The Harrowing of Hell

November 22, 2020

Hello Friends

Many have asked for your family and friends who have gone before us, to be inscribed in our Book of Life and part of our many ongoing devotions and prayers.

My days are long and am able to get to a desk only after 9pm, and after doing urgent email and internet work, I focus on things like this, and sometimes with unfocused eyes by then.

The names on the scroll are in the order of having received the request. Some may be double because of getting a same request from two people. Maybe I have missed a name you sent. Please let me know.I will perfect the scroll.

Today the Catholic Church enters the last week of the Year of Grace 2020, staring with this high feast of Christ the King.

Through the phases that marked his life and mission, he is victorious- his birth, his baptism, his life witness, his death, his seeking the dead in Hades*, his resurrection, and his ascension.

(In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell (Latin: Descensus Christi ad Inferos, "the descent of Christ into Hell") is the triumphant descent of Christ into Hell (or Hades) between the time of his Crucifixion and his Resurrection when he brought salvation to all of the righteous who had died since the beginning of the world.[1] After his death, Jesus descended into the realm of the dead.)

Now the Prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled forever. His name is Wonderful, Counsellor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Let us stay close to Him and raise these names to him in prayer.

In the Catholic tradition, we begin the Year of Grace 2021 next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, whereby we relive the cycle of the rituals of the life of Christ, with lives deeply transformed by pandemic, huge cultural and social shifts, economic chaos, aggressive clashes in politics and governance.

Let us ask our loved ones to intercede for us before God.

Victory over darkness, evil and death can also be ours- if we think, speak and live the ways of God.

Fr Rick Frechette CP DO

Before his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ grants salvation to souls by the Harrowing of Hell. Fresco, by Fra Angelico, c. 1430s