Memorial day is a secular American holiday to honor those men and women of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives fighting for the United States of America.
The Catholic Church teaches that war is never good but violence can be justified when it is necessary to save lives and promote justice.
In the Bible, Jesus taught that the greatest love is when someone gives their life for the sake of their friends. Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending their country and protecting others deserve honor and respect.
Praying for the dead is an important part of the Catholic faith. Catholics remember the dead in their prayers, asking God to show his mercy and to grant them everlasting life.
On Memorial Day, American Catholics honor fallen soldiers through prayer, offering Masses, visiting cemeteries, and supporting the families of those who died while serving in the US military.
Memorial Day originated in the years following the Civil War and was originally called Decoration day. It became an official federal holiday in 1971.
Memorial day is celebrated in the United States on the last Monday of May each year.
We ask the Lord to bless those who gave the ultimate sacrifice:
Remembering those who rendered that “last full measure of devotion”:
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
John 15: 13
Memorial Day introduces us to Jesus’ sacrifice:
Religious overtones of a civil holiday:
Memorial Day as a sacred observance:
At this time of profound communion, enriched with the Jubilee grace, I would like to raise my prayer to the Lord for your many colleagues who have died in these years during various missions of peace and in the defence of law and order. May their sacrifice not have been in vain! May their hidden and silent witness be an encouragement to everyone not to be resigned to injustice, but to conquer evil with good! May God welcome them into his kingdom of peace and grant serenity and comfort to their families and to all their loved ones.
Pope Paul II, Angelus Address, 19 November 2000
Recovering the fundamental meaning of the holiday:
Remembering those who gave all for our freedom:
We consider the universality of the mandate to love. Jesus defines it as loving as the Father loves. That restricts our ability to choose those that we will love, resisting the temptation of human nature to push us in that direction. We learn from the example of the Lord Jesus: He washed the feet of Judas and ate with him, but He knew that Judas would hand Him over. In the case of Peter: the Lord Jesus gave him a mandate and shared the Eucharist with him and ordained him, but He knew about Peter’s weakness and betrayal. That powerful example is useful in our world where people are so often categorized and dismissed. Christians cannot faithfully behave that way. We cannot simply follow the world, divide people into camps, and choose which ones merit our love and which not. Fidelity to the precept of charity prevents us from determining its meaning. Certainly those we honor today served the Nation and put their lives in peril without knowing everyone they were serving: whether they were good or bad. They simply served all. Does not authentic service to the Nation also express fidelity to the commandment of love? It is recognition of that service that beckons us this afternoon.
Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, Homily, 19 May 2019
Honor those who died during war by committing to peace:
By virtue of the “communion of saints,” the Church commends the dead to God’s mercy and offers her prayers, especially the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, on their behalf.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1055
Remembering deceased heroes with reverence, honor, respect, and gratitude:
Our dead are not Unknown Soldiers.
Memorial Verse of the Catholic War Veterans, by Rev. Edward Lodge Curran
We know who they are and wither they seek to go.
We know that some may languish in Purgatory until the last earthly stain is wiped away and until the last earthly injustice is repaired .
We also know that we can speed their passage from a Purgatory of shadow and pain to a Paradise of Happiness and light . We can hasten the dawn of eternal rest and the rays of perpetual light.
Our prayers and Masses and works of charity can assist our dead in gaining entrance into the blessedness of heaven.
We love our dead.
We can help our dead.
Let us pray for them always.
Flowers wither upon their graves.
A daily garland of prayers is better than an armful of roses.
As we approach the Golden Memorial hour of the Catholic War Veterans, Eleven o’clock,
Stand for a moment in silence and let there rise from your heart a prayer beseeching Almighty God, the Father of us all, to grant to the souls of our departed comrades, a peace and a glory that is theirs because of the sacrifice they made that other men might live.
Click here for a virtual retreat for Memorial Day retreat.
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Abortion has a face:
Share this page with friends and family to start a conversation about your faith.
Don’t miss a post. Learn more about the Catholic Church and strengthen your Catholic faith.
Find more Fiercely Catholic video issues here.
Subscribe here.
