Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them

With All Saints and All Souls behind us, the Church gives the whole of November to praying for the dead. The Catechism teaches that from the beginning the Church has offered prayers for the faithful departed, above all the Mass, and that she also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance on their behalf (CCC 1032). Children can share in each of these: ask your parish to offer a Mass for a grandparent, set aside coins for the poor in a loved one’s name, and pray the Eternal Rest at meals or night prayers for the names on your family’s list. Through Sunday, November 8, those who visit a cemetery and pray for the dead can gain a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory, under the usual conditions, and the same visit gains a partial indulgence the rest of the year. Praying for the dead teaches children that love reaches beyond this life, and that their family includes those who have gone before them.

It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
— 2 Maccabees 12:46

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Handed On at Home

This month our year’s theme, The Formative Home, turns to the table at the center of family life, and a new Vatican document uses the same image. On October 22 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released Venite ad Me, a reflection on passing on the faith in a changing age. When it turns to where faith is handed on, it begins with the family, and Pope Leo XIV, quoted there, likens the faith to food shared at the family table. “Our first catechists are our parents,” he says. The section’s most moving passage is a memory from the Jesuit Aimé Duval, who learned more about God from his father kneeling after a long day in the fields, and his mother praying with the baby in her arms, than from his catechism. As homeschool parents, we know how much is taught in the ordinary rhythms of a home: prayer, shared meals, patience, and our own witness. The document is an encouragement to keep doing that work with care, and a reminder that the parish community is there to strengthen it.

Read the section on the family →

This Friday at UST

On Friday, November 6, high schoolers can hear Dr. Michael Boler on “The Importance of Physical Training in the Life of the Mind: The Missing Half of Classical Education,” part of our monthly teen lectures with UST professors in UST classrooms. Middle schoolers can join a Poetry Workshop with Catholic Literary Arts the same day. Register on our Enrichments page →

The Formative Home

The World Outside the Door

The Formative Home is not a theme about staying in. The garden and the yard belong to the home too, and they build the same habits as the kitchen table: attention, patience, and wonder at the world God made. In Houston, fall is planting season, so lettuce, radishes, and carrots can go in now, and there is still time to sow bluebonnets for spring. Even one pot on the porch gives children something to tend, measure, and sketch each week.

This week’s challenge: plant one thing with your children, then walk the same route each week this month and let them tell you what changed.

Read the full post →

Upcoming in Houston

St. Anne’s Society Fall Market | Fri Nov 6, 9:30 a.m.–1 p.m. | St. John Vianney, Houston | 50+ vendors with art, decor, religious items, and gifts

A Concert of Hope: Coro Gloria Dei | Fri Nov 6, 7 p.m. | St. Theresa, Sugar Land | Freewill offering | Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem and Psalm 23, for the month of the Holy Souls

Cathedral High School Open House | Sat Nov 7, 2 p.m. | Catholic classical high school with daily Mass, sacred music and sacred art | Flyer

Long Acres Ranch Ology Days: Pedology | Nov 10–12 | Richmond | $5 per family | Outdoor soil science, grades 1–8

BigFuture: Help Your Teen Envision Their Future | Wed Nov 11 | Free webinar on college and career planning

Bringing Houston Together: Grounds for Dialogue | Thu Nov 12, 5:30–7:30 p.m. | IM Houston, 3303 Main St. | Nonpartisan dialogue on school vouchers and city budget with Council Member Julian Ramirez | Registration required

Houston Gem & Mineral Show Homeschool Day | Fri Nov 13 | Humble Civic Center | Free for registered K–12 students and parents | Hands-on earth science 

Houston Botanic Garden: Free Day Pass | Nov 13–15, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Free admission for Houston-area residents who bring one plastic bag or bottle each

All Saints Chess Tournament | Sat Nov 14, 9 a.m. | St. Thomas More Parish School | $30 through Nov 8, then $40 | US Chess-rated rounds for K–12 homeschool and Catholic school students, saints costumes encouraged

St. Mary’s Seminary Organ Concert: Matthew Dion | Sun Nov 15, 3 p.m. | Chapel of the Angels | Recital on the seminary’s Noack pipe organ

Washington and Thanksgiving: Mount Vernon in Your Classroom | Fri Nov 20, 10 a.m. CT | Free virtual program on Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Fall Festivals Guide | Parish fall festivals around Houston | Free download

Fullness of Truth

Fullness of Truth hosts Catholic family conferences across Texas and Louisiana, and this month “Building Your Holy Family: The Catholic Blueprint” comes to Great Wolf Lodge in Webster, November 13–14. The weekend includes Mass, the Rosary, and Adoration, with talks from Fr. David Michael Moses, Paul J. Kim, Emily Wilson, and Gabe Castillo. Wilson’s “A Family’s Call to Sainthood” makes a good follow-up to All Saints. Get tickets →

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