Today 29 years Ago Pope Paul VI Ended His Earthly Toils

Vatican Radio reports here that Pope Benedict will celebrate a Mass of Suffrage for the late pontiff. You can listen to the Vatican radio piece at the link.

I remember this vaguely. I was getting on the bus for kindergarten and my neighbor, who was the bus driver, announced to me that the Pope had died. I think I said whats that. I do remember 30 days later the same Bus Driver telling me that another POPE had died. I still was clueless. But hey I was 5.

Here is the Homily by Cardinal Albino Luciani during the mass in suffrage of Paul VI in St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, 9 August 1978. Here is another interesting article that talks about events of that time period when he reigned.

What is a Mass of Suffrage? I am a convert but even after all these years I come across terms I am not aware of.

Suffrage to me means voting rights.

I suppose as I get older and go to more Catholic funerals I shall hear this term more. Perhaps it just converting in a time of bad Catholic education. That is getting better thankfully.

This site states
The Meaning of Suffrage

251. The just encounter God in death. He calls them to himself so as to share eternal life with them. No one, however, can be received into God's friendship and intimacy without having been purified of the consequences of personal sin. "The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent"358.
Hence derives the pious custom of suffrage for the souls of the faithful departed, which is an urgent supplication of God to have mercy on the souls of the dead, to purify them by the fire of His charity, and to bring them to His kingdom of light and life. This suffrage is a cultic expression of faith in the communion of saints. Indeed, "the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honoured with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins' (2 Mac 12, 46) she offers her suffrages for them"359. These consist, primarily, in the celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist360, and in other pious exercises, such as prayers for the dead, alms deeds, works of mercy361, and the application of indulgences to the souls of the faithful departed362.

Read more at the site about Suffrage and the ways the Church celebrates that in her prayer and liturgy.

Hopefully right at this moment the Holy Father is in Heaven. I know some will disagree with that because of all the chaos that happened. However I still pray for the soul of John Paul the II as I think he would want me too. Hopefully I will remember to pray for Paul the VI tonight. I might try to use the Office of the Dead in my Liturgy of the Hours.