the other hand, names Liège under Bishop Notger, who died in 1008, as the first diocese to adopt the day. The two statements do not agree; all that is certain is the 11th century.

The Roman Martyrology (Rome edition of 1902) names first on 2 November the Commemoratio omnium fidelium defunctorum, the commemoration of all the faithful departed.

Why does the priest celebrate three Holy Masses on All Souls' Day?

On All Souls' Day every priest may celebrate three Holy Masses because Pope Benedict XV granted this privilege to the whole Church on 10 August 1915. He may apply one Mass freely, he offers one for all the faithful departed, and the third for the intention of the Pope.

The custom comes from the Kingdom of Aragon. There, on All Souls' Day, secular priests said two Masses and religious priests three. Benedict XIV extended the privilege to Spain and Portugal in 1748. As his first reason for extending it to the whole world, Benedict XV names the many Mass foundations for the dead that had been lost or were being neglected. He was especially moved by the war that by 1915 had engulfed almost all of Europe: he saw, almost before his very eyes, a great number of men in the flower of their youth meeting an early death in battle.

“Liceat omnibus in Ecclesia universa Sacerdotibus, quo die agitur Sollemnis Commemoratio omnium fidelium defunctorum, ter sacrum facere.” Let it be lawful for all priests throughout the whole Church, on the day of the Solemn Commemoration of all the faithful departed, to offer the Holy Sacrifice three times.

Benedict XV, Incruentum altaris, 10 August 1915, no. I; Acta Apostolicae Sedis 7 (1915), p. 403

The 1917 Code of Canon Law adopted the rule: on Christmas Day and on All Souls' Day every priest may celebrate three times; on other days he may celebrate more than one Mass only by papal indult or with the permission of the local Ordinary (can. 806 § 1). All Masses on All Souls' Day moreover enjoy the privilege of a privileged altar (can. 917 § 1). At the end of his Constitution the Pope asks all the faithful to attend Holy Mass on this day in great numbers and with great devotion.

Which indulgence can you gain on All Souls' Day?

On All Souls' Day you can gain a plenary indulgence for the Holy Souls with every visit to a church. The conditions are confession, Holy Communion and, at each visit, six Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Bes for the intentions of the Pope (Raccolta, no. 544).

The Raccolta is the collection of prayers and pious works to which the Church has attached indulgences. It is quoted here in the English edition of 1943 approved by the Holy See, which follows the official Roman edition Preces et pia opera of 1938. For All Souls' Day it names two further indulgences besides the visit to a church:

• Visiting a cemetery: whoever devoutly visits a cemetery during the octave of All Souls, that is, on the eight days from 2 November onwards, and prays for the dead, even if only mentally, can gain a plenary indulgence on each of these days under the usual conditions, applicable only to the dead. On every other day of the year the same visit carries an indulgence of seven years (no. 546).
• The month of the Holy Souls: whoever prays for the dead every day in November can gain an indulgence of three years on each day and, if this is kept up for the whole month, a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions (no. 543).

The preface of the Raccolta lists the usual conditions: confession, Holy Communion, a visit to a church or public oratory and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. Whoever wishes to gain an indulgence must be in the state of grace and have the intention of gaining it (can. 925). Under the 1917 Code of Canon Law, confession may be made within the eight days before and Communion on the day before; both may also be made within the eight days after (can. 931 § 1).

How do Catholics traditionally keep All Souls' Day?

By Catholic custom All Souls' Day is kept by attending Holy Mass, visiting the cemetery and praying for the dead. A short prayer for the dead that anyone can remember is the Requiem aeternam, which the Church also sings in the Mass for the Dead.

The Mass of All Souls begins with the Introit from the Fourth Book of Esdras (2:34–35), from whose first word the Mass for the Dead takes its name. Before the Gospel comes the sequence Dies irae, which speaks of the Last Judgement and ends with the plea: Pie Iesu Domine, dona eis requiem, merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. In the first of the three Masses the Epistle from the First Letter to the Corinthians (15:51–57) proclaims the resurrection of the dead.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Raccolta (1943), no. 536; indulgence of 300 days, applicable only to the Holy Souls. English in the traditional form.

At the graveside you can pray Psalm 129, the De profundis, or simply an Our Father, a Hail Mary and the Requiem aeternam. The Raccolta attaches an indulgence of three years to both (no. 539). A Rosary for the dead also suits this day; each decade can be offered for a particular departed soul.

Mentioned in this article Memento Mori Paracord Rosary Hand-knotted from 550 paracord, with skull beads, Miraculous Medal and crucifix. View the rosary

Further items for meditating on death and eternity, from the skull to the hourglass, can be found in our Memento mori collection.

Frequently asked questions about All Souls' Day